Layla’s friend, Georgia, turned five in November and threw a party for a few of her closest friends at the ranch where Kieron rides. We lucked out and had pretty good weather. The girls had so much fun and it was amazing seeing the four of them all riding those big horses. Layla even got to ride Flash, the horse her brother normally rides.
Clare, Layla, Georgia & Britton
We took the kids back to Fall City Farms to pick out pumpkins. It was a slightly different experience Covid-style. When we arrived we realized we were supposed to have an appointment but it didn’t end up mattering because they had openings so we got in fine. There were no fresh donuts, but they did have some prepackaged, so the kids weren’t disappointed. We wore our masks, social distanced, and picked out some pumpkins.
The Club has an annual swimming for pumpkins event. They crank up the heat in the pool and let the kids jump in and pick out free pumpkins then warm up with hot cocoa. They loved it!
Time to carve:
Between the pandemic and election stress we decided to put our tree up pretty early in November. Here are a few pics of us getting in the Christmas spirit.
Opening their Christmas ornaments
Earmuffs from Grammy
The family room tree
Phoebe barely squeezed into Commodus’ old Santa suit for a photo op. We passed it on to her friend, Honey Lott, who is a bit slimmer and fits into it better. I’m sure she really appreciated it.
Modeling her cute snowman outfit
The election was something else this year. We had the Lotts over for an election night “redo”. We spent election night 2016 together and we all know how sad that turned out. We had a conversation ahead of time about whether it would be bad luck to get together or an opportunity to create a new happier memory together and decided we were more hopeful than superstitious.
Later in the night things got a bit stressful. Honestly I think we were all starting to feel sick. No bad news, but no good news and things were too close to feel anything but nervous. We decided to play some games and watch ASMR on TV.
At one point I said I needed a paper bag to breathe into. Layla heard me and brought this.
“Go! Bi! Den!”
A few days later…
Celebrating with the Christians
Watching Kamala with our daughters was memorable
Here’s what we were up to in October. Phoebe turned one on September 24th. We were out of town at the VRBO while our floors got refinished that week so Phoebe was spent her birthday getting spoiled by our friends. We made her eggs with cheese the following week to celebrate.
“I’m one!”
Jonathan saved us some money and replaced the laundry room floor that was damaged by the laundry room flood. There may have been some child labor involved.
All done! (Btw, notice the custom cat door for the litter box?! It’s amazing and keeps Phoebe out!)
Jonathan has been hiking with a couple of buddies recently.
Voting for Biden! We LOVE mail-in ballots and getting to share this with our children!
Service project for Boy Scouts
Another hiking trip for Jonathan and his buddies. This time it was Mount Si.
The birds are quite tame there!
I saved us some money and decided to refinish our existing kitchen table rather than replace it. Jonathan did the sanding and I stained it. I don’t think I finished it until November though so you can check there for the finished product! I’ve never worked with stain before and learned a lot along the way. It’s always fun picking up a new skill.
Playdate with Maggie
Horsing around
We had a late night at the Christians and let the kids run a-mock. Layla and Clare dressed up as masked super heroes and tried to fly.
Practicing monkey bars
Another puzzle in 2020
Halloween crafts
The current Lego situation
Frenchie snuggles
Master chef Kieron takes on a chicken
Making gnocci
Layla and Silas decided to have a Lego wedding. Here are the pics from the event.
The kids made Lego models of our entire family, all of whom attended the ceremony.
Practicing her name
Kieron made Tres Leches, my new favorite dessert!
Painting her toenails (pretend)
The Club decided to heat the pool and offer open swim year-round during Covid. We couldn’t be happier!
This girl loves shoes more than I do. I think she gets it from her dad.
