July

July started out with a really fun 4th of July at home.  Our county held their first ever fireworks show and it was nice to take the kids.

We then went on our annual New York vacation where we, quite literally this year, traveled the entire state of New York.  I'm not sure that will ever happen again, but we were able to see so many people this trip.

We started in Western NY visiting Caleb's brother, grandma, and uncle.  We hadn't seen most of them in at least five years so it was a lot of fun catching up.  

Then we stopped in to see my sister

Then we got to see our parents.  Also, just a disclaimer, we did tons more things, but this is all I got as far as pictures, and even some of those are borrowed.  

My kids turned into fish and I think were in the pool 95 percent of the time.

Papa got a tractor so the kids had to test it out

We also got to see Caleb's sister and family at his parent's house

The kids also got to see Caleb's service brick in Brasher.

Then we stopped by my brothers and family

Have to make a stop by the Wind Chill

And Pat has a super fun pizza oven that we got to make amazing pizzas on

We finished out the trip at my youngest brother's house and even squeezed in a birthday party.

We are finally back home and already quite enjoying our August here in Virginia.

June

June is usually a really busy month for us.  Unfortunately, covid had other plans.  

We had to put my 30th birthday plans on hold for now.  Not ideal, but staying in a hotel and enjoying restaurants and beaches just isn't in the cards yet.  We enjoyed some yummy food and drinks and made the best of it. 

Father's day was also the day after, but Caleb was working, and again, couldn't do much in the form of plans, so we just enjoyed another family day with no pictures.

 On the 26th we celebrated the official one of year being in this home.

I still haven't gotten around to the full house tour, but honestly, everyone that's come here has said that pictures don't do it justice.  We really have found more and more things to love about it and Caleb and I are still talking about how thankful we are to have made it here.  It's our own little quiet peace in the woods, minutes away from all the accommodations we love, secret rooms to store all the things we want tucked away, the perfect basement where we spend I think 90 percent of our time as a family, the kids get to roam freely in their entire upstairs abode, and the times we're not in the basement we're usually gathered around the island in the kitchen, our other favorite place to be.

And then somehow we blinked and on the 30th we gained a ten year old.  He's grown up so much this year.  He is one of the most caring and compassionate people we've ever met.  He loves all things boy still.  His favorite activity is building creations with his Knex, mostly guns.  He wanted a surprise birthday theme this year.  I went with Nerf, as it's still one of his favorite hobbies.  Caleb unfortunately had to work on his actual birthday, so a couple of days before he got to pick out anything he wanted to eat and drink at the store.  We set it all up and had a full day of games.  He got ice cream filled cupcakes because unfortunately Brusters is closed and he's not really one for cake.

May

Since we don't have too many pictures now that we've been stuck at home for months, I figured May's blog would be a good place to put fun things to do while you're stuck at home.

Obviously, Netflix.  Not sure what everyone else does most nights.
If you've haven't watched Peaky Blinders yet, i'm not sure you've fully experienced quarantine.
You're welcome.  Go watch it.

Caleb and I have had to get creative with date nights.
He surprised me and upgraded our popcorn machine for our nightly Smallville binge session.
When we made our theater room downstairs we bought a really cheap small one off of Craigslist because we weren't sure how much we'd actually use one.  Once we realized it was a very frequent occurrence we got a much better one.

Even if you don't get a popcorn machine, if you have an air popper even a paper bag and a microwave, get these popcorn seeds!
https://www.amazon.com/Amish-Country-Popcorn-Fashioned-Non-GMO/dp/B00VJMJZ1I/ref=sr_1_1?crid=91MA4VX79WMR&dchild=1&keywords=amish+popcorn&qid=1591057510&sprefix=amish+pop%2Caps%2C247&sr=8-1
And we always have these popcorn toppers on hand.  They're super yummy and they're fun to have with the kids.
https://www.amazon.com/Kernel-Seasons-Popcorn-Seasoning-Variety/dp/B00H727M6O/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=popcorn+toppers&qid=1591057552&sr=8-1


Another date night idea that I cannot recommend more is setting up a fun charcuterie board and get your hands on a few of these exit the games.  I would definitely start on a level 2.  They're basically an escape room, but in board game form.  We've done a few and are already figuring out which ones we want next.

https://www.amazon.com/Thames-Kosmos-EXIT-Card-Based-Experience/dp/B0856M5FPC/ref=sr_1_3?dchild=1&keywords=exit+the+game&qid=1591058116&sr=8-3

This one is our favorite so far
https://www.target.com/p/exit-the-sunken-treasure-game/-/A-76150188

Since everyone and their mother seems to be making banana bread, here's a recipe for the perfect banana bread muffins.  The only thing I switch is omitting the nuts and add mini chocolate chips instead.
https://www.savorysimple.net/banana-bread-muffins/#wprm-recipe-container-20727

And lastly, obviously it's a little pricey, but what better way for kids to burn off energy during these crazy times

https://kangaroohoppers.com/products/kangaroo-hoppers-12-14-ft-trampoline-blue


Hopefully June will be a more exciting update.

April

Our days are practically all the same, one kind of runs into the other.  We've been doing our best to stay busy and occupied.  Caleb's obviously still working full time and the kids are full time schooling from home.

Easter was the highlight of the month.

 He gets me :)

We had a super yummy dinner and then got to finish the night watching Trolls 2.  I'm really thankful we put our time and money into a theater room before all this quarantine business began because it has come in quite handy.

We also got to enjoy our first fresh corn of the year.  Arya ended up losing her very first tooth while eating it too.

Here's some games and activities our family has been enjoying during this time

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Rack-O/116612893

https://www.amazon.com/Hasbro-Trivial-Pursuit-Family-Exclusive/dp/B00NQQTXNK

https://www.amazon.com/Spin-Master-Games-Beat-Parents/dp/B00421AGHA

https://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/harry-potter-trade-philosopher-39-s-stone-500-piece-puzzle/5496502?keyword=harry-potter-puzzle