St. Jude Run

Last week-end was the Eureka to Peoria St. Jude Run.  Of course, in the year-of-COVID, the St. Jude Run was different.  No group of 75 runners making their way from Eureka to Peoria.  No charter buses.  No big send-off.  No packed Civic Center, filled with runners and their families.  No streets lined with St. Jude patients and their families, giving us that visual reminder of why we are running.  This year the run was virtual.  Everyone ran where and when and how much they wanted.  The feeling of the day was much different, but the purpose remained the same.  We run for the kids.  And COVID wasn't going to stop that.

Our small group got 11 miles in before the day got too hot.

Grandpa made it a priority to get some running/walking miles in with each of his grandkids throughout the day.  An early morning run with Staley and Elliot...

followed by a run/walk with Adelie...

followed by a run/walk with Briggs...

and ending with a mid-day scorcher of a walk with Liam, Caroline, and Lucy.  What a neat way to get all the kids involved!!

My little St. Jude runners also put in another half mile run/walk with their principal, Mrs. Brown.

When the day was over, Zach and I had both run 15 miles.  We had raised $27, 600 for the kids of St. Jude.  Our kids had gotten a taste of being a part of running for something so much bigger than them.  And the 78 members of the Eureka run raised $135, 000 to contribute to the overall total for all the runs of $4.6 million.

The run looked different, but it didn't matter.  We ran.  We raised money.  We shared the day as a family with the knowledge that this day isn't about us.  It's not about the running or the big group or the send-off or the fanfare.  It's about the kids and families going through the unthinkable, and it's about the dream of a world where childhood cancer no longer exists.

Moana, Jr.

The girls were in the midst of preparing for their spring show, Moana, Jr., when the world shut down.  They continued their practices and classes virtually via Zoom and Facebook Live as the spring melted into summer.  When Illinois opened up in phases, the girls got to participate in some small group practice sessions with other members of the cast.  And when Illinois reached phase 4, their theater group found a way to make the performances comply with the new state regulations.

A half-capacity theater with ticket groups socially distanced from each other and masked isn't how you normally attend a theater performance, but the kids were so excited to get back on the stage.  And they were so pleased that many family and friends were still willing to come see them.  (Zoom in to see Aunt Sandi in her Moana mask that she made special for the event.)  Both sets of grandparents, a couple great aunts, and some friends all joined us for their opening night debut.

Staley was Hei Hei, Moana's chicken friend while Adelie was Villager #4.  Staley had a number of lines and a few short solos in songs.  Adelie was supposed to have one line, which she was so prepared for, but as we missed the first tech rehearsal due to vacation, they accidentally gave her line to someone else.  She rolled with it, but I was disappointed for her.  Both girls were also Lyra hoop dancers for the song 'Shiny', where they got to do various moves and tricks while sitting on spinning hoops.

A big shout out to Papa who made them a hoop so they could practice at home.

The kids were so pleased that some friends they invited came to the show.  Staley's friends Lilian and Josie enjoyed the show with us while Josie's brother, Stanley, who is in Adelie's class accepted her invitation to come too.

They were also supported on the second day of the show by Aunt Carrie, Uncle Erik, and Elliott...

our neighbors...

...and the girls' Kindergarten teacher and her daughter.

Each show gives the girls opportunities to meet new friends...

while continuing to build relationships with old friends.

NTA is such a family atmosphere, and I love how many of the older kids have taken my girls under their wings.

Because many individuals from various casts chose not to perform, Staley was thrilled to be asked to also play Hei Hei for both the Bloomington cast...

...and the Peoria cast.

Not only did it give her more opportunity to be on stage (which she could NEVER turn down), but it also gave her opportunities to meet even more new theater friends.

Although it was a different experience going to the theater in the time of COVID, it was so fun to see my girls on stage again doing something they love.

Growing Up Fast

I thought kids grew up fast.  Then we planted a garden.

You plant some seeds.  Give it a little water and sun.  And a few months later...

BAM!

Your garden is overflowing, you're harvesting a bunch of veggies, and you're wondering what in the world you are going to do with all those beets.

4th of July

Adelie was so worried that COVID-19 was going to mess up our annual 4th of July plans.  She informed me that the 4th of July is her second favorite holiday and was in tears about it not being the same this year.  Apart from the cancelled fireworks (which is not my kids' favorite part of the day anyway), our 4th of July was as fun and festive as usual filled with all our favorites.

Spending the day with cousins is always one of the things that makes our 4th of July great.

Eureka did not cancel their parade, so the kids enjoyed watching the parade and collecting bags full of candy in the process.

We enjoyed a yummy lunch at Uma and Papa's house.

And there was lots of fun play time with cousins...helped along by the water park that Uma and Papa set up in their backyard. 

We then got to enjoy a few hours in the pool owned by Uma and Papa's neighbors.  Winner, winner!!

 

Adelie was worried that the coronavirus might ruin our 4th of July, but it couldn't stop us from celebrating.

We dressed in our red, white, and blue.

We enjoyed the parade and yummy food.

We spent time with family and had fun with cousins.

 We had a wonderful 4th of July that lived up to the title of Adelie's second favorite holiday.

Happy Birthday, America!!  You may be flawed, but we love you anyway!

Pentwater

Despite all the changes in our country and our current life situations, it's nice to know that our annual week in Pentwater remained largely the same.  Apart from having to pack our masks for our couple of trips into town for shopping, our annual traditions and fun week of beach fun didn't change at all.

My road trip champs rocked it again.  Books on tape, snacks, drawing, and listening to music filled most of our car hours.  

We made our return trip home in a record 5 hours flat without so much as a bathroom stop.

We had some beautiful beach weather this year.  We skipped the beach on our one cold, windy, misty day and had to pack it up mid-afternoon on another day as the rain rolled in.  Otherwise we spent all day every day on the beach.

The kids and their cousins entertained themselves with a variety of activities.

Staley enjoyed playing up in the dunes with her cousins and reading on the beach, but she was my biggest water girl.  She loved spending time in Lake Michigan. 

She also spent a long time one morning on the beach playing wiffle ball with Liam and Uncle Evan.

Adelie liked playing restaurant on the beach with Grammie, going on dune adventures with cousins, and catching minnows, but her very favorite activity this year was finding people to go to 'rock island' with her.

Rock island was a stretch of beach a good ways down the beach from us that was covered in beach rocks.  Adelie loved to go there, search for pretty rocks, and add them to her collection.  Here she is sorting them into "pretty, cool, smooth, and plain" piles.  Don't worry.  We brought home about 20 lbs of beach rocks.

She also really enjoyed entertaining and spending time with baby Emerson, my cousin's little one year old girl.

Eating beach snacks was another favorite activity.  It seemed like Adelie was always working her way through all the beach snacks I'd bring down each day.

Briggs spent most of his days playing in the sand and going into the dunes with his cousins.

He did like pushing people around the "little lake" (outlet) in our floaty, but was definitely not keen on venturing very far into Lake Michigan.

We still kept up our annual Pentwater traditions.  We walked into town for ice cream.

Zach and I took turns running to the beach each day, but the kids got in on the running action too.  Staley went for a short run one morning with Uncle Erik, Elliott, and I.  And Adelie and Grandpa followed up with a run of their own.

We hung out in the house, eating dinner together and playing games.  Capture the flag was the outdoor game of choice for the cousins this year.  

We had our big family spaghetti and s'mores night.  Although not quite as many families made it to Pentwater this year, we still had 16 kids ranging in age from 1 to 15.

And, of course, no Pentwater year is complete without a night or two of walking down to the beach to watch the sunset.

COVID-19 has changed many things about our year.  We missed out on activities and emptied our calendar and quarantined ourselves and are figuring out how to balance our health and safety with resuming some sense of normalcy.

Pentwater is our normalcy.  Being on the beach, spending time with family, and keeping up our annual traditions was just what we needed.

 

Pentwater is my happy place.  It is my childhood memories.  It is my time with family.  It is my relax and unwind.  It is my home that isn't my home.

Thanks, Pentwater, for another wonderful week.

We needed that!