Just as school ended online last year, it will begin online this year. Classes start on Tuesday, and the girls excitedly picked up bags with their laptops, textbooks and other goodies earlier today. They even got a Brandeis-branded mask!
(When I asked Avery if she wanted me to snap a photo of her without a mask, she said no – she wanted to wear it “for sentimental purposes.” Someday I suppose we’ll look back and say, remember when??)
-M
To celebrate my birthday late last month we did another NoCal get-away, this time visiting the very cool Nevada City, right in the heart of Gold Country. We went glamping, exploring and swimming (it was our first time to the Yuba River), and we celebrated with Avery’s best friend – who happens to have the same birthday as me!
-M
The girls were supposed to spend this part of summer at sleep-away camp, but the pandemic thwarted those plans. Though stuck at home, they’ve been pretty good-natured and quite good at keeping busy! They have, admittedly, done a fair amount of watching videos and scrolling through Instagram, but the majority of their time has been spent on other activities. Zoe has done tons of reading, Avery is constantly playing with slime, and they’ve both been making videos and working on soon-due school projects. And they’ve also been creative with other activities, like when they did a blind taste test with staple-type foods (think mayonnaise, lemon juice and pepper) – as in the photo below.
-M
A highlight of our trip to Guerneville was swimming and canoeing in the Russian River. (True, we weren’t technically sheltering in place – but we wore masks and generally stayed away from people.) We had been to this particular beach once, when Zoe was super small, but of course she didn’t remember. And though none of us girls (including Maddie, who tagged along with us) weren’t super excited about the canoe part we wound up having a blast. We even extended our rental time to be out on the water a bit longer…
-M
Towards the end of July, we sought out some sun and headed about 1 1/2 hours north. Our destination was the small town of Guerneville in Sonoma County, and we sheltered in place in a new place – called Maristella’s Treehouse. We spent five days lounging around, exploring the rural county, and hanging out by the river (photos coming soon); and I took the family to a place I’ve wanted to visit for years. The Armstrong Redwoods Natural Reserve is similar to the more popular John Muir Woods, but better (i.e. less touristy and crowded), and it didn’t disappoint!
-M
Wow – it’s been a long time since I last posted! I blame COVID, and the fact that despite the days blending together, the summer has gone super fast. (My busy work schedule hasn’t made it easy to carve out time to write, either…)
We’re still here, still sheltering in place (like everyone), still working and playing and trying to differentiate the weekdays from the weekends. The girls have done a few online camps, but have otherwise kept themselves occupied and surprisingly not bored or irritated over staying (mostly) inside. A few fun get-aways probably have also helped – and I’ll share photos of our adventures here soon!
-M