A portrait of the pandemic: zooming with family while finishing a puzzle.  Photo credit: Sarah.  Actually a lot of the photo credits for July go to Sarah, see if you can tell which ones!

The summer started to feel more normal when the kids started their first week of camp at the Rye Nature Center.  It was all outside, everyone wore masks all day, and parents were not allowed out of the cars.  The kids loved it!  Here is Blaine wanting to demonstrate the baking soda + vinegar experiment they did one day.

Sarah also started playing in a summer baseball league, with Andrew as one of her coaches!  It was a six week season with games on Saturdays and Sundays.  The kids started out using a tee but by a few weeks in had moved to coach pitch.  It was really fun for the kids and the families, and everyone followed all the covid rules.

On July 10 I quietly turned 40!  There was a big rainstorm so I didn’t make it to the beach, but I made up for that on another day.  We did some covid takeout and opened presents, including this flipping dog toy I had given Fran on his 40th (throwback to my most prominent memory from our dad’s 40th).  Thanks, Fran!

Here’s how I really feel about turning 40.

Actually, these were just more in a looong series of Sarah and Mommy selfies, which Sarah was very into in July.  On Saturday, Andrew and the kids made a delicious dinner and cake.

We continued to water and monitor our new plants in the back yard, and I was puzzled by this white fluff on the clematis plants.  I took this pic to show our landscaper and was so surprised when I zoomed in and saw a little critter in there!  I am not sure but google tells me it may be a planthopper?

We were sad to see one of our new rhododendrons was looking a little sad, potentially due to overwatering!  Ugh.

Back to the kids!  We only got in for one week at the Rye Nature Center, so over the next three weeks Sarah did two weeks of a half day art camp at One River, and Blaine did two weeks of 2hr/day Lego camp.

Blaine’s physical therapy resumed in person, as well!  It has made such a difference being back in the PT gym.  Sarah and I resumed our games of Uno while he was in therapy.  Sarah is a fierce competitor.

I also signed the kids up for a one week intensive at Swim Tank, 5 days in a row of 30-minute private lessons.  They both did so well, by the end of the week they had both earned their next badges!

We continued to enjoy Larchmont Al Fresco!  We’ve been going out most Friday and Saturday nights to take advantage while the weather is nice.  Here we are at a new Italian restaurant, Bonasera.  The food was not memorable but the setting was lovely!

Groove family music had arranged for outdoor music performances on Friday nights through the summer, and we stopped by to listen after eating.  Such a nice community event, so grateful to Groove for organizing it!

Here we are the next night at the back garden at Sherwoods!  Yum!

Blaine’s tomatoes continued to grow and thrive, and we started to suspect that they might not be cherry tomatoes after all.  Sadly we never got to eat any of these tomatoes because just when they’d start to ripen they’d disappear!  We made some squirrels very happy this summer.

Sarah’s photo documentation of the current state of her two pandas: Softface (on the left) and Hardface (on the right).

Playgrounds also reopened and we took advantage, revisiting all the kids’ old favorites.

Poor sad rhododendron.  It’s dead now.

At the end of July we made some chocolate cupcakes and met up with some friends in the park to celebrate two summer birthdays (including mine).

Lastly, here’s the final project Sarah brought home from her second week of art camp, Planetary Paintings.

Pre-pandemic, we had planned to join Mom-Mom and Aunt Molly for a week in Ocean City, NJ, in June, along with Uncle Fran.  We went back and forth over whether to cancel, and in the end decided to keep it.  We’d been completely socially isolated since March, anyway, so we figured we were germ-free, and who knows what the future will hold?  Sadly, Uncle Fran was not able to join us due to work.  We drove down on Saturday with more stuff than we have ever packed before — all the food we’d need plus linens including pillows and blankets and all our towels.  And beach chairs and umbrellas and toys.  Everything!  We had to get a roof rack and a Yakima cargo box to fit it all.

The house was great, located in the Gardens end of Ocean City so the beaches were not as crowded.  We spent the whole time at the house or the beach, with no other excursions, no shopping, no takeout.  We brought so much food!  It was surprising how few people wore masks going to/from the beach, compared to how cautious people are still being in NY.

I took this pic of the strange machinery behind us one day.  Unfortunately it turned out this was for a beach rejuvenation project starting imminently and our block of the beach was closed on Thurs and Fri!  It was fine, we just drove down to the next beach those days.

The kids really enjoyed the water on this trip, jumping the waves, attempting to body surf.  I need to get them some boogie boards.  I’m glad everyone enjoys the beach because we were able to pack lunch, spend the whole day there.  Lots of swimming, reading, drip castles, coloring with Aunt Molly, digging trenches to try to delay moving back when the tide was coming in.

One day it started to rain right when we arrived in the morning.  My weather app said it would be brief, so we put up the umbrellas and decided to wait it out!  It turned out to be somewhat heavy, but it was an adventure.  Well, Sarah said it was the worst day of her life, but the rest of us enjoyed it.

The last day Andrew drove back down from NY (he’d gone back mid-week for work) and we made our last dinner followed by some smores!  Yum.

Thank you to Mom and Molly for having us, it was a wonderful week!  I’m so grateful we were able to spend that time together, given all that is going on.

Here are some pics of a hike at the Marshlands Conservancy.  Blaine usually hates all our hikes, but he remarked on how beautiful he thought this particular area was, leading from John Jay’s house down to the water.

We saw a lot of wildlife, including crossing paths with a deer.  And the highlight of Sarah’s day was seeing four live horseshoe crabs!

Sarah also started trying to learn how to ride a two-wheeler in June, though she quickly abandoned the effort.  Oh well, we’ll get back to it someday.

Blaine’s tomatoes were doing well, and started flowering.

We also had a number of end of the school year activities.  Here we are out on Chatsworth Ave to cheer for the graduating high school seniors.  We saw a few babysitters drive by!

The kids planted some sunflower seeds they’d received from Chatsworth.  Alas, when we transferred the seedlings to the front planting bed as instructed some animal came along and ate them all!  Phooey.

Sarah’s class had a number of virtual celebrations, starting with a class brunch, and followed by a bedtime story one evening.

Meanwhile, NY was moving into phases of reopening and Larchmont quickly organized al fresco dining.  We took advantage early on and enjoyed a meal at one of our favorite village restaurants, LaLa Taqueria.

June is the best month at the beach!

Sarah’s last class activity was an ice cream party to celebrate all the summer birthdays.  It was sweet how her teacher organized so many events to mark the end of the school year.

Blaine’s class also had a virtual goodbye meeting, and his teacher showed a photo compilation she’d put together which brought a few tears to my eyes.  Here’s a pic of Blaine on one of the last days.

Then it was all over!  We went outside again to cheer for the graduating 5th graders who all drove by on the last day of school.

Last day of Kindergarten for Sarah!  Now we have a 1st and a 3rd grader.

The first tomato!

Lastly, here is a photo of some of the new plantings in our backyard!  We enjoyed a lot of outdoor dining at home in June.

We were thrilled to get the news that Manor Beach would be opening on Memorial Day weekend as planned.  Now it will really feel like summer!  We went on Monday, and though it was a bit chilly we had a great time.  We wore our masks while walking to/from the beach, and they had flags set up to help families keep a safe distance apart.  Of course, the kids were mixing somewhat down by the water but it was nothing extreme, and everyone had such a good time.  For now the pathway out to the point is closed, and the lockers are closed, and the playground is closed, and of course the concession stand is closed… but the sand and the water are fine!

One day we went out to Croton Point Park for a hike and to see some more birds.

Blaine was also gifted this balance beam from his physical therapist, whose daughter is no longer using it.  He is loving it!

We tried to watch the SpaceX launch on Wednesday the 27th; the kids were disappointed that the weather was not cooperative, but we tuned in again on Saturday and saw it launch!

Sarah’s wonderful kindergarten teacher did a “drive-by” visit on Thursday the 28th, and gave her a small gift and a letter which she mostly read herself.

On 5/28 we were back at Sheldrake, this time for “ponding”.  Sarah brought her net!

Shortly after the last photo, Sarah’s net broke in half and fell into the pond!  We had to fish it out with a stick.  Overall it was a successful excursion, though.  We saw a great blue heron, lots of giant frogs, and a cormorant.

The kids played detective after receiving these post-it kits in the mail from Aunt Jane!

And we finished puzzle #5!  We have now done maps of the USA, NYC, and the World, tree-dwelling slowpokes, and ocean creatures.

It’s officially summer, and we’ve been trying to enjoy what we can!

Our biggest coronavirus disappointment so far was the fact that it led to the cancellation of our much-anticipated trip to California for the wedding of Aunt Jody to Uncle John over Memorial Day weekend.

So we were so happy and excited when Jody and John decided to move forward with their wedding on May 23 and share it with us over Zoom!

Blaine suggested that we celebrate by having chicken fingers and french fries for dinner!  He was really looking forward to the wedding dinner that Aunt Jody had specifically arranged for the kids after witnessing his preferred dinner during our last visit to SF.  So we ordered takeout.

Then we all got dressed up for the festivities!  Blaine got to act as usher, as planned, and handed out programs that Jody and John had sent in the mail.

We set up the video for Sarah’s special role as flower girl!  The wedding was in a park looking out on the Golden Gate Bridge.  John arrived early to get everything set up with the coordinator and the officiant, and Jody arrived via Uber.  We got Sarah a bouquet and some rose petals to sprinkle, and the signal for her to drop the flowers was when Gram started playing the piano for Jody’s grand entrance…

Sarah even made it into the program!

The wedding was beautiful!  The day was perfect, and Jody looked gorgeous!  (As did John, of course.)  They had a small group on Zoom for the ceremony, with two readings done virtually, vows and the blessing.  After the ceremony we spent some time celebrating with the couple and drinking sparkling wine.  It was a wonderful celebration of a wonderful couple.  Congratulations, Jody and John!  Thanks for including us in your special day; we can’t wait to celebrate again in person.

What can I say about May?  Another month in quarantine… homeschool, hikes, virtual meetings, cooking, cleaning, screen time.  We did have some excitement, including some home haircuts!  And our first attempt at growing vegetables (cherry tomatoes)!

I mentioned that in April we saw a house centipede?  It made such an impression on Sarah that she wrote in her nature journal about the “deadliest bugs.”

One week the kids’ nature assignments focused on birds!  We particularly enjoyed an app they sent us that plays all sorts of bird calls.

And we enjoyed these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (recipe from my friend Elizabeth).

Sarah started working on her last big writing assignment for Kindergarten, a How-To Book.  First she brainstormed things she is an expert in.

And we finished another puzzle (#4?).

The kids’ PE videos were all about learning difference dances… the Macarena, the Electric Slide, the Bunny Hop, the Hokey Pokey, and the Hustle (below).

May was also the month that Andrew finally talked me into giving him a haircut!  My first ever, with much help from YouTube.  Andrew said it was not the worst haircut he’d ever had.  And I only cut myself once with the scissors!  🙂

I think I took this picture to show that it was briefly snowing one evening.  Also, Blaine was reading a new series called “Warriors” about clans of fighting cats.

On Mother’s Day we went for a hike at the Marshland Conservancy in Rye.  It was a beautiful day and we saw a flying turkey, many deer, and a woodpecker.

Here is Blaine doing his nature writing about trees.

We finally decided it was warm enough to plant the cherry tomato plants Blaine had been pushing for all winter, in this new planter he received from Gram and Grand-dad.  I went out for the first time to a real store, our local nursery, and picked up some cherry tomato plants (sweet 100?) and some herbs, and exchanged our propane tanks to get ready for some grilling.

One day the temp was up in the 80s so we tried to go to Rye Beach.  Everyone else had the same idea so we ended up parking in the Playland lot and walking around a bit on the boardwalk, and then we went down onto the dog beach for some time in the sand.

Blaine was so impressed with my hair cutting skills that he asked for his own haircut.  It wasn’t quite as successful as Andrew’s, because Blaine had a harder time sitting still.  Still, not bad!

Our first dinner of the year cooked on the grill!  Yum!

Sarah’s chalk drawing on the patio.

Sarah’s Paw Patrol NFL matchup.  I don’t know why I am posting this one (quarantine boredom?), except that I liked that the Eagles supporter is Rocky.

Sarah worked on her How-To book for a few days and here is the final result!  It’s called “You Can Learn to Make Drip Castles.”

The music assignment one day involved tuning an instrument with water in glasses.

More science!  This week the kids were learning about seashores, and we took a trip to dog beach.  Sadly, not long after this visit, Larchmont closed dog beach because they said it was becoming too crowded!

Sarah’s journal entry: “Yesterday I went to the beach on the way back I saw a horseshoe crab shell but there was a sign that said private property so I did not go get the shell.  Horseshoe crabs are cool.”

More photos from April!  On 4/8 the Easter Bunny rode by on the Larchmont fire trucks, and we celebrated Blaine’s half birthday with buttercream-frosted brownies.

The kids were learning all about vernal pools for nature at school, so we went to the Sheldrake river trail to check some out.

On 4/10 we celebrated Sarah’s half birthday with banana bread!

And we had a very happy Easter on 4/12, complete with chocolate, rocket balloons, an egg hunt, more chocolate, smashing the chocolate bunny Gram sent (thanks, Robin!).

Here is Sarah with completed puzzle #3 from quarantine.

One day the kids’ art assignment was to make food sculptures.

Another day we went back to Sheldrake for more sitting in nature.  The kids love this big rock, which is a great sit spot.

We also found, and harassed, this frog.  Sorry, frog!

We were enjoying the daily NY times puzzles for awhile, until they turned the Spelling Bee back into a subscription-only thing.  One day the mini crossword happened to contain Sarah’s first and middle names!

A banana bread showdown, two different recipes.  We all decided we preferred the Eleanor Hennessey (c. 1935) recipe from the Butterworths over the Joy of Cooking recipe.  Plus it’s easier to make!

Takeout from Rio Bravo, featuring margaritas!

Some Blue Jays hung out in our yard for awhile.  I was worried they were confused about the missing tree in our yard, but then I decided they were just digging up roots from the exposed earth to build a nest.

Another day at Sheldrake!  We went so many times in April, at the suggestion of the Chatsworth homeschooling.

Sarah continued enjoying her One River virtual art classes.

One day Blaine’s assignment for reading was to read, and make, a recipe.  He picked out a chocolate cake recipe from a cookbook someone gave him a year or so ago (I think it was from Great Grandmommy?).  It was delicious!  So chocolatey.

Another art assignment, this time to make sculptures from nature.  We had recently all been startled/frightened by a house centipede, and so Sarah decided to sculpt some house centipedes on our patio.

Another day we went to Flint Park to fly a kite!  The kids did a great job with the inconsistent wind.

Yet another trip to Sheldrake!  This time we tried to skip rocks on the Sheldrake River.  I achieved one skip.  We texted Uncle Tim to find out what his record is, and the kids were wowed to hear it was 12!

Blaine has been working hard in his virtual PT and OT sessions!

Here is a microscope he earned from working so hard.

Both kids have enjoyed the Google Meets virtual class meetings their teachers have been hosting.

On 4/30, Blaine lost another tooth!  His 8th?  The last incisor (upper left).

That week was also Teacher Appreciation week and we made sure to thank our teachers, who are doing a great job during this strange time!  This experience has made us more aware and appreciative of all that our teachers do each day.  Thank you, Mrs. Walsh and Mrs. Shevin!

Here are some things about homeschool.

I get to use a lot of screens.

I get to use Mom’s computer.

In fact, I am using Mom’s computer right now.

I miss my friends.  Click on this link next week to see if you are one of them.

Time to say goodbye!

Blaine and Sarah wanted to wish Great Grandmommy a very happy birthday!!  We hope that you had a very special birthday and we are sorry that we were not able to be there to celebrate with you.  Instead we are sending these germ-free virtual birthday greetings to you via the internet!  Sarah says, “We love you and hope you have a good birthday!”

Originally the school district announced school would be closed until March 30.  Now I think that’s been extended to April 15, though everyone knows it will be until at least April 30, possibly until the end of the year?  We are in week four of homeschooling, and it is hard!  I have great admiration for all teachers.  But we are muddling through.  Here is a portrait Sarah drew of her panda, Hardface, in the style of some artist I can’t remember.  Another project from the Chatsworth art teacher!

We went back to the Marshland Conservancy on 4/2 for another beautiful hike, this time on a new-to-us trail that went by the John Jay Cemetary and down into the marsh with beautiful views.

April 3 was Andrew’s birthday!  We got out the birthday banners to make it festive and baked him a yellow cake with chocolate buttercream frosting.  We were running out of gel frosting, hence the brevity on the cake-writing.  The kids also made and painted some pinch pots for him.

I love how you can see Blaine sneakily blowing out the candles in the picture below.

We finished our second puzzle, called, “Tree-dwelling Slowpokes,” featuring a giant panda.

And we did some more cleaning!  Sarah is a champ with a mop.

The kids really enjoyed this Knex set we got them, with a motor.  The first thing they built was this miniature ferris wheel.

Lastly, I just had to include this one of Blaine, taken by Sarah.  I mostly only take pictures when everyone is happy and things are going well, so this is a bit of truth that sometimes we have whining and tears!  In this case, Blaine was upset that we were making him go outside.