It's Cold!

 After the holidays, we had weeks of cold weather and rain. So. much. rain. It's probably the wettest winter we've had since moving to VA.  The temperature would drop to *almost* freezing, but not quite cold enough to get snow instead of rain.  Poor Dan had to stand out in the miserable weather twice a day to direct traffic at school during carpool.  I bought him a heated vest for Christmas this year, and needless to say, it's been worth the money already!

Because of the weather, we were mostly stuck indoors.  We're very thankful that school's been in session for the girls so they could spend time with friends and teachers, and we could go to work.  There have been a few COVID cases at school and my work, but we weren't exposed in any of the instances.  I did work from home for a couple of weeks just to be on the safe side, after I learned that several people in my office who work in cubicles near me had contracted COVID.  I wanted to make sure I wasn't exposed so our family wouldn't have to quarantine from school. Although I don't think Dan would've minded a 10-day break. Heh! 

There was one nice day this winter when it wasn't freezing, raining, or extremely windy. We spent a lot of time outdoors to take advantage of it!  The girls had such fun riding their bikes around the Regent University parking lot, which is around the corner from our house. 

Emma is super close to riding without training wheels!

She also lost her two front teeth, and has the perfect 7-year old smile.

We celebrated my January birthday a little early while Robin, Rob, Naomi, and Miriam were still in town, which was awesome.  And of course we celebrated again on my actual birthday!

Our nephew, Rowan, turned 2 in January.  He's the cutest! We wish we could celebrate with him in person.

FINALLY!! We finally got a snow day at the end of January!  Our area of Virginia Beach got about 4 inches overnight, which was more than most other sections of Hampton Roads.  The girls were up before 6 a.m. and too excited to stay indoors. So we bundled up and went out to play at 6:30. (sorry, neighbors!)

The girls enjoying the fresh snow, way too early in the morning.  

We built Frosty!

And later in the day, we went sledding. Emma wanted to go down the hill by herself, but Hallie only wanted to go if Emma was riding with her.

The girls pretending they crashed into a tree.  Ha! They actually did bump into trees a couple of times, but fortunately there were no casualties.

We loved the beauty of the snow-covered trees. The sun melted most of the snow by the end of the day, but we enjoyed it while it lasted!

StoneBridge School had Spirit Week in February, and the girls loved dressing up each day.

Favorite Music Genre Day - both girls chose country music. Emma's loved country ever since she saw Trolls World Tour and fell in love with Delta Dawn's song, "Born to Die."

She's small, but I wouldn't mess with her if I were you.

Decade/History Day - they dressed as Laura Ingalls and a friendly Native American

Wacky Wednesday

Cartoon Character Day - Cinderella and Arial

Emma and her classmates were invited to their friend, Emma C's, birthday party at a roller skating rink. Most of them had never roller skated before, so it was like watching Bambi try to ice skate on the frozen pond with Thumper.  But after a half an hour, they were all mostly staying upright and having a great time.

The class taking a pizza and drink break

Dan is by far the best skater in the family, so he stuck with Emma to show her the ropes.

If the girls felt like toddling around the rink clutching the wall, they could hang out with me.

My favorite picture of the day. Hallie was hanging out in the middle of the rink (making everyone else swerve around her), just grooving to the music. 

We made good memories this winter, but we're ready for warmer temperatures!

COVID Christmas

So, that really fun evening we spent with our families at the Nauticus Winterfest in mid-December had a big down-side. Dan was unaware that he had been exposed to COVID at school the week before we all spent the evening together. By Sunday night, he was starting to feel sick, and by the end of the week, Dan, his brother, Tim, and his mom had tested positive for COVID, and every single member of our families had symptoms.

At the Nauticus during our Jester/Campbell family "herd immunity experiment." 

We do not plan to make this an annual tradition.

Instead of celebrating together, we all quarantined and recovered through Christmas. Dan's sister, Robin, and her family postponed their trip to visit us from Montana until after our quarantine period. Most of our family members had mild to moderate COVID symptoms that subsided after a week. But Dan's dad was hit harder than the rest of us, and ended up in the hospital for oxygen, steroids, and antibiotics to help him fight the virus. His COVID symptoms improved within a week's time, however, he had a series of reactions to medications and other incidents at the hospital that resulted in him staying there for three weeks and having the worst Christmas ever.  None of us could visit him at the hospital for over two weeks, which was the worst part of it all. Once he was discharged, he had to work hard to regain his strength, but he's improved drastically since returning home. 

We missed him tons during the holidays this year while he was in the hospital.  We're so thankful to God for his recovery! 

My parents and our family opened Christmas gifts together and Zoomed with my brother, Steve, and his family in Boston.   

Virtual gift opening with Steve, Sheila, Meera, and Rowan

The girls at Christmastime with their Papa and Nana

After everyone was out of quarantine, Dan's sister, Robin, and her family flew in from Montana. Unfortunately, Dan's dad's hospital stay lasted until after they returned home, but we're so thankful for the time we had with them.

Tim, Mom Jester, Robin, and Dan

We had a belated Christmas gift opening extravaganza at Grandpa and Grandma's house!

Robin and Rob bought Christmas "crackers" filled with toys for us all to open.

Tim and Dawn have an annual New Year's Eve taste-testing challenge, and they involved the rest of us this year. The challenge was to taste small bites of candy bars with closed eyes and guess the brand and flavor of each one. There were some really funny moments - especially watching the picky eaters (old and young) try new flavors!

Robin bought the girl cousins matching outfits for Christmas. They loved them and looked adorable!

The younger cousins had a couple of sleepovers at Grandma and Grandpa's house. 

Staying up late watching movies and snacking, so they'll all crash as soon as they go to bed.

We were grateful that the weather was nice enough to play outside several days, since we'd all been cooped up in our houses long enough!

All the cousins - ranging in age from 16 to 3! 

Although it wasn't a perfect or carefree holiday, we cherish the time we have with the ones we love. It's a generous gift from our God who gave us the greatest gift of all in his son, Jesus. We pray that he uses all our experiences in life to help us love and depend on him more.

Merry Christmas!

Holiday Time!

 As soon as school was out for Thanksgiving Break, we headed to Hershey Park in Pennsylvania! The amusement park was decorated for Christmas and they had an impressive number of rides open.

We spent the afternoon and all night there until closing time. 

Hershey Park is a great place for small children, since there are tons of rides appropriate for younger ages.

One of the highlights for me was riding the sky ride at night. The beautiful holiday lights danced to Christmas music as we slowly passed overhead.

The next morning, our van battery was dead but the hotel front desk attendant gave us a jump so we could make it to Hershey's Chocolate World.

Dan did a quick tour with us, then left to buy a new battery while the girls and I fully explored the gift shop. We loved the cute ride that showed us how Hershey chocolate was made, and of course the small Hershey bar they gave us at the end.

We headed back home after our whirlwind PA trip, and within a few days we were celebrating our favorite guy's birthday!

We had a low-key dinner at home and Nothing Bundt Cake on his birthday.

The next afternoon, we ate at Cheesecake Factory with my parents to celebrate.

We were also celebrating my parents' 49th anniversary! They're amazing!

We had a third birthday celebration with Dan's family over the weekend. Good food, family time, and games - Dan's favorite kind of day.

We got into the Christmas spirit at Norfolk's Nauticus Winterfest onboard the USS Wisconsin.  The Jester  family and my parents were able to join us, which made the evening more fun.

There was a lighted boat parade that we could see from the deck, with Santa Claus riding on the final boat!

Later, Santa came aboard, and we spoke to him from a distance.

The kids got a kick out of the missiles onboard the Wisconsin and treated them like playground equipment.

It was a fun way to get into the Christmas spirit!

The girls and I visited Virginia Beach Town Center to see their Christmas decorations.

They had a snow globe theme, with dozens of huge, themed snow globes. They girls thought this Grinch one was so funny!

They had nice scenery for photos, too.

Emma and the StoneBridge elementary school put on their adorable Christmas performance in December. Unfortunately, Hallie's preschool performance was postponed until school resumes in January.

We've been making our way around Hampton Roads to see some homes with outrageous Christmas decorations. 

The girls decorated a chocolate cookie house

And they helped Nana and Papa decorate their Christmas tree one evening!

Despite the many changes due to COVID-19 this year, we enjoyed the festivities leading up to Christmas!