Halloween 2020

This year has been different in every way due to this darn pandemic.  Initially, there was talks of cancelling Halloween, but of all of the holidays - why this one??  The kids are wearing costumes, that often includes a full mask, and sometimes even gloves. So when word spread that it was proceeding, we got ready.  Many decided to pass out candy outside, others left buckets outside, and some were creative enough to come up with candy shoots - ways to disperse candy while social distancing.

Bennett decided to be a zombie with a few of her girlfriends (Madeline Maxwell, Audrey Roberts and Sarah Elliott), Preston was Tua Tagovailoa, a professional football player on the Dolphins and

Walker decided to be a Ninja (like last year).  Walker didn't really care what he dressed up as, as long as he could trick or treat with Preston "in the good area where they pass out full size candy bars."  It was a busy afternoon, so no pictures with all three kids, but we got to keep some of the traditions like seeing Mimi and Papa.

B, Audrey, Sarah and Madeline

After visiting them, we came home to eat a quick dinner and then Steve took the boys to Preston's favorite area where they continued to fill bucket after bucket!  I stayed back to hand out candy for the first time in 12 years, and it was incredibly anti-climatic (won't be doing that again).  After an hour and a half, the boys pulled in and I couldn't believe the 25 lb bags they EACH carried inside!  They both admitted they had enough candy, so we decided to go watch the Bama and SMU games with friends. 

Walker ended up getting tired after hanging out for a bit due to his big day, so I took him home to hit the hay.  Bennett and her girlfriends ended up at our house about the same time too.  Meanwhile, Preston and Steve hung at Leah and Fletcher Smith's home with folks into the evening and got to witness not only a full moon, but also a blue moon.  

Having both occur on Halloween was a rare treat.  In fact, the last full moon visible for most time zones on Earth hasn't happened since 1944.  But it was also a blue moon, a designation for the second full moon to occur in a month.  They are pretty rare, only occurring ever 2.5 years.  Lots of fun for a very full Halloween day!

Homewood Havoc Plays Fall Ball

Thankfully COVID didn't stop these boys from playing baseball!  Things were a little different this Fall...masks are supposed to be worn when not playing, and the fans are supposed to social distance themselves and wear masks when they are unable to stay apart.  But since our boys are all close friends, as are the parents....we didn't follow the rules that closely...and fortunately we have stayed healthy.

The Havoc have played in several tournaments this Summer and Fall, as well as a handful of scrimmages, and I love watching them improve.  The team has definite talent, but they just don't all fire on the same cylinder every game, or they have one rough inning which kills them.  And when they play tournaments, they don't always have the stamina to last all day.  But all of these tournaments they enter, are practice for the big week-long tournament they signed up to play in next summer.

This summer our team decided to enter a tournament in Branson, MO called the "Ballparks of America."  All of the families are planning to accompany the boys, but it will cost a chunk of change for the tournament entry, new uniforms, food and activities during the down time.  So I volunteered to lead the fundraising efforts, and we came up with a great plan to raise $12,000!

Hopefully the boys will continue to improve and play well together.  Preston is still working on his pitching, and though he loves short stop - he has been playing a lot of third base this Fall.  He has even played in the outfield some and has made some incredible diving catches!  We love to watch him, and I truly believe he loves the sport.  Just hoping he realizes how hard he will have to work to make the high school team. 

The little siblings of these boys have become friends too, and look forward to hanging out.  Walker loves playing with Caleb and Bowen.  They will play on playgrounds, play wall ball, kick ball, color, ipad games and even entertained themselves for an hour one day trying to get a paper airplane off of a roof with a ball.  Whatever it takes to keep them happy.

The final Fall tournament was an all day event.  They had their first game at 9am (they won), second one right after at 11am (they won), then had a FOUR hour break!  It was a forever long time, but the boys came back after break and won their third game at 5pm.  Preston pitched that entire game and did a fantastic job, with three innings as a three up-three down!  They played a great game!  However, they lost steam in their final game, and sadly ended in second place.  They were thrilled to make it that far, their first time in awhile, and they were able to leave with some hardware.

Fortunately, the whole family enjoys watching him, and I think it will be a fun week in Branson next summer!

Kids are Back in School....Kind-of

Six months after schools closed up in mid March due to COVID-19, they cautiously reopened again.  They were delayed a week, but after multiple meetings with administrators, Homewood City Schools rolled out a wonderful, detailed plan on how they were going to protect our children.  Since all of our kids were ready to return, and see their friends again, we got ready!

We learned that Walker (like all elementary-aged kids) gets to attend school 5 days a week, but he has to wear a mask all day.  The big kids have a different situation.  Their school was split in half by last name, and each half only goes two days.  They learn virtually the other three days.  Of course some families elected to do virtual learning for the first half of the year, so all class sizes are smaller. 

Walker's class has about 15 students (compared to the usual 20), but Bennett and Preston only have 9-10 kids (less than half their usual).   No dressing out for P.E., all cafeteria meals are pre-packaged and the same for the entire week, and the students can only sit 3 students to a table, and sometimes eat outside or in their classroom.  Lots of little changes, but they can adapt thanks to their resiliency.

Since only Walker attended in-person school on the first day, the whole family went to see him off.  He was a little nervous walking back into the school without Preston.  The anxiety was exacerbated by the fact that he also didn't know where his new classroom was located (and no one could enter the building to help guide him). However, he had a terrific first day, and loves his teacher - Ms. Werner (who was also Bennett's 1st grade teacher). 

Bennett picked out her outfit to showcase how much she has changed the past 6 months.  She has grown taller, gotten more fit, got her gums lasered to expose more of her pretty smile and she was proud.  As expected, she looked beautiful!  Preston was a little nervous about what to expect at HMS.  He walked in with Bennett, and waited to meet his teachers in person (he was sent videos earlier in the week where they introduced themselves).  He sadly found out that he didn't have anyone he knew in his class (there are only 9 children), but he likes all of his teachers.

Time will tell how all of this pans out, but we are off to a good start....nice teachers and everyone is healthy!

A Long Time Overdue....

Darn COVID took so much from us over the past 6 months....the last 9 weeks of school, field trips for the kids, 5th grade graduation for Preston, our spring break and trip to Europe, time with friends, running errands without masks, an overall sense of normalcy.....but most of all....time with family.  If I have learned anything over the past year, it is that time with family is irreplaceable.  Losing the last six months with Myra and Louis has been tough on all of us.  

No family dinners on Sunday, they weren't in the baseball stands all spring, they didn't attend the beach trip that was planned and payed for by them a year ago, the kids couldn't get their doritos with cheese dip, no junk bags of candy and snacks and so much more!  In summary, the social distancing has sucked, but we haven't want to risk getting them sick!  

We have tried to be so careful, and therefore have really tried to stay away.  Thank goodness for Dan who has taken such good care of them over these last several months.  He has done all of their grocery shopping, lawn care, errands and so much more.  They have basically been quarantining on their property this entire time.

After so many months with limited contact, and no hugs from our children....we decided to get pizza and hang in the backyard with most of the family (sadly, Maria had to work).  It was hot, but oh so fun!  It was much needed, and we all enjoyed being together for the first time in a long time... Mimi even had a couple of beers!

Goodbye 6 Month Summer Break!

Wowsers!  School is almost here, finally!  Quite frankly, it is hard to believe how fast the past 6 months have gone by.  The first month was fun, as we were holed up and somewhat getting along since it was all so new.  However, month 2-3 were tough as we struggled to find our groove while finishing school and trying to work from home.  But months 4-6 were more their true summer....so the kids had many lazy days, lots of time in front of the TV and their electronics, and we also managed to squeeze a couple of getaways in to break up the monotony.  Overall the time went by fairly quickly.

Our final couple of weeks we spent swimming at the pool, one last visit to Six Flags and then off to Highlands to escape the heat.  Bennett has been begging to bring a friend along on one of our vacations for the past year.  We have tried a couple other times, but it has never worked out.  However, we had a large home rented in NC, so we asked Mary Caroline to join us - and she did!  She was a great addition for the week, as she gets along with all of the kids, and is talkative with us adults.  

It was a scorcher at Six Flags, but a few of us were ready to tackle some ground - Pres, MC and me :).  We were on a mission to ride the roller coasters we missed out on earlier this summer, and we had a blast!  We cooled off periodically on a couple of water rides too, which were rides that everyone enjoyed.  As the day went on with the high heat and longer lines, Bennett and Walker were ready to leave (they aren't the risk-takers in the group), but we talked everyone into the All American Scream Machine (the original wooden rollercoaster).  Walker freaked out initially, but he eventually conceded and rode the ride.  Once we finished, he said it was his new favorite ride of the park (dude just needs to be forced to try new things).  We (Steve, Pres, MC and me) rode one last rollercoaster - the Superman, and then were off!  We were thinking we would only be there from 11:30-5ish, but we didn't leave until 7:30, and then had to drive a few hours to NC.  It was a long, hot day, but it was worth it.  Due to everyone being overheated and tired, it was a nice, quiet ride there, even though we arrived much later than we wanted.

The following morning we tried to sleep in, but we eventually got out to hike, and then we went out for a late lunch at the Ugly Dog.  We saw friends from home there, and agreed to meet up for a drink later.  We went back to get settled in our house.  Then the Passarella family came over for a couple of cocktails.  The kids all played together, and we caught up on the screened in porch.  It was a great first night, and even though we didn't have air conditioning...we slept fairly well.

The following morning, we woke up to rain, which prompted us to move slowly.  After a late breakfast,

I took the girls shopping in Highlands for a couple of hours, while the boys stayed back and played video games and threw the football.  As the clouds started to part, we came home to get everyone so we could go see a couple of waterfalls that didn't require a lot of hiking.  

On Tuesday, we got up and hiked my favorite mountain, Whiteside.  The views from the top are incredible, and everyone found it to be an easier hike (so little complaining).  We then took the kids to Sliding Rock, where they can slide down the rocks into a freezing cold pond.  After they had enough and were cold, we came home to get dry clothes on and drop Steve off so he could work for a couple of hours.  I then took the kids back to Cashiers for a late pizza lunch.  The kids wanted to hit a couple of the shops there too.  When we knew Steve was finished working, we headed home to shower, and get in our pjs.  We had a full day, and just wanted to chill with dinner at home, and a late night of cards and foos-ball!

On our last full day, Steve got up with the boys and took them fishing while the girls worked on their AP English summer reading project.  Preston caught a couple of small fish, but sadly Walker didn't have any luck.  When they got back to the house, we ate lunch and then went towards Highlands for a pretty, yet challenging hike.  Glen Falls is great for viewing the beautiful water fall, but the whole first half of the hike is downhill, leaving the whole second half as an uphill battle.  Walker did surprisingly well on the way up as long as he was holding my hand.  As a reward, we went to "Bust Your Butt Falls."  Once again the water was cold, but there were lots of large stones that created small wading areas, and then there was a cliff where the kids took turns jumping in (well everyone, but Walker).  They had a blast!  We hated to leave, but we had dinner reservations that night, so we needed to hurry home to shower and get ready.

Miraculously we were all ready in less than an hour, and we made it to dinner on time.  We had a delicious dinner, and then treated the kids to ice cream for our final night.  We came home and tried to get our bags in order so it wouldn't be too stressful on Thursday morning.  Overall, it was a packed five days of fun, with some downtime before the craziness of school begins.  As much as our family drives each other nuts, we can really enjoy ourselves too.  Blessed that we can escape to do things like this even during a pandemic.

We got home to a pile of mail, which included a letter from Shades Cahaba to Walker.  He was thrilled to receive his own letter.  It had a scratch off with the picture of his new 1st grade teacher displayed underneath.  When he finally scratched it off, he was excited to learn that it was Ms. Werner, Bennett's 1st grade teacher.  Sadly, Preston didn't have in person 6th grade orientation or locker decorating due to COVID, but he didn't let that get him down. School is going to look different this year, and they will just have to learn to roll with it.