Fearfully and Wonderfully: Fall 2021

My goal with these posts lately was to be caught up by the time Gabriel's birthday rolled around again (since that was the last time I had posted anything). His 9th birthday is tomorrow so it looks like it's actually going to get done!

Excited that we could (temporarily) eat inside Chick-fil-a again

The fall was filled with what seemed like "normal" things. School, soccer, field trips, pumpkin patches, etc. Every Monday Gabriel had violin and Corban had soccer. On Tuesdays we had a meeting with the psychologist at VT and then our home group in the evening. On Wednesdays Corban had piano and Gabriel had soccer. On Saturday mornings we had soccer games. The boys really enjoyed these things.

Watching Gabriel's soccer game

Both of the boys really enjoy school and their friends there. The second week of school (just a few days after his birthday) Corban got RSV and was home for the week. A couple weeks later there was a Covid "outbreak" in Gabriel's class. Five of the eleven of them got sick (Gabriel thankfully did not). They did class over zoom for a little over a week.

Digging in some corn

Corban's class went to a sunflower farm. Since lots of parents wanted to go I just got to have that time in the car with Corban (it was about an hour away). Everyone stopped down the street from the farm and got ice cream on the way home. They took a tractor ride in the sunflowers, learned about the sunflower life cycle, played in corn, got to pet some goats, and ran around having fun even though it was HOT. At one point Corban scared me when he went into the portable toilet. About 5 seconds after he went in there I heard a scream of terror. Lots of parents turned and looked concerned. He came out with his pants around his ankles. I thought he had been stung by something. Turns out there was a HUGE grasshopper on the toilet seat. That would have surprised me too. Corban is not the biggest fan of bugs.

Some of his class with their teacher

Besides just enjoying spending time with them, I like doing lunch with the boys classes and going on their field trips because I like seeing their interactions with their peers and understanding the personalities of their classmates. It helps us to talk about it when there are problems going on with certain people at school.

We went to a Salem Red Socks game one night and had a lot of fun. Without realized it we picked the section where they broadcast a lot of the giveaways and things between the innings. One inning a local radio DJ was waiting in our section to have a contest between innings. It was to see if our section could yell louder then the section next to us. The winner was told that they would get free fried chicken, which was all the motivation Corban needed given his love of fried chicken. Well our section won but to his disappointment all we got was a coupon to a local fast food chicken place. Besides that though, while the DJ was waiting he was sitting on the steps right next to our seats. Corban was really chatting it up with him. At one point he said to Corban "You know, I'm on the radio. Do you ever listen to the radio on the way to school?" Corban's reply was "No, I listen to Prince Caspian." I think he really thought Corban was an interesting kid. Every time he passed by the rest of the night he said "hello" to him.

One weekend the Bergerons came to visit and we had fun playing outside, going to their soccer games, and riding bikes

Riding his bike is something that Gabriel's was proud to accomplish this summer. He has struggled with it the past few years, but we honestly don't have a good place to ride right around us. We have to pack the bikes up and drive them somewhere to practice. A friend had told me about an old high school track where people run and ride bikes, which was great because it was flat and mostly straight. After going there twice Gabriel got it and has asked to go back many times.

October marked our 15 year wedding anniversary. For our 10th we went to New York. This time we took a few days go to go Savannah, a city where we went many times before the boys were born. As the trip was getting closer the boys knew that we were going away together and that they would be staying with grandparents (always exciting). When talking to one of the secretaries in the school office one day she asked Corban about his upcoming trip and he said "My parents are going away this weekend to get married again. It's good they aren't divorced yet. My mom stays with my dad because he makes the bacon. But sometimes he makes turkey bacon and that's no good."

Prohibition Museum in Savannah

While we were gone we ate lots of delicious food, went to several museums, went on a ghost tour, went on a historical walking tour (with Savannah Dan), went to a local PCA church, read in coffee shops, and went to the Wormsloe Plantation. It was nice to have a few days to take things at our own pace.

Later in October we all went to a local pumpkin patch one Saturday and enjoyed lots of fun games. The next weekend the boys went back to the same place for a birthday party for Gabriel's friend, Aiden.

Next up was Gabriel's class field trip. They went to another pumpkin patch called Joes Trees. The woman there taught them about the pumpkin life cycle and about sheep. They got to pick out a pumpkin and a gourd to take home, play in the corn maze, and just play outside. This was the first time I took Gabriel on a trip and he didn't want to be with me the whole time. I'm glad that he has friends that he wants to do things with

There was a dinosaur exhibit for a couple days in Roanoke. It was a little random but it was something new and fun to do. They especially liked the bounce houses and the large "life size" dinosaurs. There was also a woman at a station with fossils and they had fun asking her questions.

Digging for "fossils"

Snacks and cards after school with Daddy

Ready to watch the World Series. The Braves won!

We hadn't bought Halloween costumes in a couple years because they had both seemed happy to wear some of the many costumes that we have around the house. This year though Gabriel was adamant that he wanted to be Spider Man with a cloth mask that he could pull over his face. Corban wanted to be Iron Man. We did lots of Halloween things. On Friday we went to a trick or treat in downtown Christiansburg. On Saturday Taylor to them to a similar (but much larger one) in Blacksburg. On Sunday they went trick or treating around the neighborhood. We still have too much candy around here.

Soccer ended the first Saturday in November (it was soooo cold). The boys both had great coaches, tried really hard, and improved so much

Last game day

Gabriel's coach got them all trophies

Corban's coach gave them each a special award
(I cannot get the picture to flip)

New PJs from Gammer!

The week before Thanksgiving was Service Day at school. This is something that didn't happen last year due to so many Covid restrictions. The two years before that I enjoyed going with Gabriel's class to do crafts and socialize at a local nursing home. It was a little more "low key" this year but I was so happy that they could do it again.