Little Man ice-cream

Jeremy and I took another date night downtown.  We went to Little Man ice-cream, which is a super popular spot in LoHi.  The line is twenty parties long just for ice-cream.  The atmosphere is alive with people walking the streets, music playing from open car windows and restaurant windows, and there's laughter even behind all of the face masks.  We dished up some delicious sherbet and sat enjoying the perfect summer evening.  

I think it's super funky that the shop looks like a giant metal milk bottle. 

 After ice-cream we weren't quite ready to go home so we started walking.  We walked across a bridge that spans I-25 into Crossroads Park.  I had no idea this this pocket of Denver existed.  I haven't seen enough of downtown Denver to really say I love it down there, but this park opened my view a bit.  There were groups of people on picnic blankets, kicking soccer balls, riding bikes and scooters, and a DJ playing some music.  People doing normal people things.  Thank you humanity!  We walked across one more bridge near Union Station, found this angel wings sculpture and walked back toward the car.  It was perfect.

No "back-to-school" here

School is supposed to start tomorrow.  Today I should be frantically gathering all of the kids' school supplies to take into their classrooms.  We should be making sure their new backpacks are ready to go with their new dangling keychains.  The kids should be bouncing off the walls with excitement to see their new friends, their new teachers, and because now they are the big kids on campus being in 5th and 8th grade.  They should be laying out their new school clothes and fretting over whether everything matches.  They should be comparing their schedules with their friends, setting up their locker decorations, and mapping out their route between classes.  But they're not.

Adams 12 announced that they were going to be starting the school year with 100% remote learning.  They'll reevaluate on Sep. 25 if they can make any changes and bring the kids back, but we all know that's not going to happen this year.  Maybe, maybe if we are really lucky and the data looks good from the thousands of other school districts who went back to 100% in person learning, we'll be able to go back to school in January.  

My heart is breaking.  I am so sad for my kids.  They are taking it like champs because that is what they do.  But I know what they're missing out on: the school plays, the talking at the lockers, the lunches with their friends, the playground games, the friends...the friends...the friends...  I seriously considered finding a charter school or a private school to send them to this year simply so they could be in a classroom.  However, I wasn't the only parent with that idea and I couldn't find anything nearby.  We could move to Highlands Ranch.  We could move to Utah.  Oh, Utah.  I'm looking at all of my friends on Facebook who are sending their kids back to normal school this week and it's just painful.  True, they have to be masked all day, but isn't that a small price to pay for being there in person?  I also seriously considered sending Kelton to live with Stockton for the semester.  When it came down to it, I didn't want to be away from him for four months.  That's a really long time, almost a quarter of a mission.  I didn't want to miss his first lost tooth, Halloween, or those other simple experiences with him.  But now as I look at what our back-to-school season should look like-but doesn't-I wonder if I made the right decision.

The school district has set up a schedule for every student in the district.  They all need to be logged into their computers at 8:00am and then they proceed with their school day.  They rotate between live lessons with their teachers to independent work time, but they are logged on until 3:00pm.  Every day, all day, when they should be in school, they are going to be logged into their computers staring at a screen.  I'm trying my best to make this a positive experience for my kids.  I'm trying to convert the office into a classroom.  The girls have helped me set up normal school decorations: a word wall, a calendar, cheesy motivational posters, math charts, grammar posters, a number line, and a blackboard.  Each kid is going to get their own desk, their own Chromebook, their own headphones to tune into their individual teachers.  But I don't know what else I can do to help these kids.  I need to set up social meet-ups so they can see their friends and play, but I can't replicate what they're missing by not being in school.

Every month coronavirus has brought a new set of challenges.  I honestly think that this might be one of the worst.  This is really the last nail in the coffin indicating that life will never, ever be the same again.  I can't.  I just can't...

Date nights

I feel like right now the date nights have been more important than ever.  I am barely hanging onto my sanity.  We've had a couple of creative date nights lately.  By some miracle, Without Limits was able to get permits for the Stroke and Stride series this summer.  By another miracle Jeremy had off every Thursday in August.  We signed up for the four remaining races of the season and have been having so much fun racing again.  It's not exactly the same, we have to wear masks before and after the event, we have to line up on the beach six feet apart, there's a time trial start, and there's no lingering party afterwards, but I'll take it.  Being able to race again just feels so good!

For another more traditional date night Jeremy took me out to El Five for dinner.  He and his partners get to go out to eat for their partner meetings, and they always get the most fabulous food.  He said he liked El Five because of the view of the city.  He wasn't kidding, the view was stellar.  

The food was also so, so good.  I've been getting pretty tired of cooking the same dinners every night and to have these kind of flavors punch me in the mouth was so refreshing.  The downtown vibe felt so alive.  It was nice to be in a crowd again where people are gathering just to enjoy the evening, have a good time, and be together.

 

Creative Kiddos

When Aubri came over one day, the girls came up with the super cute idea to make their own elephant pillows.  They looked up ideas on Pinterest.  They drew their own pattern.  They cut out their fabric.  And only when they needed help threading the sewing machine did they come ask for help.  I helped show them how to put their pillows together, but they did all the work by themselves.  I was so proud of these cute girls!

Daxton drew a picture of him and me.  That little guy is getting pretty good!  (P.S. I absolutely love these little preschool pictures)

He also still loves playing with his train track.  He set up a little village complete with zoo, pool, and neighborhood.

The kids have spent the last week or so working on a Lego creation in the basement.  I had a vague idea that they were building houses for their Lego people, but didn't know more than that.  I was stunned (but not really surprised) by what a fabulous and thorough job they did.  Cambrie went on in detail explaining every room, every tennant, every thoughtful consideration of their building.  I don't even know where to start describing it.  So instead I'll just post all of the pictures.  Look through them slowly and carefully because they are awesome.

Their creation in all of its glory!

Daxton built his own city right next to the big kids.

Twin Silos Park

Rachel invited us to spend the day up in Fort Collins with her.  We didn't know what we wanted to do so we packed the car with bikes, paddleboards, and lunches.  We went to Twin Silos park and were so happy there that we didn't need to go anywhere else.  It was so much fun.  There were elements that reminded me of parks in England, like the tunnels in Hobbledown.  While Rachel and I talked in the shade, the kids completely disappeared.  

These two!  I love them!  

When it started getting really hot we wandered over to the stream.  It was the perfect depth for Jack Jack, London and Daxton.  It wasn't really deep enough for the big kids to wade, but they enjoyed cooling off anyway.  We even found a couple of crawdads in the stream.  One little boy was collecting them.  I stayed away, but Cambrie was brave enough to hold one without getting pinched!

Toothless wonder

When the girls went to the orthodontist again for the first time in months, it was a huge surprise for McKenzie.  She ended up having three baby teeth fall out during the appointment, and lost another one the next night at home.  Four teeth!  Poor little toothless wonder!