August 2020

 I think the whole world was hoping the pandemic would be pretty much over by the end of summer, but it actually got worse, with large surges around the country in July.  By August, things were improving a little, but not much.  

Here's Daniel and I on my birthday.  We went with Mark to the Village for a birthday lunch (which was very yummy).  I splurged on a cute mask for me (and eventually for the rest of the family) and I think that helps.  

We spent the summer trying to figure out what to do for the kids schooling in the fall.  There were a lot of options to consider and none of them seemed good (see above meme).  I hadn't wanted to homeschool Andy again (we had a difficult homeschooling experience in the spring of 2020).  But the other options (online school or 1/2 time school wearing masks) weren't a good fit for Andy so we decided to homeschool him again.  And I'm glad we did because it's going a lot better this year. Joy is doing great at homeschool and Grace and BethAnne are doing online school through the school district.  Grace's spot at the Fine Arts Academy will be held until next year.

We had a lot of fun outside this summer.  Andy taught Daniel how to swing himself on the swing and for a few weeks, if we couldn't find Daniel, he was out on the swing.

Grandma got a great new swing and the kids had a lot of fun on it.  Here are Daniel, Leeya and Andy.  Our kids and Suzie's kids got along so well this summer!  We can't wait to see them again next summer!

Grandma and Grandpa Baker were carefully isolating all summer, and they still are, but they were able visit us in their backyard.  It will be great when we can get together more normally.

I'm so glad Mark made this Lego table for the kids this last Christmas.  It has been a lifesaver with the Pandemic and it has gotten hours and hours and hours of use. 

Joy, Andy, Daniel and Norah (Joy's good friend)

Some cool creations!

Andy especially loves the Legos, but Daniel is getting better and better at making awesome creations!

I sure love these brilliant, creative kids!