Everyone came back from the farm Saturday night and they brought Ally back with them!
For church Kefford gave the lesson and Avynlea bore her testimony. Ally and Kenedy said the prayers and Kenedy and Ryker were our piano players. Rylee was conducting and did a great job as did everyone in their respective jobs. After our church it was time for our Sunday picture and since Ally was there at church with us she had to be in the picture, she wasn't thrilled with that but she was a good sport.
Kefford wanted to get a picture with his newly shaved face and me, I love when he wants to take pictures with me! I have been doing more makeup free days and I liked being able to go makeup free on Sundays. Sometimes putting on makeup is a pain, well more like taking off makeup is a pain. I like when I go bare faced because then I don't have to wash makeup off my face and if I have makeup on I always wash it off before I go to bed.
After we ate our Sunday Dinner we went over to Merrill Park in Eagle to walk along the green belt. Merrill Park used to be a chicken farm and we liked the big rooster on display.
The green belt is a beautiful walking trail and a lot of it runs along the river with lots of trees along the path. We found a cool climbing tree that had wood nailed to it like a ladder It must have had a rope swing attached to it at some point because their was some rope hanging off the tree. Rylee wanted to climb up it but once she got to the top of the wooden steps she got a little nervous and came back down.
Ryker and Kefford both then took turns making the climb and got a lot farther up the branches with Kefford going the furthest as he was brave enough to go out on the limb. The rest of us were content to sit and watch although I did video with the hopes that someone might fall off into the river. hahaha
Ally took a family picture for us and then I wanted her in a shot so we took a selfie which Ryker did not participate in and Kefford barely participated. Sometimes these boys are difficult.
The walk started out a bit rough with some of our family members being in bad moods but by the end of it we were all enjoying ourselves and the girls even collected some rocks from the river to take home for some painting. It was a successful Sunday family activity!
Dance classes have resumed at the studio and even though we are doing everything we can to sanitize and keep the kids six feet apart it is super hard with 3 and 4 year olds and their parents. On Monday my parents came in the font door and sat down in the waiting area like it was a normal week at dance. EDP sent an email about our new protocol and parents were to drop kids off at the back doors and wait in the cars. We were the only class so it wasn't a big deal I just made sure to sanitize everything after they left. During our shoe change break all of the girls wanted to go to the bathrooms so their moms took them and one of the Moms had me hold her baby while she took her daughter. Crazy. I sanitized but I was super worried about holding him since we are supposed to still be social distancing. The kids had fun in class but after almost two months of being without friends they wanted to play and touch and be all over the place. It felt like the first day of class all over again. I am glad to only have two more weeks of this and then to put a cap on this dance year and call it good.
One of my dancers, Dagny, is not coming back to class and so on Monday before class I dropped her costume off at her house. She was excited to see me while still being a little shy. Dagny's mom sent me a picture of Dags in one of her costumes and she looks so cute.
Tuesday was Cinco De Mayo and I made my favorite Mexican rice and fried tacos to celebrate. It was a perfect meal and tasted so good, Kefford said it was restaurant quality and that is high praise!
After she got her permit I drove us back to Meridian to pick up Avynlea's friend Sadie for a hangout and Avy drove us to our house. It will be nice having another driver in the family especially one who has such a busy schedule.
Dance classes have resumed at the studio and even though we are doing everything we can to sanitize and keep the kids six feet apart it is super hard with 3 and 4 year olds and their parents. On Monday my parents came in the font door and sat down in the waiting area like it was a normal week at dance. EDP sent an email about our new protocol and parents were to drop kids off at the back doors and wait in the cars. We were the only class so it wasn't a big deal I just made sure to sanitize everything after they left. During our shoe change break all of the girls wanted to go to the bathrooms so their moms took them and one of the Moms had me hold her baby while she took her daughter. Crazy. I sanitized but I was super worried about holding him since we are supposed to still be social distancing. The kids had fun in class but after almost two months of being without friends they wanted to play and touch and be all over the place. It felt like the first day of class all over again. I am glad to only have two more weeks of this and then to put a cap on this dance year and call it good.
One of my dancers, Dagny, is not coming back to class and so on Monday before class I dropped her costume off at her house. She was excited to see me while still being a little shy. Dagny's mom sent me a picture of Dags in one of her costumes and she looks so cute.
On Wednesday Avynlea finally completed her Drivers course and got her permit!! Because of phase 1 the instructor felt comfortable enough to start the drives again and she scheduled Avynlea's last drive for last Friday but then had to reschedule to Monday because she had to get her oil changed and then she changed it again to Wednesday because she had to go to a funeral in California. It was a mess and I was worried she was going to keep rescheduling. Luckily the Wednesday drive happened, Avynlea had to wear a mask while she drove which she was not happy about but I thought she looked cute.
Cheer tryouts is coming up and on Thursday Avynlea had her cheer besties over so they could practice together. It was a lot of fun to have these girls back together again and they worked hard practicing and performing for each other to be critiqued. They really made good use of their time. They all really want to make Varsity and I think they are all talented enough but the girls are worried about the incoming Freshman. Just listening to them talk about how worried they are made me start to stress and get anxiety about it. It would be so sad if all but one made the same team. Hopefully the judges will recognize the hard work and the girls will be able to be all together.
Bottom Right Picture: Paige, Avynlea, Natalie, Hailey and Andreya
Midway between practicing I took the girls over to the school for the MHS Academic celebration. In the past the celebration has been during 1st and 2nd period at school and the kids get their t-shirts and breakfast is served. Parents are invited to come and eat with their kids and I always tried to make it to be with my academic scholars. This year the typical celebration was not happening because of school now being home school and quarantine so MHS had to come up with something different. They did a celebration drive through! The teachers were all lined up as we drove through their lines in the parking lot and they were cheering and waving streamers and blowing noise makers. We got to the first station where each kid received a cup cake, at the next station they announced each person's name over the loudspeaker while everyone cheered for them. At the third station they got their shirts and then at the the 4th and 5th station they got candy and pizza coupons.
It was so much fun and the girls loved it! Avynlea drove and was super embarrassed about it all so she kept her window rolled up. She is funny sometimes. After the celebration we took Hailey home so that she could take care of her baby lamb and the girls got out to take pictures really quick.
Not everyone had the grades for an academic t-shirt and so after that picture we took one with all five of the cheer besties!
top pic: Avynlea, Natalie, Andreya and Hailey
bottom pic: Avynlea, Natalie, Andreya, Hailey and Paige
On Friday I had a Dance Connection Team meeting and during the meeting someone mentioned a post Brigitte put on Facebook. I have been avoiding Facebook and didn't know what they were talking about so I loafed on and looked at her page. She wrote the sweetest message about all of us in honor of Teacher Appreciation Week and it gave me all the good feels. I screenshot what she wrote and took a picture of us on our zoom meeting so I could have it here in my blog. Some things are definitely worth documenting.
Top Row: Riley, Elizabeth and Brigitte
Middle Row: McKayla, Holly and Hailie
Bottom Row: Cyndi
Friday morning Kefford took Kenedy, Ryker and Avynlea and went to Washington for the night to see Mark and Debbie. Rylee wanted to go but when she found out it would be 4 hours in the car just to get there for one night she quickly changed her mind. She opted to stay with me and after a relaxing day of doing nothing around the house Rylee went with me to dance to watch and help. After wards we got some food from the Dairy Queen and some fruit and cupcakes from Fred Myer and we went home and watched The Adams Family animated movie. It was fun having time with just Rylee and that night she slept in my bed with me. She was a restless sleeper and at one point all of Kefford's pillows got thrown to the floor, she didn't like how stiff they were.
While at dance class Roen gave me the cup with jolly ranchers and a balloon in it and also this cute quarantine shirt. The previous times I have gotten gifts from her it was bottles of wine so I was super excited about this upgrade!
Saturday night Rylee went to Taci'shouse to have a movie night with her and Ella. She had fun being with her friends and hanging out eating popcorn and watching a show outdoors. It is nice to be getting back into warmer weather so that outdoor activities are possible again.
Rylee, Ella and Tayci