Summer Vacation 2020 Universal Studios

After Robert booked his car driving school trip we started dreaming up a way to meet him for a little vacation. He drove from work in Kentucky and West Virginia to Georgia for his school. The kids and I hopped on a flight from DSM to Atlanta. Robert picked us up and we swam at a hotel for a day and a half. We drove to Orlando and stayed at Universal. Universal had been open a couple weeks before we got there. They were at 1/3 capacity and you were guaranteed entrance if you stayed on a Universal property. Tickets were also buy two days get two days free. Three days was all we needed. Universal Studios has two parks and a water park. We were most excited for the Harry Potter rides. Hagrid Motorbike Adventure had just opened and was amazing. Our kids were the right age for HP magic. Noelle and Dallas have made it through book 5. The rest of us have read the whole series. I used to read HP aloud to Robert when we would drive between Iowa and MN. 

The kids introduction to the Simpsons

Back to the Future train with Doc

Having a beer at Moe's, basically Robert's dream since age 14

All masked up in Diagon Alley

Hagrid's motorbike

The Fast and Furious ride

Blue's mobile

Hogwart's Castle

Entrance to Diagon Alley

Hogsmeade 

Butterbeer

A true English breakfast, bangers, blood pudding

More Butterbeer, you can get them frozen or not

Outside Olivander's Wand Shop. We did the interactive wand choosing ceremony. Each wand picked the kid. 

We purchased the interactive wands. The had a tiny eyeball like in a cell phone that would interact with features around the park and make magic.

The Knight Bus

Always waiting, even when the park was at 1/3 capacity.

Shrek and Fiona. The characters had to social distance. There was often a place marked out to stand so you could get a picture. Also asking cast members to take a picture was frowned upon.

Back to the Future DeLorean

DC spider man

 

Back to school 2020

 

More online school! Emily takes French and band at Ames High. She takes Algebra with me. Biology, economics, government, financial literature and British lit/compostion/grammar class with a private homechool group. 

Thankful our Threads homeschool community was able to meet in person. 

Dallas is taking band at Ames Middles school. Geography, science, composition, lit, grammar, government/humanities class with our homeschool group and math with me! 

Noelle is taking everything with me!

Ames Community School couldn't get it together and officially started school almost four weeks late and virtually. As homeschoolers we had our academics in place. We were missing our in person classes, seeing people, sports etc.

Summer 2020

Noelle and I grew flowers. They made me and the butterflies very happy. I don't find the landscaping at this house enjoyable , yet it is very maintenance free which is a perk!

The one thing in Des Moines that was NOT canceled, and probably the biggest gathering in Iowa all year was Good Guys. Dallas spent two entire days with Robert having the time of his life.

The girls have tapped out. Honestly, it is the same each year. And Noelle can't eat anything at the fairgrounds, so I get it! I made my obligatory visit, took some pictures cheered on Robert and went to Trader Joes.

They couldn't cancel our Fourth of July. We managed to blow through $10 of sparkler fun in the street.

Magic Tee product boxes on our front porch!

Emily made her annual trek to Raccoon River Bible Camp

Thankful for our neighbors buying a Covid pool and inviting us over

We purchased a new outdoor seating area after our previous glass table top shattered.

We were so weary by the end of the summer we were driving 20 minutes to the tiniest town pool with friends. 

Thankful we did get to have a cousin sleepover!

We took many drives this summer. This one ended by being pushed out of the BBops drive-thru by our friends the owner of BBops. We still got our chocolate shakes! But the Chevelle rode home in the car trailer. 
 

"Sugarplum Celebration" 2020 aka, fake Nutcracker

 Because of a series of Covid-19 cancelations, new opportunities arose, like participating in "Sugarplum Celebration." Noelle has wanted to try out for the Nutcracker the last several years, the first being the Fall she broke her leg. After not being able to participate the last 3 years years, this seemed to be the year. But the CY Stephens canceled the event. Robert Thomas studio retooled, called it the Sugarplum Celebration, found a different venue and only allowed RT dancers to participate  ( I am sure to enable contact tracing), anyone who auditions and is enrolled in any studio can be in the Nutcracker. 

Noelle auditioned for one dance. She attended rehersals every Saturday from mid-September to December.

Her group was multi-aged and danced to "Linus and Lucy" and was entitled Skating Dreams.

This was 1/3 of her class taking their final bows, others in her section bowed with other groups. 

I am so glad we got to have this one very Christmassy event, in a year in which lots of things were canceled. 

October 2020 Pandemic edition

Took these sweet girls to Clouds for a fancy coffee and a moment to just be teens (not at school)

Robert and Dallas headed to the first Cyclone game of the season (that fans were allowed to attend)

Cyclones won!

Dallas and his sixth grade "Threads Connections" class getting some sun and fresh air during lunch

The only thing enjoyable about our library being grab and go only is the kits that are now grab and go. In normal times you would have to be at the library at a certain activity time to get to experience this fun. I pick up the teen or child bag every time I grab our books. It's been great to pull these out when we are bored. Owl pellets, tie dye a mask, paint a canvas, break open a geode, Legos, solar system, make slime, sew a puppet, its like having my own tax payer STEAM kit.

Lamenting math

Dropping off at dance

Em was hired by a local Orchard to make some pies to sell by the slice for their festival weekend. It happened to be her Fall break week so she made 40 pies.

We hosted the end of the year celebration for Dallas football team in our backyard. One of the coaches showed up directly after work and was packing! It was fun to see half of the boys realize he was a police officer!

Possibly the one thing Emily was looking forward to at Ames High was marching band. Like every little thing this year it was "weird". She went to a normal looking band camp in August. When school didn't start in person they practiced at home. School went back to hybrid so she went back to before school rehearsals, it was deemed by the CIML conference that bands couldn't march. Ames offered the seniors to play in a pep band at home games. It was rescheduled twice and moved from the gym to the stadium but we got to see the Band Extravaganza. It was neat, I am glad they put the effort into the event. I wish it could have been all 400 students instead of the 150, but we will take it!

Two masks, one for the player, one for the horn

Also, during hybrid in person, concert band - the small group of 18 she is rehearsing with gets up halfway through the period and switches rooms for "air quality". Just documenting this here in case we think it is silly in 20 years.

Dallas and Noelle completed an Upward season. It was perfect!

So thankful.

Bonus, they had seventh players play this year. What a special gift to get to play with Cole one more time.

My sister celebrated her Covid birthday by renting theater to watch Hocus Pocus.

None of my family had seen it all the way through before. It was good to have theater popcorn again.

Noelle spent her own money on a donut pan

We went to cheer on Em's good friend at a VB match. Those sure have changed since my junior high days. The shorts are tiny and they play to 25 points now.

School

Murph

My workout gals had a fun run around Ada Hayden with a coffee klatch afterwards. It was wonderfully social.

I dug out a 24 year old sweatshirt to wear again

We purchased, prayed and packed bags for three Haiti kids to receive on Christmas

The beginnings of ceiling fan removal and new recessed lights.