Tiny sleeps in weird positions sometimes.
The girls made me cards for my birthday. This was Ever's, made from homemade paper courtesy of a paper-making kit Coco gave the girls.
This was Tiny's.
I don't have a picture of anything from Wrenzy, so I'm not sure if she gave me something other than, undoubtedly, her love.
Jim and I got a sitter for the girls and did a night in La Jolla. We got there at dinnertime and walked around looking for a restaurant that a) looked good and b) didn't have a giant wait. Because capacity was restricted due to COVID, the restaurants were all full and then some. Finally found someplace that was not amazing (although I think Jim liked his meal), and then we went on the hunt for dessert. We decided to get something at the restaurant in our hotel, but by the time we returned, they said they weren't serving anymore. It was most devastating. We had a fun night watching part of a movie on TV, followed by a really terrible, seedy Lifetime movie that was somehow highly enjoyable.
The next morning we found a café that fed me an incredible Belgian waffle that included tons of fruit and flower petals, granola, and a little drizzle of Nutella that I thought couldn't possibly be enough but was. I loved it.
We debated what to do with our day. Jim really wanted to snorkel. I hate to admit this, but snorkeling kind of freaks me out. I knew that I should do it to be adventurous, but the desire was lacking. We went, though, and I didn't regret it. The water was really cold, even in my thick wetsuit. We weren't out for too awfully long, but I couldn't have stood it much longer.
We had the sister missionaries over for dinner, and Wrenzy wrote them the sweetest welcome note.
Sunday nights I sat down with our Coastal materials and printed and organized stuff for the week.
Bear got to start going to school once a week for a half day, I believe. (Sometime later, she started going twice a week.) Before the first day, her teacher, Mrs. Belmudes, had the class come one morning to meet her and do a little obstacle course outside, just to get them acquainted with her and the school. It was nice. I noted that Bear was the smallest in her class and WAY shorter than some. My sweet, tiny Bear.
Bear seems not to be much of a joiner, and she only halfheartedly participated in the obstacle course.
A few days after our La Jolla stay, this piece of seaweed came out of my hair during a shower.
I introduced the girls to "Silver Springs" by Fleetwood Mac. It is an anthem from my college days that I love to play loud and sing along to, and the girls appreciated. One afternoon Tiny sat (with her dress on backward, resulting in a constant wardrobe malfunction) on the couch listening to it over and over and singing along.
Homeschool with Luc and Amelie.
Wrenzy began copying text from the scriptures. Not sure why. She ended up copying quite a bit. "Look not behind" was just the beginning. An extraordinary kindergartener, that one.
Anna took this picture of Lelei Thompson, Ever, and Leela. Not sure where this is, when the picture was taken, or why the girls were together.
I took pictures of the biggers as I dropped them at Susan's for school just because they were cute, especially Wrenzy in her dress and self-styled hair.
The littles earned a movie, and I suggested Heidi. I have never seen it, but I knew Ever watched it and liked it. She mentioned a sad part about the grandpa but said it got happy. I couldn't figure out which version Ever watched, so I set the littles up with the Shirley Temple one. Thought Shirley would be safe. I checked on the girls once, and they were sober but OK.
A while later, I heard hysterics coming from my room. I thought the littles had gotten into a huge brawl or something. I found them SOBBING. I have never witnessed such sobbing. Well maybe when I walked in it was just Wrenzy sobbing and Tiny crying but not as hysterically. Wrenzy lost it first, and then Tiny joined in. Heidi was taken away from her grandfather, and the littles were inconsolable. It was so sad. I tried to tell them it would be okay and there was going to be a happy ending, but they were devastated. The movie very abruptly resolved everything and ended happily, but it was not sufficient for the girls. Our foray into Shirley Temple was a complete disaster. Wrenzy has the most tender heart and often cries in movies. It's the sweetest.
We went shopping for a couch for the cabin and tried to do a little hike first. The hike ended up getting nixed after a look around by the parking lot, and then we couch-shopped well into the night. I believe there was a stop at Home Depot for tile, too.
Sweet Bear did her hair again.
Beary/Berry started spelling words for me over dinner. This is a long video that I have to keep for posterity. She's amazing. Her username in her online math program was "topbear;" that's why she spells that.
Susan always made home school fun with games, baking, and the like. (Meanwhile I just tried to get through.)
Tiny wore her Little House costume on Wednesday, October 28 to preschool.
Jim squeezed in pumpkin carving.
I organized a trick-or-treating route in Henie Hills for all the Primary kids on Friday, October 30 so that there would be a small, controlled option during COVID. I encouraged the ten or so houses that participated to have a game or activity or something outside to beef up the experience. It went well, and the kids had fun. Leela and Rafi, Noah and Nathan, and Luc and Amelie went with us. Tiny and Wrenzy were from Little House; Ever was Hermione from Harry Potter.
We had a couple cars set up along the route giving out candy, too. Some of the teenagers from the ward popped a trunk across the street from our house. They played music and ended up hosting a brief dance party at the end of the night.
It took us so long to go around our side of the neighborhood that we didn't make it to the other side until they had shut down the couple of stops over there. We went by the Karners' house late and played cornhole for a minute.
It was awkward because we believe in wearing masks during a pandemic (and we got more vigilant as time went on), but most other people here don't. We had our masks on in the beginning of the wedding, but almost no one else wore one. I took mine off at some point after the ceremony, but Jim tried to stay strong and keep his on. Unfortunately mask-wearing has been a completely political issue during this pandemic. Most Democrats believe in them, while most Republicans believe they are a horrific infringement on their freedom. Jim and I have been odd men out in our ward. It's hard having people think you're a freak. People think Jim and I are crazy because Jim is a doctor, as if being trained in medical science makes you stupid and paranoid about medical science. Somebody made a comment early on about not "living in fear," intimating that people who take COVID seriously and believe in precautions are living in fear. I have felt very misunderstood. I am not particularly afraid of getting COVID. I do, however, know that while many people who get it will be fine, some won't, and I don't want to spread it to someone who spreads it to someone who spreads it to someone who is hospitalized or has long-haul COVID or dies. As someone who has become a complete introvert in my old age, it is not a big deal for me not to socialize for a while. And wearing a mask seems like a simple thing to do to protect others. Around here, that makes me a freak. Anyway...
The girls went out again for a little regular neighborhood trick or treating on Halloween under a lovely sky. Oh, how I love Tiny's face!
Candy trading in Leela and Rafi's garage:
And that's a wrap of our picture tour of October 2020.
