August 2020

As mentioned last month, things are feeling about as normal as we could expect.  Deb and I were feeling overwhelmed at some point with the start of school and we realized that a year ago, we had the same things going on AND were dealing with our renovation of our first floor where we didn’t have a kitchen.  To keep things in perspective, our kids have been in school for a full week and seem to be doing fine with their safety measures. 

 

            Before school got back in session, we took our annual trip (30 years in a row) to Michigan to gather with my family near St. Joseph.  We adjusted our plan this year and decided to head to a local campground that had cabins for all of us to stay. We enjoyed some great weather which is always important when you are camping.  We shared a cabin with my mom and it worked out well.  The campground was small enough to let the kids walk back and forth from the cabin to our gathering area and we had fun both evenings around the fire with smores.  We tried to create a lot of room at the beach by spreading out our towels which allowed for us to feel pretty comfortable.  The girls enjoyed climbing the dune, playing with their cousins in the sand and water along with hitting the volleyball in the lake.    

 

            As school got pushed back and the Nickerson’s had gotten busy with their start of school, we got our 3^rd nanny of the summer.  Jackie came by and helped out for about a week to help us get the girls to their first day of school.  They spent a few days at the Rivi pool seeing many of their classmates.  Once the big day came for school to start, they were excited and ready to go!  The school has temperature checks at the door, masks required most of the day and shields on each desk.  They have an option for eLearning where the teachers are live on video for the kids at home who have chosen to do eLearning to start the school year.  Like I’ve said this entire time, we are taking things in one-week increments, so each week they are in school is a blessing and we hope it will last as long as possible.   

 

Sarah’s Things of the Month  

            Sarah has started doing tennis lessons at IRC.  She is doing this with 2 of her friends from school and they are enjoying a new activity.  Sarah has continued her cross-country and participated in the time trial with just her class and a race this past weekend.  She seems to enjoy it and is doing well among the other 2^nd graders.   

 

Allison’s Thing of the Month  

             Allison is continuing her kickball practices and games. Our team has about 50% 4^th graders playing against 5^th & 6^thgraders, so they are struggling in the games but they are having fun and cheering even though the games aren’t very close! Allison’s cross country has become more of a social time than actually running, so Deb and I have been talking to her about that and respecting the time volunteered by the coaches and running hard.    

 

A few more items from this month: 

• The Rago’s stopped by on their trip in a RV back from Georgia.  They set up shop in the driveway and we enjoyed being part of their road trip.   
• I spend an evening cleaning up the playground at the school and then several dads and I went out to KSR for some beer and wings and The Rook for a nightcap.   
• Sarah went to Alexa Sipe’s birthday party.  It was an obstacle course in their backyard and the girls enjoyed seeing each other and having fun on the course.  
• I rode my bike over to Beth’s for a few beers one evening and texted Naab on my way home an stopped at his house to catch up with him.   
• I played another round of frisbee golf with Jeremy and we went to a bar afterwards to watch some NBA playoffs and have a few beers.   
• We went over to the Sniadecki’s house for dinner and an evening with neighbors.  We had fun letting the kids play while all of the parents were catching up from what happened that week.   
• Allison never got to have a birthday party this spring, so we decided she could have a sleepover.  She invited over 4 of her friends and they slept in the basement.  The girls arrived at 4PM and by 5PM, I was outside by the firepit watching TV on my phone as the screaming and yelling was just a little too much for me! 
• The Sipes hosted a race party for the Indy 500.  Several neighbors where there and it was fun to watch.  It was pretty cool watching the kids get so excited about the driver they had selected in the pool.  The kids failed to realize the race usually take 3-4 hours, so their excitement faded eventually.  
• The girls and I went over to the Dodson’s and Allison and Beth played catch with softball while I spent a little time teaching Molly about how to dribble a basketball.   
• We got a new roof and gutters due to a hail storm back in April.  We have some open items we need to clean up and take care of, but the roof looks good and it was done pretty quickly.   
  

July 2020

July 2020 

        We had a good month of July where we took a trip to the beach, got to see several friends and family along with getting ready for the school year with kickball and cross-country practices.It felt about as “normal” as we could expect given the pandemic.  As of today, the start of our school year has been pushed back one week and we believe our K-5 grade will be going back in-class full-time.The middle school is going to be doing a hybrid approach, but as with everything over the last 5 months, it is subject to change very quickly.  Our summer has been very enjoyable and much of that is due to our ability to have some great help.  Alexis helped out from late April through late July as she had to get ready for her teaching job.  We immediately called up the Nickersons who have been watching the girls each day.  Between Sarah, Margaret, Katie and Elaine they are usually able to divide and conquer each week and keep the girls entertained.

     We celebrated July 4^th weekend by going to the Bailey’s for fireworks on the 3^rd.  It was a great show and very impressive.  We saw some families from school and the neighborhood.  On the 4^th, we went to Lake Clearwater to hang out with the Bassett’s, Lawton and his parents.  We all enjoyed swimming in the lake and jumping off their pier. We had a cookout on Sunday of the holiday weekend with the Versphelts & Biberstines and the kids enjoyed playing together in the backyard. 

            We drove to Surfside Beach in mid-July with Randy and Anna along with the Shafers.  It is a little south of Myrtle Beach and it is where Deb’s extended family used to go on vacation when she was a kid.  Debbie, Anna, Julie & Kyle did a great job planning for the trip.  We brought everything we needed and didn’t really need to leave the condos.  We had 2 condos and that allowed for some parents to have breaks along with allowing me to work about 4 to 5 hours each day.  Since I just started a new job, I wasn’t going to be able to take a week off, but I was able to work remotely which worked out nicely.  The weather was great and it only rained twice while we where there.  Most days started on the beach, ended at the pool and dinner was divided up amongst the parents so the guys were usually grilling while the ladies were preparing the rest of the meal. We enjoyed flying some kites, playing paddle ball, playing in the waves, teaching the girls how to ride the waves to shore, digging in the sand and spending time together.   

 

Sarah’s Things of the Month  

            Sarah decided to sign-up for cross-country this year and Deb and I are very proud of her for doing that.  She was hesitant at first because of how far you have to run and she didn’t think she would be very good.  After some encouragement and knowing that over half the girls in her class were participating, she went to one practice and decided she wanted to sign-up!    

 

Allison’s Thing of the Month  

             Allison has signed up for cross-country and kickball.  Due to the different class sizes of kids that signed up, she is playing with some 5^th and 6^th graders on the “56B” team.  She has enjoyed seeing so many of her friends again at practice for both sports.    

 

A few more items from this month: 

• We celebrated Deb’s birthday by getting take-out from Sahm’s and enjoyed some cake from Taylor’s bakery. The girls and I surprised her with some clothes earlier in the month so she could bring them on vacation.   
• Both girls have been playing tennis twice a week at North Central the last 2 weeks of July with the Sniadeckis.
• I enjoyed catching up with Brad and Jeremy over a Zoom call with a few beers.  Brad can still talk me into random things even remotely, as I found myself doing a tequila shot “just because.”  
• Jeremy and I played some frisbee golf at a local course and then had lunch and a few beers at Big Woods. 
• We got new chairs for our kitchen table.  We have been slowly completing our 1^st floor renovation, and I think our next project is going to be the laundry room.  
• We are in the process of getting a new roof and gutters.  The project will start in August and we are hoping the vent system they put in our attic will help cool off our 2^nd floor.  
• I went over to see my cousin Chris and Mark came along.  We had some beers and enjoyed catching up.  
• We had a party get cancelled and since we already had a sitter planned, we decided to enjoy some beers with the Bassett’s and Lawton on their porch.   
• We went over to the Dodson’s to see their new swing-set and play on their porch with their water table and kid pool.   
• Debbie co-managed the used uniform sale for the school and it was a great success as they made over $2,000!