107 months

The girls started an outdoor exercise class (Fit 4 Kids) at the community park by our house this month. We had been looking for something for them to do that was outdoors and socially distanced and it seemed like the perfect fit. The coach was one of the former directors at the YMCA from back in the day when daddy did their conditioning class, the girls remembered him but hadn't seen him in years when they were taking tumbling class there. While they were excited for something to do they were a little hesitant and shy to start, they hadn't been around other kids in months and needed some socialization! Once they found their spot on the field, their wild sides kicked in and they had fun, until they realized how hard the class was and how hard they were working! PE in school these days is nothing compared to PE class when mommy and daddy were little, Fit 4 Kids is how PE should be in school and what we did back in the day! They did everything from lunges, situps, and shuttle runs, to push ups and running the field. They were exhausted at the end of the first class, I don't think they have ever worked out that much!

We decided to nix the traditional Halloween festivities this year and instead the cousins came up for a weekend of fun, it was out last holiday in the house before we moved out. Aunt Boo and I had been planning a Halloween party for "months" according to the kids and needed to make it over the top for them! The girls schooled till noon on Friday and after lunch their cousins arrived! They were excited to see each other, it had only been a couple of weeks since they had last seen each other but you would have thought months had gone by! They did a little scootering and chalking while we waited for Nana to get closer to town, she was dropping her car off for repairs and we had to go and pick her up.  "She was taking forever" according to the kids so we stopped for some ice cream to kill some more time while we waited, they were excited when they saw her car turn at the light and screamed that we needed to follow her and pick her up, well we had to wait for Miss A to finish her ice cream which didn't make the other three happy! They were all excited to see Nana, they hadn't seen her since the summer and had so much to tell and show her to bring her up to speed on Animal Crossing that we had all become addicted too! Friday night after the kids went to bed the mommy's got to decorating, we had expectations to fulfill!

Saturday was Halloween and the kids were all excited when they woke up! We had planned a day full of food and fun activities that started with trick-or-treating in their PJ's and Peachy's donuts for breakfast! We all "hid" in separate rooms and the kids trick-or-treated around the house for goodies and surprises to keep them occupied for the day. They were not fond of the black beans daddy tried to give them from the pantry, ha! We played games (Bingo of course for Nana), colored, and painted pumpkins but the thing they seemed to like most was the scavenger hunt! It took them all over the house and surprisingly they all worked together without any fighting to get to the final prize, the Mousetrap game which they all loved and couldn't wait to play! Playing Mousetrap occupied time in the afternoon and we did another round of bedroom trick-or-treating. No one got dressed up in costumes, they wore Halloween shirts for the day and then switched into their new Animal Crossing shirts they got at the last trick-or-treat stop. Once all of our planned festivities were over it was time for the AC Halloween party to start, this was the first big event AC was hosting since we had all had been sucked into the game, even the big kids were looking forward to the party, Nana still doesn't understand our obsession over the game! We spent the evening trick-or-treating with our residents, visiting each others islands and crafting all of the recipes we got. At the end of the night the kids exclaimed it was the best day ever, in what has been some challenging months keeping them happy and engaged we did pretty well with our Not So Halloween Party! They were all sad the next day when it was time for them to hit the road back to Miami, even though we had our next trip planned to Miami in less than a month there were tears. These kids have really grown a close bond the last couple of months and it makes everyone's hearts happy and full.  

School continues to go great and it's hard to believe that they have been home for as long as they have. We are fortunate we have been able to keep them home during this time but are looking forward to them returning in person after the first of the year. While J has thrived at home with BH I know she misses the daily interaction with her teacher and classmates, but she doesn't miss PE, and she misses the principals joke of the day on the morning announcements! They have read so much during quarantine and J's nose is constantly buried in a book, at the table, on the potty and in the car, I'm surprised she hasn't figured out how to take it into the shower with her. They learned a little about the election in school and J was upset when she found out that C got to go with us to cast our vote. We all watched the night of the election as the votes rolled in and then all watch the night of the acceptance speech, the girls listened closely to Harris' speech and it gave me goosebumps to sit there and watch these two watch the first woman Vice President give her acceptance speech, truly history in the making. 

We had family pictures this month in Downtown Sarasota and then headed to their Main Street for dinner afterwards. It was time to update the two year old pictures, the girls have grown so much since the last session and the photographer couldn't believe how big they had gotten! For once they cooperated for pictures, but their hair didn't even after being flat ironed, it was hot and humid that night! They enjoyed another opportunity to go out for dinner, we went to the place we had gone for our anniversary right before quarantine started. We had a nice dinner and of course the girls had pasta and meatballs. We closed on our house middle of month and moved everything to storage or to the temporary condo we'd be staying in the next three months, minimalistic living at it's finest, at least we had a couple of trips to Miami to break up the time with us all in close quarters!

J got to celebrate her birthday early twice, we were heading to Miami for her birthday/Thanksgiving and had to start her celebrations early. The Friday before we went with BH and her mom to lunch on the river, the girls loved playing in the sand, climbing on the rocks and watching for "mermaids" in the water. This is the nice thing about eLearning, being able to make our own schedule and getting to do these things with them during the week, I know I am going to miss this time when they go back. Saturday before we left we had a BBQ with G&G, of course J wanted steak and the bone! 

We headed down to Miami to spend the week of Thanksgiving and J's birthday with her cousins. We have spent so much time with them it was J's request to spend her birthday with them. The adults took off from work for the week and since the weather was nice we were able to venture out of the house and more than just go on the boat! We had to make J's last two days as an eight year old memorable and that we did! We spent Monday on the boat ALL day, J wanted to fish and she got her wish. After our bout the last time with trying to take the kids to the ocean to fish we went straight to the little creek to fish. The fish were biting and we had so much fun catching a variety of fish, it was as neat as fishing in Animal Crossing as we caught colorful and different fish. J cast, hooked and reeled in her fish, we even got her to finally hold one with a rag, she is becoming quite the little fisherwoman! We cruised down to the Keys for a late lunch (we had eaten plenty of snacks as we fished) and had lunch outside under the huge tiki hut at Gilbert's. We all enjoyed some fresh seafood, the island music and the low key style of being in the keys, nothing is better than getting off the boat in bathing suits and flip flops for lunch. The girls thought it was neat to be able to drive to lunch in the boat, we were hoping to see some dolphins as we cruised but we didn't have any luck. The weather changed while we were at lunch and the wind blew in, the water was a little choppy on the way back, we all got soaked from the waves and decided to sneak back into the creek to see what was biting and to see if the weather calmed down some. We caught some more fish (nothing to keep this day but we caught a lot of fish) and before we knew it the sun was setting. We got to see the beautiful sunset on our ride back in, J wanted me to try and take a picture of her holding the sun but we couldn't get the angle right, oh well at least she say it. We had a fun filled day on the boat and had some tired kids that night! 

Tuesday we got a slow start, mommy and Aunt Boo baked J's cakes and had some errands to run to get things ready for her birthday. The kids played at home in their jammies before we headed to the park for a Chick-fil-A picnic, the kids in Miami were still in school so the park was empty. They had fun scootering, running around the grass, down the hill and chasing tennis balls. It's amazing what some fresh air and being outside can do to your mentality after the last seven months. We swam and BBQed that night with Nana, it was a great way to end her eighth year and after one last eight year old kiss, mommy and Aunt Boo got to decorating the house for the next morning!

Here are the pictures from the month.