Happy Birthday Darcy!

Darcy turned the big 4-0 this week! We had a small family celebration on her actual birthday. On Saturday her and handful of friends did some yoga in the park and then went to the club for brunch.

The neighbor girl Iris doing some happy birthday chalking! 

 

The birthday was the big excitement for sure. The girls spent the week at Dana Point doing the Ocean Institute summer camp. I think they had fun exploring tide pools, learning about the ocean, going on boat rides out to see etc. This coming week they are back at song and dance camp, this time doing a performance of the Descendants.

Some friend time in the garage with Iris.

 

Surfs Up!!

This week the girls had a really lazy summer week with no camps on the schedule. Darcy and I took a few vacation days during the week to make a bit of a staycation of it. On Wednesday the girls went to Divers Cove in Laguna Beach and on Friday we met up with J^2 at Fletcher Cove in Solana Beach.


Divers Cove:

Fletcher Cove: 

Em catching some waves!

And Ellie catching some waves! 

When Anne and Owen weren't riding the waves they dug this great beach hole (actually with a BIG assist from yours truly who amused them with stories of digging out the septic tank on the farm as a kid).

Even Uncle Jeff getting in on the action - Hang 10 Brah!

 

Braces Off!

Earlier this week Ellie FINALLY got her braces off! Was supposed to happen around April but because of the Covid everything got pushed back. 

She still has to wear a retainer but she was very excited to be able to chew gum again!

First thing she did when we got home was chew gum! 

 

Frozen II

Last week the girls went to a week of camp at Center Stage Studio (CSS) where they put on a performance of Frozen II. Ellie has done these camps before and loves them. For Emily this was her first time as she is just now old enough. 

Emily landed the parts of Young Anna, Grand Pabbie Troll, and the Fire Spirit. Ellie landed the role of Gale the wind spirit and Townsfolk #3 (Ellie was rather upset that her sister had more lines than she did).  In the end she got over and both girls gave a great performance!
 

July 4th

A fairly uneventful 4th of July this year. The past couple years we had been out of town but this year with Covid we were mostly hunkered down. Made patriotic jello, went to the pool, played some board games. We did partake in some fireworks in the ally with neighbor friends.

Emily and I locked into an epic Stratego duel. 

 

June

Well June flew by! Since my last update, the girls spent 2 fun-filled weeks in Arizona while I held the fort down here in the OC. A change of scenery did everyone some good I think. Since coming back the girls have gone to Zig. for day care / summer camp. Softball has returned in a limited capacity and not sure if there will be any games but at least we are out on the fields. Darcy continues to work from home while I can go into the office essentially every other day. 

Since returning from PHX it has been ack on the fields and back to Zigg.! Seems like everyone is taking as many precautions as reasonable (even while cases continue to increase more than ever here in OC) and acknowledging that we can't stay shuttered in and isolated for ever.  It is a fine line to try and balance.  So for softball, coaches have to be in masks, everyone uses hand sanitizer before and after practice, we don't use dugouts and we can't be out there with another team. We try and keep the kids a little more separated than usual but easier said than done. 

At Zigg. everyone gets a temp. check before they are admitted, they limit, the number of kids enrolled, and limit parental foot traffic in the facility. 

At this point I am rather fatalistic that we will eventually get the Covid, if not this summer than probably in the fall.