First Week of In-Person School

After 7 months of online learning due to the Covid-19 pandemic, a few weeks ago the girls returned to in-person instruction five days a week. Hadley started in-person Kindergarten on October 26. On November 9, Savannah walked into middle school for the first time and started in-person instruction for 6th grade.

Due to the pandemic, school is different this year. For example, daily health screenings and temperature checks are required. To stay safe, the girls wear masks, practice social distancing, and sanitize their hands frequently. Although this school year isn't ideal, the girls love school and are learning so much. They love seeing their teachers and having (limited) interaction with other students.

Hadley attends my school, and she loves hanging out with me in the school library before and after school each day.

On the first day, I walked with Hadley to her Kindergarten classroom:

Hadley found the desk with her name:

Silhouette Art

I'm so excited to hang custom silhouettes of Savannah and Hadley in our home! I took photos of the girls' profiles and uploaded them on Minted. I ordered 16x20 silhouettes, personalized them with the girls' names and ages, and put them in white frames from Michaels. I will treasure these silhouettes of my precious girls!

Reservoir Hike

Today our family hiked 4.1 miles on a soft trail around the Reservoir. It took us almost 2.5 hours to complete the loop, but the girls did a great job navigating the tree roots and muddy areas, as well as crossing streams and climbing hills. It was a beautiful day to get some fresh air and exercise and spend some quality family time in nature before we ate our turkey dinner!

Kids Museum

On the day before Thanksgiving, the girls and I had the day off from school, so we played at a local children's museum for several hours. The girls loved pretending, drawing, climbing, and throwing...and so much more! To stay safe, the museum required advance reservations and had reduced capacity. The girls and I wore masks, practiced social distancing, and sanitized our hands frequently. It was a fun day!

We've visited the 7 lighthouses of NC!

Happy Thanksgiving!

For several hours today, our family helped Meals on Wheels and the Durham Rescue Mission by delivering Thanksgiving meals to families. Then, we ate stromboli for lunch. For dessert, we ate slices of tiramisu, chocolate mousse, and red velvet cake from the Italian bakery in our neighborhood. We spent the rest of the day napping and relaxing. Tomorrow we will make and eat our turkey dinner, but today we enjoyed serving our community and practicing compassion. Happy Thanksgiving!

We picked up meals at the Durham Rescue Mission:

Tis the Season

 Tis the season! Our family finished decorating the inside and outside of our house for Christmas. We put seven inflatables in our front yard.

EC Lawrence Park

This weekend the girls and I drove four hours to visit our friends Emily, Xavier and Felix in the Washington, DC area. We hiked 1.6 miles at EC Lawrence Park, where the girls had fun climbing rocks and fallen trees. The girls and I loved spending time with our friends, and we hope to see them again in a few months!

Hanging onto a tree vine

Hadley was so brave to crawl across a fallen tree over a stream:

Sisters. Teamwork.

Hadley and Savannah scooted across the outside of the bridge to get to the other side:

Teamwork to cross another stream

Savannah (11), Hadley (6), Xavier (11), and Felix (7)

Hadley loved Emily's cat Spoof!

Painting crafts at Emily's house