Halloween 2020

Halloween was a little different this year, but we still had so much fun! We didn't go trick-or-treating through the neighborhood, so we created a lot of other fun Halloween memories. 

Lisa had a school visit on Friday, so she got to wear her costume to school. The kids also wore their costumes on their virtual school times, too. 

The teachers had a drive-by parade. They wore costumes and decorated their cars. We stood out front and waved as they went by!

Our neighborhood had a costume parade. We didn't parade (there were way to many people for me to be comfortable with that), but we cheered them on from our front yard. The kids also got big bags of candy from neighbors who donated candy to the kids.

We decorated cookies, and had a fun dinner of hotdog mummies. The kids trick-or-treated in our house, knocking on each door. Matt or I hid behind the doors and gave them candy. We pretended to be different people at each door. It was fun to hear the kids laugh at the characters (Matt was especially good at this!).

We carved pumpkins that we grew in our own garden! The kids each designed a pumpkin, and Stan actually got to use the knife and carve his this year. 

We finished the evening with a family video game battle, which is our Saturday night tradition each week. Except this night, they got to eat lots of candy while playing Super Smash Bros. 

Recent moments

Here are some moments from out lives lately:

Loving on our old dog, Glory

Stan's new glasses

Ice cream at the park

Ice cream at the park

Lisa's 7-year-old check up & flu shot

Lisa's painting of our family

Lisa's school visit

 Lisa & Stanley have been doing remote school since the beginning of the year. The school is now bringing in small groups for an hour to get a little in-person time. The school requires a covid-symptom questionnaire completed online, masks at all times, and a temperature check. 

Lisa had her visit yesterday, and really enjoyed it! She got to see her second grade classroom for the first time. Her teacher read a story, and she made a skeleton craft for Halloween. She also got to pick out books from the classroom book room to bring home to practice reading.

Ready for school!

Mrs. Miller taking Lisa's temp

Lisa and her teacher, Mrs. Miller

Walking into school with her classmates

We painted our house!!

 Before

After

First Day of Virtual School

 Lisa started 2nd grade, and Stanley started 5th grade. They are doing virtual school to start the year. They both have Chromebooks, and have a schedule for the day that is a mixture of live Zoom calls with their teacher and class along with independent work. They are rocking it so far!

Stanley's Birthday

Stanley turned 11!! We had a great day, despite all the strange circumstances.

When we got up, we went to Dots Donuts. He was very excited to get donuts for breakfast! Stanely got a balloon delivery, and we opened presents. We had a Zoom call with the Scharnak family. Then Stanley built Legos and played video games.

We met Stanley's best friend, Jameson, at a local park. Stanley hasn't seen any friends in person since March, so they had a great time! His friend got him a giant Nerf gun. They rode scooters together, ate cupcakes, and traded Pokemon cards.

Stanley also had a virtual playdate with another close friend, Jarek. They played Roblox together while on a video call. 

Stanley got a surprise visit from his teacher from last year (4th grade), Mrs. Coleman! 

Waterfalls

The kids and I went to see two different waterfalls in the area recently.

One week we went to Beaver Creek Falls. It's about an hour north of us. We took a little road trip and hiked down to the waterfall. It was so pretty and the kids had a great time exploring the water area.

Another week we went to Multnomah Falls. It's a pretty famous waterfall in our area that is about a half hour from our house. It had been a while since the kids had been there, so I wanted them to see it in person. So beautiful.