We spent as much time as we could on Lake Sammamish in September between the rain and smoke. Here are a few pics from our last couple outings:

Avery managed to flip Kieron out this time!

Our last day on the water we took Avery’s friend, Dalton with us. It ended up being a memorable trip. We tubed up to the north end of the lake and let the kids swim for a while.

All was well until Kieron slipped when he was jumping in one final time. He fell back and hit his head on the front seat of the center console and started bleeding badly. We sat him down and I put pressure on it while we drove ALL the way down the lake.

As I’m sure you know, head wounds bleed a lot so we were all trying to stay calm while Kieron soaked his towel and cried. Meanwhile, Dalton mentioned he was starting to get a pretty bad headache

We got the boat on the trailer and loaded up the kids. Then Dalton threw open the door of the car and threw up. Off we went to Urgent Care. I checked both Kieron and Silas in (Silas slipped off a kitchen stool earlier in the day and we almost brought him in but decided against it, so since we were already there we thought we might as well get them both checked out to be safe). Dalton threw up again in the Urgent Care parking lot. It was turning out to be quit an adventure!

Waiting for the doctor. In the end neither boy needed stitches! We weren’t surprised about Silas, but we were sure Kieron would need some. Turned out he ended up with what was more like road rash than a deep cut, it just looked worse. Happy boys!

Here’s the before and afters of our floors. I think they turned out great!

After – no more orange!

We replaced our drawer knobs with pulls for a more updated look

One of the “silver” linings of the water damage that occurred at our home was that we were forced to vacate the house while the floors were refinished. With the kids all doing remote school and Jonathan working remotely, we decided to rent a VRBO on a lake. What a coincidence that we ended up on Silver Lake. It’s a perfect little kayaking and paddle boarding lake in Everett. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t completely cooperate with our plans and we had a bit of rain and cool weather, but we still made it out on the water as much as possible. It was a great way to end the summer!

Charging station

We brought Barbies to keep Layla busy during school

The grey house is the one we stayed in.

Avery on the SUP

‘Sup, bros?

Avery went out one morning before school

One of the hardest thing about this pandemic is not getting to see grandparents as much or for as long as normal. At the end of summer when cases were at a low we decided we felt good about having Grammy come to spend a few days with us. Here are some pics from our visit.

Grammy school – in person!

We went boating on Lake Sammamish one afternoon.

While we were out we got paid Seeta and Phani a visit. I think we were all glad to see each other and catch up a little. That’s their house just above, and slightly to the right of Layla’s head.

Puzzling

Papa came to spend and afternoon and retrieve Grammy.

Papa and Silas played a serious game of Battleship

I used to love doing this puzzle when I was her age.

Our kids went back to school on August 31st. And by back to school, I mean they stayed home. Like most families, we started the school year remote. We are doing a hybrid of distance learning 2.0 through the district and some homeschool, and so far it is going pretty well – or as well as can be expected. I’m lucky that they all get along pretty well and they have good attitudes about learning. The hardest part for me is not having any free time, so a lot of things are falling though the cracks. Like this blog, for instance. I’m retro-publishing this as September 1st, but it’s actually October 18th. The kids each see a couple of friends in person, but they miss seeing everyone and having all those interactions. Avery misses sports. I am learning so much about my kids and their resilience from this experience. It is not what I would have wished for, but I feel fortunate that we can roll with the punches and make lemons into lemonade.   

Ms. McCann
 

Mr. Schaak