September 2020 Fun

 What the heck. September is done already?  You mean it's fall?  That means winter is right around the corner! NOOOOO!

We kicked off September with a visit to Stone's Public House in Ashland for some lunch.  It was a nice warm day, and I'm hanging on to the warm days for as long as I can. I had a nice chicken, cheddar and chutney sandwich!  Can anyone hear the word Chutney and NOT think about the movie Legally Blonde???

After lunch, we went to do a little mini golf in Holliston.  There weren't many people there, so it was easy to socially distance.  They cleaned everything well (we always bring our own wipes anyway) and we wore masks anytime anyone came within 20 feet of us.  I know my Mom will ask- Natalie had some pain in her knee and it cracks all the time so she had a brace on.  We joke with her that she has arthritis!

The kids got a big kick out of the jumpy thing that's in the background here.  They had one of those at Playmobil in Nuremberg and they always used to have a blast jumping on it when we went there. No jumping for them today, though! 

Natalie working on her mini golf form.  In the end, Todd won, I came in second and the kids weirdly both tied for third!

The Kentucky Derby was postponed from May to Labor Day weekend this year... because, 2020.  I don't know if they always do this, or if because no one was allowed to go to the actual Derby, but they had an online app where you could place bets on the horses as if you were there in person.  Well, Todd and I have some experience with betting on horses at the Belmont Stakes, so we made a few bets.  This wasn't all of my winnings, but you can see I won more than I lost!  We HAD to place a bet on the WINNING horse, Authentic, because my mom's cousin Mike and his wife Janie own a small portion of the horse!  He wasn't favored to win (although he was high up there) especially because he came out of gate 16 - but he DID win!

After the Derby, we made some dinner... which was gonna be pickies.  You can see the leftover pizza in the pan on the right.  Todd had bought some popcorn for he and the kids (ewww... my Dad must be so disappointed that I never liked popcorn!)  But the Jiffy Pop aluminum cover broke open, so the popcorn was just flying everywhere.  Natalie knows her parents too well, so she grabbed a cup of water just in case there was a fire as Todd started trying to scoop up popcorn with a paper plate, declaring there would be no fire.  But of course, there was a little fire! No worries, we didn't require water to put it out.

Todd was just showing off to Brian and Mikey as we all watched (virtually together) the Tampa Bay Lightning and Boston Bruins play in the second round of the playoffs  - two delicious German fest beers!  This time last year, the four of us were drinking many Maß of bier and dancing on tables with Hungarian Gronk and his crazy Hungarian friends!  Now, we are relegated to Total Wine's finest imports.

Hello busy, buzzy, bumble bee! I love these fall flowers!

We finally decided to go see Todd's parents, very reluctantly.  We decided to sit outside, play games and wear masks inside or when near other people.  This was SUCH a disaster and a serious hassle.  Here, Grant was playing a crazy game of cornhole!

Grant and Aunt Betty having deep discussions about geography.  (I'm not kidding!)

In September, we also had a couple of companies come out to give us an estimate to have a few trees removed.  You can see here that this one leans out over our neighbors house quite a bit.  Todd seems to think he can push it straight back up like it's the Leaning Tower of Pisa!

Of course, some basketball was played in September. SWISH! He even painted lines on the driveway.  You'll have to stay tuned to October to see the line painting saga! 

Natalie had a lot of rehearsals and ultimately, a live performance of the classic 12 Angry Men, where she played Juror Number 1.  Notice her manly way of sitting.  She said she looked at her dad in the audience and did whatever he was doing! HA!  Naturally, she was great!

These kids did a great job, and unfortunately had to contend with the fact that the neighboring property decided to do their lawn work at the same time as the performance.  So they really had to project - I was proud of them for overcoming the noise!

The kids also FINALLY started school!  Ashland schools were delayed by two weeks so the teachers could have more time to work on planning for the school year. We opted for full remote learning this year, knowing that even in a hybrid model, the kids were likely going to have to go to full remote learning at some point anyway.  I work from home full time regardless of Covid, so it's not a huge deal for us. We are lucky that we have that option! 

Working at our own desks in our own quiet rooms is MUCH better than all four of us trying to work from home in a three room AirBnB.  We are thankful to be in our own home!

Hey guess what else happened in September??  The Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup! The playoffs were entirely played in Edmonton, Alberta.  It started with the Lightning beating Columbus in a FIVE OVERTIME GAME, before we plowed through several overtime games vs. the Bruins and the Islanders. It ended with the Lightning beating Dallas in 6 games.  The Lightning had a total of 8 overtime games in the playoffs and three of them were double overtime (plus the one 5 OT game!)  I was exhausted!  The Bolts winning the Cup was a bright spot in an otherwise yucky year.

Oh and I had a birthday but we don't have to talk about that.

Actually, there is a HILARIOUS story about my birthday this year.  When you get to your mid 40s, you just buy your own gifts, for the most part.  I usually buy things, then tell Todd to wrap them (I'm not wrapping my own gifts- I'm not a savage!)  So I bought myself some underwear this year.  Because... mid 40s.  I received the package in the mail, but I didn't open it - I just gave it to Todd to wrap.  So imagine my surprise when I pulled THESE out of the bag!  I promise you, I did NOT order these.  I was laughing so hard, I was crying!  I thought Todd got them as a joke and he said, "No! I just wrapped what you gave me!" 

The Bailey's of Towson visited in September, and we really wanted to go see them.  But we were just very nervous about it, so EVERYONE who visited went and got a Covid test.  Everyone was negative, thankfully which put our minds at ease (just a bit.) Grammi was happy to have four out of five of her granddaughters with her! And I'm sure by now you're starting to wonder if my oldest child has any other clothes.  (Eye roll.)  I promise she does, we just only happened to do things on the days when she wore this ONE particular outfit.  

I captured Lovey loving on his Lovey! Awwwww!!!!

Most of Grammi's boys are in this picture, except for the newlywed, Ryan and the SOON TO BE newlywed (okay, maybe not so soon) Gordon, who was proposing to his girlfriend Anna just around the time we took this picture!  We were so excited!

Helen brought the JUMBO JENGA and of course, there were a few rousing games played on the back deck.

Megan was intense- she means business playing with one hand behind her back!

We also had the cornhole set up on the right and you can see Grant digging into some snacks on the left!  

Jeanne says, "Watch the master at work!"  Hannah and Piper are trying to give her some tips!

That is ONE TALL TOWER!

I can't tell if Seth is having a snack here or laughing behind his hand at whatever move Natalie is making.

Me with my oldest niece, Megan. She's about a quarter of a century older than my youngest niece, Hattie.

Three generations of Bailey boys.

Three beautiful Bailey ladies - Kathleen, Aunt Betty and Helen.

Not to be out done by the beautiful Jeanne and Hannah, of course!

Natalie and her great Aunt Betty, who is not only her great aunt, but who is also a GREAT aunt!

Aunt Betty with her nephews, Steve and Todd.

Grant and Natalie in front of the fireplace at Warren and Carole's.  I have to give credit to Kathleen - she took almost all of these family group pictures!

And of course, the big four.  I always thought Helen and Steve looked alike, and Kathleen and Todd look alike!  (Minus the fact that she has blue eyes and Todd has brown!)

A Bailey kids on the stairs picture is a MUST for any family reunion!

Don't worry - Natalie brought the entertainment for the evening by singing Hamilton tunes!  There should be no video evidence of me, Natalie and Todd singing the Schuyler Sisters. NONE. ("And Peggy!")

Of course, I need to put in some current coronavirus figures.  This was as of September 23.

Projections by the beginning of the year.  That is terrifying.  Wear your masks!

This is kind of a throw back picture.  Todd had ordered me some Milka chocolate for my birthday, but since it was shipped from Germany, it took a while.  Imagine my surprise when I got FIVE candy bars!  Milka is by FAR the best chocolate in the world!

In the age of Covid, sometimes this happens and you don't really know why.  I went to Shaw's grocery store one day, and I saw this! I suspect it was because something happened to the freezer, but at the same time, if that was the case, then why is the meat all still there behind the curtains?

One weekend in late September, I let Natalie go to the movies with a friend of hers.  I wouldn't probably normally do that in this day and age, but there was a BTS movie playing and the band doesn't send their movies to any streaming service after a theatrical release.  So if you're going to see it, you have to see it in the theater.  So we purchased tickets ahead of time, and the theater was only at 40% capacity.  They don't serve or allow food or drink in the theater and you have to keep your mask on at all times.  I also told her she couldn't use the bathroom. Thankfully it was only an hour and a half long!  Anyway, there she is, waiting for her friend to show up.  I remember my own mom dropping me and my friends off at the Largo Mall theater to see movies when I was her age!  When did she get so big?

Last but not least... DUN DUN DUNNNNNN!!!!  Nooooo!  Go away!  I know the evil Massachusetts winters are right around the corner!!!!

And we're on to October!

August 2020 Fun

It seems as if the coronavirus is never, ever going to go away.  I keep thinking about all of the fun we have had the last four summers, traveling around Europe - and now, nothing.  It's only slightly depressing.

In early August, we had a tropical storm move in west of our area, but it was still breezy enough to bring down a lot of small branches.  It took me forever to just clean up the driveway!  The kids pitched in and helped with stick cleanup in the yard.

Meanwhile, my home back in Florida is looking MEH with it's complete renovation. I'm still absolutely convinced that this is a violation of National Flood Insurance Program rules, but what can you do? 

And look!  Someone FINALLY got a REAL haircut!

Here we go, on August 8th.

One of the best things about moving back to America is seeing my Massachusetts besties again.  Heather got a puppy!  She's so cute and her name is Roxy and she's a total fluffball.  Roxy likes eating rocks, eating mulch and long walks on the beach.  But not long walks in the neighborhood. 

Sara had a birthday in August, so we went over to Heather's house for a visit.

Welcome to 2020.  No more blowing your own birthday candles out.  Instead, you now blow them out with a paper plate.  As soon as I got home after this party, I went out and immediately bought pants like Sara's.

Well, it's no Auerbach sunset, but it was kind of pretty. I love the crepuscular rays.

In August, Natalie went to an outdoor theater summer camp, which you can see below was very socially distanced.  The kids had to wear masks, bring their own lunches, and had their temperature taken before they got out of the car everyday.  They put on a play called, "Kids Save Broadway."

You can see they're spaced pretty far apart here. 

Natalie had the role of Mother Duck from the musical Honk! although they were not allowed to sing in their production.  This production was all about how Broadway had gone dark because of the pandemic, and the kids were here to save Broadway!  There was music, but the kids only danced to it, unfortunately.  Nat was hoping to show off her pipes!

The kids were broken up into two groups- younger kids and older kids, so that the groups weren't as large and they could socially distance better.  These were all of Mother Duck's eggs that hatched into her babies!  Notice King George from Hamilton in the background!  Alexander was there, too!

My little dancer out front.  Everyone thought she had the prettiest costume.

Taking their bows at the end of the show.

It's August and there's a pandemic, so why not enjoy that last bottle of German halb trocken wine?  Any of my friends want to send me a few bottles of this?

Sadly, we had plans to travel down to Baltimore to see (our nephew) cousin Ryan get married to his long time sweetie Mackenzie in mid August but obviously, you can see we didn't go.  We had a full week planned - we were going to get a huge AirBnB and share it with KK, the Fitch's and Todd's parents.  Then, we were going to visit DC for a few days and see the sights and some of our friends from Germany who had PCS'd to the Washington area.  We were totally crushed.

But alas, in this day and age, we could AT LEAST see the wedding!  In fact, we had TWO weddings to attend on this beautiful day!  You might recall that Todd's cousin Sherri's daughter Caroline was in town in March for her bridal shower that Natalie and I went to.  TWO weddings in ONE DAY!

Hi Caroline and Dale!  Congrats on your wedding!  (I took this one from the TV!)

Thankfully the two weddings were at different times because we were able to see both.

Here comes the bride!  Eeek!  Seriously, look how tall Ryan is ha ha. 

I liked this picture because I didn't just have Ryan and Mackenzie in the shot- I also have our niece Megan on the far left (in front of Aunt Jeanne seated in the blue dress!)  Also, notice Todd and I are in the upper left corner ha ha.  Aunt Betty is up there with Todd's parents and KK and Helen, and Heidi and FAH (Favorite Auntie Helen) are up on the right. So... basically the whole Massachusetts crew!

Looking simply beautiful!  How are any of my nieces and nephews old enough to get married?  He was FIVE YEARS OLD when Todd and I met!

To the groom! (To the groom, to the groom!)  To the bride!  (To the briiiiiiiide....)  It's official!

If we had attended the wedding, we would have dressed up.  I promise I would have ironed Grant's shirt ha ha.  The kids were really disappointed they couldn't go to their first REAL wedding, so we dressed up and made a nice dinner outside.  I even made a cake - because everyone loves wedding cake!  And no, Natalie is not taller than me.  She's in heels and I don't have any shoes on!

Ok, ok... our nice dinner was a burger and dog cookout, made for us by a guy in a suit!

The Bailey's of Ashland extend their congratulations to Caroline and Dale AND Ryan and Mackenzie!

The bride's cake was a funfetti cake, made with a buttercream frosting straight out of a can, beautifully displayed on a "Congrats 2019 Grad" paper plate.  DECADENT!

Todd told Natalie to put together a wedding reception playlist on Spotify and she actually did a really good job.  It even included some typical cheesy wedding reception line dance hits - and one of the Bailey family favorites... LOVE SHACK! 

NO.  GO AWAY.

I also stumbled upon a GREAT website where I could (for an arm and a leg) order some of our favorite German treats!  Everyone was excited to have Pick Ups and curry ketchup!  

Our neighbor on one side of our house doesn't really take care of his property, so it's swarming with critters, including this guy - a woodchuck!  You may also know him as a groundhog.  He's kind of cute, but we don't really want him in our backyard, so Todd had to put some rocks over by the fence so he would stop crawling under it.  We know, buddy.  We like our yard better, too!

In an ENTIRE summer, Todd only got to play golf with some of the Wilmington crew one time.  So sad.  Like, the whole reason we moved BACK to America was to see our friends and family and the pandemic brought that to an Autobahn Stau level halt. 

Also in August, I got a haircut (probably shorter than I normally would get but I'm trying NOT to go to the hairdresser these days.)  Tracy is the BEST - she works in a place that has these little work room pods.  Everyone has their own, and you're in there alone with her.  She gives you a disposable mask (because if you're getting your hair colored, it's gonna get messy and you don't want to ruin your nice mask!)  So great to see her after five years!  Also... I've given up on makeup almost entirely during this pandemic!  Eh, who even cares anymore!

The big summer project for Todd was installing a basketball hoop.  Like a real, regulation 10-foot high hoop.  This was no easy task as he installed it himself (with my help, of course!)  The hardest part for him was definitely digging the hole.  That's a concrete block in there, so it is somewhat deep.  But where we live, there are nothing but rocks beneath the top soil. 

Some of those rocks are here in front of the six bags of fast setting concrete (this wasn't even all that we used!)

It's been a really dry summer and we are in a pretty bad drought right now.  But of course, on the day Todd is trying to install the basketball hoop pole and set it in concrete, THIS happens.

Sadly (sadly?) we didn't get any real rain out of that one.  So here we go!

It was HARD work, but we got it done!  We also had a realization that our level was magnetic!  Todd covered up the concrete with a tarp, just in case the rain returned (it did, eventually.)

Naturally we also had to go back to the Belkin Lookout Farm.  The kids played Tic Tac Toe on Daddy's phone.

I was a little disappointed since they did not have any chicken sandwiches this time!  The burger was still really good though.

Bailey's stuffing their faces in the sun in Natick.

We really like this farm - I think because it kind of reminds us of Germany.  It feels like we are really out in the country, even though we are in South Natick!  You can see the pumpkins are starting to grow in the foreground of this big red barn.

Grant, pile those up and then go throw them away for us!

We wanted to walk off our meal, so we decided to wander through the orchards for a bit.

Grant and Natalie on a beautiful evening in Natick.  Summer could last forever here, and I would be okay with that.

To walk around the orchards, you have to keep your distance, of course.

Daddy and his babies among the grapes, peaches and not-yet-ready apples.

That sunset is just peachy!

Every once in a while, they get like this.  They randomly just held hands and started skipping down the orchard streets, laughing like lunatics.

Of course, Todd and I think this hilarious because they mostly hate each other.

Natick sunsets are pretty good, we'll give them that.

Piece by piece, we are putting together the living room.  We finally got a "coffee table" and a new rug.    Gotta paint those walls, though!

It's been a weird year.  The Indy 500 is ALWAYS Memorial Day weekend.  But because of Covid, they pushed it back to late August.  So we watched it, while having my Dad's favorite Indy 500 meal - burgers, baked beans and potato salad!  (Didn't make the deviled eggs. Sorry Dad, next time!)  It was so bizarre.  The Indy 500 is held at a track that holds 250,000 spectators and this year... it was empty. Takuma Sato won on a caution that happened at lap 195 this year, and that was JUST perfect. Sigh.

Natalie wore a heart monitor for a couple of weeks (when she was at camp, of course) in August to try to capture her Supraventricular Tachycardia.  It didn't take long - in about a week, she had an episode.  She recorded it and we sent it off to her doctor who confirmed that yes, she definitely has SVT.  At one point during the episode, her heart got up to 265 beats per minute!  So we had a follow up appointment at Newton Wellesley for an echocardiogram to make sure that the SVT was the only problem she had.  It was!  Her heart is perfectly healthy.  At some point, she will need surgery to burn or freeze off that extra flap of tissue on her heart - but once she does that, she will never have another SVT episode.

OH, we also voted in August!  Our primary was September 1, but we had our ballots mailed to us.  Instead of mailing it back, to be sure our town received our ballots, we dropped them off at the Town Hall. Yes, it's legal.  Yes, it's safe.  Yes, it's valid.  You can do this, too!

Oh MAN, I also finally GOT THIS!  Isn't she a beauty? I finally got my GOLDEN TICKET to visit Loretto, Kentucky and hand dip my very own bottle of Makers Mark from my VERY OWN barrel.  Yes, it's my barrel!  It has my name on it!  (Along with the names of other people, but I digress!)  My adventure will have to wait until next year, sadly.

I think we finally got Grant's room all set up.  You know, three months later.  We were waiting to install some shelving so that all of his knickknacks could have a home.  Now he's all ready for school to start!

Finally!  FINALLY!  He finally has a basketball hoop!  And it's adjustable, so the kids can lower it and play, too.  He also put up an adjustable netting (not seen here) so that the kids don't accidentally hit the neighbors car behind it.  Naturally, everyone in the neighborhood is excited about this basketball hoop as ALL of the kids have been playing right outside of my office window for weeks.  Even some of the adults have inquired about a driveway league!

Couldn't forget about this, could we?  We had 6.1 million cases of Covid in America at the end of August and over 187,000 deaths.  This needs to end.  Wear your mask, folks!