That's a wrap.

We have finished another school year! Although it was such a bizarre end and it doesn't actually feel over, the girls have made it to their summer. It'll probably feel more real when the new week starts and they don't have to go to Google Classroom to start doing their assignments. At this time, it's hard to know what summer holds. The girls are still scheduled to go to overnight camp in a few weeks (not sure yet if that's still on), our usual MN trip still hasn't been booked, and because of the way my district has rearranged the virtual summer school dates, I'm not actually sure I'll have a break at all...

But we'll make the most of it! A couple of Fridays ago, I got home and found that Steve had been shopping. He was super excited to add this flattop grill out back. In its short time with us, this grill has been the source of lots of entertainment and good food!

Even in the rain, Steve's diner was open.

 

Last Saturday, it was cool and rainy. Although I had a list of a few things to get done around the house, we literally spent the entire day out on the porch watching movies, enjoying the fire, and each other. We all needed a day of rest and it was such great quality time. Outside of quarantine, something like this would probably never happen - or it would feel forced. It's so interesting how this time has completely changed the way we spend time together.

 Jim enjoyed the cold, rainy day outside, too!

 This past week, during the last week of school, Sara received her 5th grade gift. During a Zoom meeting with her grade level, the kids opened the time capsules they had made at the end of 1st grade. Of course Emma's assignment this week was building her time capsule, which was a lot of fun, too!

Last day of school pic - these girls are ready for 2nd and 6th! I'm sad that they won't ever be in the same school again, but I know Sara is ready for middle school and I'm excited to see her blossom there. And I also know that, as much as Emma will miss her sister at school, she'll love the independence of being there on her own, too. Time keeps on slipping ...

 Yesterday, Sara and I took my car for an inspection and oil change. We didn't want to wait in the little waiting area, so we took a walk to Starbucks. I feel like she and I don't get much alone time together - it was so great. We got our drinks and then just walked a ways, chatting about things big and small. Ahhh. When we got home, the girls washed my car (and each other, obviously). One of my coworkers had painted "Principal of the Year" on my back window - very nice, but it was time for it to come off. And with the sunshine yesterday, it was a perfect day for driveway car washing and a great start to summer!

pretty much just more of the same

If you had told me two two months ago that a weekend in quarantine would feel different than any other days of the week, I don't know that I would have believed it. But I totally do now. Work has been so all-consuming (even on the weekends sometimes), but we can all feel a difference when Friday afternoon rolls around ... even if we don't have big plans to go anywhere. While the state has allowed more places to open within guidelines (primarily less than 25% capacity), many places have still opted not to do so, or are doing so very slowly. Regardless, I'm not in a rush to get to those places. Still too many unanswered questions about the 'rona. Plus ... take-out and online shopping ... in the absence of being able to return to work the "real" way, what else could I possibly need?! Sara's gym is going to start holding on-site practices in a couple of weeks, but it'll be conditioning - no stunting or spotting. Still no word at all on Emma's seasons, for good and obvious reasons.

We've been spending a lot of our weekend evenings outside. We enjoyed watching the NFL Draft together a couple of weeks ago. Normally this is a weekend-long event with friends.

 Although it was different, we enjoyed the glimpse into players and coaches' homes and lives. The girls swam and enjoyed the play-by-play. On night one, Emma was sure that the Cowboys would take Tony Romo. We had to do a little Draft education, but she soon caught on. Sara was surprisingly intrigued by all of it!

 I realized that one of my main new hobbies is taking pics of Jim. Ha! When I can, I take my work outside and get some fresh air to help balance the stress. Jim has been a great outdoor work partner.

 I was brought to tears a couple of Fridays ago when my staff surprised me with a drive-by and gifts. They are working SO hard, and here they were honoring me. It was so incredibly humbling. The mental health of my staff has been on my mind throughout remote learning. As teachers, we are not programmed to work this way - none of us like it, and everyone is reacting different from an emotional standpoint. I'll be so glad when we are all back together. I've been working hard to show appreciation in different ways during this time - lots of online games, snail mail, a video tribute, etc. Regardless, I'm supposed to be taking care of them and they have been doing so much for me.

 Another weekend patio/movie night. We all sat outside last weekend and watched "Napoleon Dynamite" - always good for lots of laughs!

 Jim has found a new favorite spot. From here, he can see out the big windows to the path in the back and the sidewalk/street in the front. He especially loves it when the weather allows us to open the windows!

 A 5th grade parent put together an appreciation video for Sara's teachers. This was her photo for it. What an end to 6 years of elementary school!

 Our weather has been very up and down - we've had a handful of hot pool days, coupled with some nights in the 30s ... who knows?! We've taken advantage of the pool and sunshine!

 The teeth keep falling out during quarantine! One day last week, the TF had to visit both girls in the same night! Emma is up to 8 teeth lost and Sara is at 16. Whoa!

 Emma recently stocked up on slime-making materials. When I told her I didn't think they were worth a trip to the store, she countered that they would keep her entertained. Touche. She's making videos of all of her slime experiements ... which got us remembering the time two years ago (two years exactly!) that I had to cut a chunk out of Emma's hair ...

 HA! I remember that this chunk was literally right on top of her head. Luckily, nobody could really tell since her hair always does its own thing anyway.

Like the title says, pretty much more of the same. Another back porch night last night - movie and fire. The temps were perfect for it!

Today I did a workout, will probably take Jim for a walk ... and open the windows thanks to the warming (but not too warm) temps. That's one of my favorite things to do that we don't get to do super often in Texas! We are going to grill some ribs later and I'm going to try a new recipe for oven baked steak fries. Certainly not the most of exciting of times, and although there are parts of normal life I really, really miss, there are lots of things about our continued quarantine that I really, really love.

photo shoot

Last weekend was supposed to have been Sara's final competition for the year, and of course Emma is supposed to have ongoing games. I already know that we'll likely need to find Emma a new soccer team once everything is back up and running, and although Sara plans to continue cheer, it was sad to miss the final competition. So ... I had the girls put on their uniforms and we did a little backyard photo shoot to commemorate the lost seasons!