Anna is 10!

Anna had a very unique birthday this year!  She was a very good sport to not be able to have a regular party this year (let's be honest - she usually has multiple parties), and she made the most of it!  Her virtual festivities started last week when Grandma and Grandpa Flanagan sent her a few presents that she got to open early.  We made some special rainbow cupcakes and put them in the freezer on Wednesday. 





Then, Saturday morning we had a Zoom call with my family where she got to open presents and have everyone sing to her while she blew out candles on a rainbow cupcake.

Then, Sunday she got to have Sarah over to spend the night.  They had fun outside in the kids pool and riding scooters.  Monday morning was donuts, presents, and watching the videos that her friends and family sent her.  They were so sweet! 



Then she did have to do some schoolwork (unfortunately), but then she had a fun dance party on the porch with her neighbor friends, made edible slime with them, and spent a lot of the day zooming around on her new hoverboard.  Then we got Johnny's Pizza for dinner and took a hoverboard/walk/bike ride before watching the first Angry Birds movie.  I think she had a fun day!



So, we have had the sincere pleasure of having Anna in our lives for 10 years now.  She is a special, wonderful person.  She is determined and is an excellent communicator.  She is so very dedicated to her friends and family and loves spending time with them.  Being a social butterfly continues for her!  She blows through her schoolwork without much effort and still loves to read (sometimes).  She took this year off from any kind of music lesson, but she has said that she would like to try a band instrument next year.  She also has had 2 years of jazz dance under her belt, but is probably going to try some new activities next year.  She is considering soccer, which we think would be really fun for her!  She still likes tennis as well.  She really enjoyed her time as a part of the school Science Olympiad team, before the tournament was sadly canceled.

Her favorite hobby of late is riding her bike.  She has really enjoyed "mountain biking", which around here means riding on trails in the woods.  Very fun! 



She still loves to paint and create - her most recent project was building two very elaborate cardboard houses for some dolls that she has.  I love seeing her create because of her attention to detail.  She is our techie and can often be found doing schoolwork on the chromebook while talking to her friends via video and sending us messages on the ipad at the same time.  Hey, multitasking is an important skill, right?!? 

We love Anna so much.  She is full of energy and love and we are just so happy that she is a part of our family.  We can't wait to see what the next year and beyond bring her!

April!

Well, we had the oddest April in the history of Aprils for us.  It was entirely spent in "quarantine"/"social distancing"/"virtual learning".  We never knew what these words meant until now!  We have adjusted as well as possible to this situation, and now, by the end of April, only have 4 more weeks of virtual school!  The girls were off of school from Good Friday through April 19th, which was nice to get a little break from all of the video conferencing and keeping track of each assignment.  We had Easter mass at home and a ham lunch and lots of outdoors time.  One good thing about all of this has been the gorgeous weather!  The weather really has been wonderful.  We have gotten loads of house projects done, including cleaning windows, power washing, replacing the living room ceiling fan and entry light fixture (which required renting a super tall scaffolding...scary!), various Suburban-related projects, and lots of cleaning out of stuff.  Another highlight has been Anna learning to ride a bike!  She LOVES it, and Bob especially has been loving riding with her on his new early birthday present - a mountain bike!  Bob has also been busy on the weekends handing out meals to people in need, and we ladies are helping by baking 200 or so desserts every Friday for them to distribute with the meals.  We are keeping in touch with family and friends virtually, getting takeout for dinner once a week or so, and are trying to keep grocery store visits to once a week.  It is unnerving to go to the store and see so many empty shelves, but it has made us get creative with food.  Finley is mostly loving all of the time with us, but he is very tired!

So, while it hasn't been all bad, it definitely was not the spring we had planned.  We are making the most of it and are thankful that school and piano can continue relatively uninterrupted, and it has been nice to feel less rushed.  However, we are ready and waiting for things to get back to normal!  Last we heard, statewide stay-at-home restrictions may be lifting as of May 8th.  There are 3 phases involved based on how many people have been diagnosed with the virus or something.  Anyway, we have not yet decided on our Banff trip in early June, but as of now, borders are closed at least until May 31st, so that doesn't sound good.  Maybe we can at least do our rescheduled Aruba trip in late July, and we REALLY hope that Erin's ballet camp in July happens as planned.  Fingers crossed!

Here are Anna and Laney catching up through the fence:

Ice cream making lab for states of matter:

Coloring Easter eggs:

Happy Easter!

Strawberry picking:

Cold water!