Happy New Year

 Its a new year! While we can turn the page on 2020, we are still deep in the pandemic and must practice diligence and patience. The most important thing is that we are still getting outside and making the best of everyday. The weather has been all over the place, but on the nice days we get out for hikes and go on bike rides. One weekend we took a hike at Umstead State Park and then Mom took me downtown on our bikes! School is back in session and its the same old virtual stuff, but now that I know what to expect I was able to get into the swing of things quickly!

2020 A Look Back

What a crazy year to say the least! One thing we will always be thankful for is the time that we were able to spend together. It made the small outings and littlest things all the more cherished. Wishing for a better year ahead, but thankful for the memories that were made.

Christmas 2020

Aside from not traveling or getting to see anybody, our holiday season this year didn't feel all that different and we were very blessed to be able to celebrate Christmas with good health, good food, and of course great gifts!

Our season leading up to Christmas was filled with our traditions. We started with adorning the outside of our house with lights and decorations followed a week later by the indoor decorations including our Christmas village and Christmas tree. Adam and I put all the ornaments on the tree ourselves this year too and I think the tree looked beautiful! We baked lots of cookies, decorated lots of cookies, watched many Christmas movies, enjoyed a night with the symphony and drove through the Nights of Lights throughout December. A few days before Christmas, we built and decorated our gingerbread house too!

Christmas Eve was different in that after our dinner of Spaetzel soup we had Christmas Eve mass in the family room watching St Patrick's Cathedral mass on TV. After dinner, we enjoyed our cheese and pepperoni listening to Christmas music followed by opening a few gifts. The best gift was the last - Mom and Dad set up a small scavenger hunt for Adam and me. We started by opening a card with a poem that gave us a hint to look in the mud room for a gift. We opened that gift which was a bell for a bicycle. The next clue led us upstairs to Mom and Dad's closet where we found new bikes! Wow, we were surprised! Another different thing we did on Christmas Eve was the Cousins Christmas show. Adam, Saige and I all had the opportunity to show off some of our talents for the family on a Zoom call. I began the show and played the piano, Saige danced next and Adam finished the show with some magic tricks that I helped him record prior to the show. 

Christmas day was nice. We were able to see family on video calls, show off our presents from Santa and open a few other gifts from our grandparents. I go some things that I wanted such as pjs, a robe, a makeup mirror, and some cozy socks but the bicycle was by far the most unexpected gift of all! It was such a nice holiday - for a moment we almost forgot about stupid COVID as I like to call it. I can see many bike rides in my future once the weather warms up (it definitely wasn't warm enough on Christmas day to be riding bikes - IT WAS COLD!)

A Cozy, Quiet Thanksgiving

We commemorated our first Thanksgiving in our new house this year. Bonuses of our quiet Thanksgiving: first time we bothered to break the wishbone, no one was sick, no delayed flights, no long car rides although all the video chatting does not replace hugging everyone in person. Fortunately one thing that we could look forward to this year was Dad's 40th birthday soon after Thanksgiving enjoying a smoked prime rib (compliments of Dad and his smoking skills) and relaxing fire side. Mom and I made him a cheesecake - my first time ever eating it. I'm not much of a dessert eater, so while I liked it, one piece was enough for me!

Halloween 2020

Halloween this year wasn't a total bust thanks to people being flexible in how we did trick or treating. I dressed up as a a greek goddess again this year and we experienced our first Halloween in Hi-Mount. Everyone had the candy setting out by the curb so it was easy to just walk up the street, wave to neighbors and grab candy. We only had to do the Mial (1 mile) loop and our bags were stuffed! It was fun seeing all the people in the streets and feeling like something was normal for once! It was overall much better than I thought it would be because at first I wasn't even planning on trick or treating. I'm glad I was convinced to go! One of the best things we saw was a man dressed up as a snail blowing candy out of his shell for kids to catch from a distance!

A Mid-Semester Break

With virtual school and not going many places, things get a bit mundane. Fortunately, Mom and Dad were brave enough to rent a place at the beach for a long weekend at the end of October to just get away and change things up a bit. We had the most perfect weather to enjoy our long weekend at Emerald Isle! It was so warm that we could enjoy the swimming pool and not be bothered by jumping over waves repeatedly in the surf of the ocean. The place that we stayed was pretty spectacular too. It was up on the 7th floor right along the beach. Cora and I had our own king bed and bathroom with ocean view! It was so nice to get away, relax with long walks on the beach and be away from Google Meets for a bit!

Pandemic Shenanigans

Mom and Dad are really impressed and proud of how well that I have adapted to life in a pandemic. I have been able to hone my drawing skills as I spend lots of time at my desk in my room drawing while listening to music on my tablet. I also enjoy playing piano, typically I have a specific order that I play all of my songs in finishing with my favorite, Prelude. 

This fall Mom signed me up for Girl Scouts. We always meet outside at a park and do a special activity. One weekend we went for a hike at Umstead State Park, had a first aid class, and another weekend we did a scavenger hunt at Dix Park. It's strange to do activities but wear masks and not have much interaction. I guess it is better than nothing. 

Adam and I still manage to have fun despite it just being us two. For the most part we get along really well aside from mornings when he doesn't want to stop talking! One day he let me dress him up just to have a little fun! 

Double Digits!

 

Wow! I can't believe I'm already ten! It went by so quick! Even though the virus was going on, I still had as much fun as I would on a regular birthday. I woke up early because I wanted to have a nice breakfast but also have time to go to school. For breakfast, mom made me some delicious fluffy pancakes. I was a little bummed that I still had to go to school but I was happy when I found out that there was barely any work to do. It was the beginning of the year, so my teacher didn't want to take it to far with the work. Plus everyone, including my family and my class, were still trying to get used to the online school. 

After school, I opened up some of my presents. These presents were from my grandparents. They were all amazing. I did a lot of relaxing after that because I needed to catch up on it. 

For dinner, I asked for spaghetti. Now not just any type of spaghetti, I had ditalini pastas in a  spaghetti sauce with ground beef in it. Kind of like spaghetti in meat sauce. It turned out really good. For desert, I asked for a 2 layered chocolate cake with white icing on top with a chocolate ganache drizzle on top. To top it off, I asked for strawberries. After dinner, I opened up presents from mom and dad. They got me my very own hairdryer and nail clippers. It was a good birthday and I enjoyed every second of it. 

A new shirt from Grammie and Gramps

A puzzle of my own artwork from Mimi and Papa!