First Camping Trip!! (September)

I've been dying to take you both camping this year. Not sure why - I just knew that you would both love it, and you did! We only stayed for one night, but we all took Monday off (you me and Benny) and spent one day/night at Findlay Lake State Park.  It was a beautiful campground and we had the most perfect site.  

You and Benny had 4 hot dogs each on this trip - Mostly just cooked them right in the fire pit! This was a fantastic trip, and now I can't stop thinking about when we'll be able to go again! My favorite part is how you and Benny are so interested in nature and just exploring and would never be bored doing something like this even if there is no TV or phone.

This was our setup - Back under the trees, perfect weather and temperature. I slept on an air mattress with Benny and you had your own all to yourself. We slept great! (See the Luggable Loo by the tent??) 

 

First Day of 3rd Grade Tomorrow!!!

 Oh wow! What can I say - This summer has flown by (I have some catch up posts to make). Mommy goes back tomorrow too and Benny starts kindergarten on Thursday. You will both be on the bus together at the same school for the first time! And you're both so excited about it - And I should have some great pictures.

You're going to be so great in 3rd grade. You're smart, polite, friendly, and an amazing girl. I'm so proud to be your dad and Benny, Mommy, and I are lucky to have you. 

These pictures go backwards, but I'll explain them all!

This is Huntington Beach - I took you and Benny there for the day and you dug around in the sand and we played in the water. Tried out the metal detector but it thought everything was metal... Was a hot day, but any time I can take a day off of work and spend it with you two is the best day ever.

For Father's Day, we took a big hike. I love going on adventures with you both and this was a good one. We looked and looked for a place to play in the river and after a mile or two of hiking, we found one!

One of the first things we did this summer was take a trip to Columbus. We stay at this cool hotel where they let you fill up your own pop for free whenever you want and give you free dinner. It also has a pool and nice rooms.

At the Columbus Zoo we were able to pet the stingrays!

Doing our best pirate impressions - Arggg!

The first day of summer happened to be National Donut Day - The donut store was giving away free donuts and gave us extra ones because I had my COVID vaccine...

Winter and Father Daughter Dance

Every chance I get to spend some dedicated time with you, I take it! And one of my favorite things about you is that you'll try almost anything, and then after you try it you want to get better at it instead of giving up. Skiing, swimming, badminton, juggling, everything! So we ski as much as we can in the winter. We just go on the local slopes but I hope this year or some day soon we can all go to a cool ski area in Vermont or Colorado or something. 

Even Benny started skiing this year!

Father Daughter dance - Got delayed a little this year because of COVID, but still one of my favorite days of the year :) 

 

2020 - The Pandemic Year

 What a year it has been. On mommy's birthday March 13th, the schools decided to shut down for two weeks in order to control a global pandemic called COVID-19 that was making a lot of people sick.  Well two weeks turned into 6 months and you never went back to school the rest of first grade. 

Second grade has been a little bit of in-school and a little bit of online learning. The online learning is not that fun and I wish for you to get back to school as soon as possible. When you are in school, they make the kids wear masks and stay separated which is a little sad. It has been determined that kids are very safe in school from this virus, so I'm hopeful that you'll go back in January. But you have had a great attitude and have handled it very well. I'm very very proud of you.

Also, I haven't been to work since March either! I have been working from home this whole time which has been very hard but also given me a lot more time to see you and Benny. We haven't been able to do much or go to many places because a lot of them are closed, and I think we have all become a lot closer because of it. You and Benny are closer than ever and I hope it never changes. 

Right now, you're both pretty obsessed with poop and potty words. It's not too bad yet, but I just hope you don't say it in front of other people! It's every other word out of your mouths when you're home. 

We spent a lot of time inside, so I got you set up on a virtual bike riding game that I use! You really really like it and are really really good at it! I hope we always have a common interest in exercising together :)

We flew the kite for something to do outside because we spent so much time inside...

We did a lot of fires in the driveway because we wanted to get out of the house but it was so cold all spring!

2020 Skiing

This year you have your own skis and a membership to the local ski spot (boston mills)! We got out a few times and you started going down the blue hills!

Im not sure who has more fun on these ski trips - you or me... Next year we'll probably try bringing Benny!

Father Daughter Dance 2020

Dont mind the dates on these posts - I'm jumping around a bit...

This was your 1st grade father/daughter dance for SJJ at the Holiday Inn in Strongsville. Can't believe how grown up you look all dressed up! It was a really fun night even though you spent a lot of time running around with your friends and stealing cupcakes... :)

This is you with your friend Shaylee - You both have the same birthday!!!

Cool Lego Time-Lapse Video!

It's about a month after Christmas and one of you favorite things to do with me is Legos. This one is from Frozen and even though we already put it together once, we took it all apart so we could do it again in a time-lapse video.

It's so cool and you are so good at following the directions on these! I love that Benny couldn't break your concentration even with some marble cheese! :) 

When we were taking apart the legos to redo them for the video, I asked if you wanted to leave some of the pieces put together so we could make the video faster - You said no, lets take them all apart so we can spend more time together. 😭

Part 1:

Part 2: