This was our first July 4th at our new house! We live in a much smaller neighborhood now, so we don’t have a big firework spectacle like we had at our last house. However, we did get to see a lot of fireworks throughout the weekend, and we had a lot of fun doing it. Melody seemed to really enjoy it all this year too which was fun!
June was filled with lots of popsicles, yearly checkups, a visit to the dentist, Melody’s first trip back to Publix, pool time, visits with Nana and Grandpa, birthday parties, baking, and lots of playtime!
Back in March when school was closed, and we had to start homeschooling due to COVID-19, we had to get creative about learning at home. One of the things I wanted to continue while at home was calendar time. I decided to make my own calendar at home. I laminated everything so that I could use a dry erase marker on it and reuse it throughout the year.
I found this recipe on Instagram, and the blogger made it look oh so easy. And while I am sure I made it more difficult than necessary, it will not be a weeknight meal for us due to the length of time it takes, It was delicious, however, and I would make it on the weekends for sure!
What started out as very simple party favors turned into something a bit more elaborate in true Brittany fashion. As you can see, Melody had a Frozen themed 4th birthday party. The idea was to have snowflake wands for all the kids. While we did those (and you can see the how to below), since there were only 4 kids including Melody plus 2 babies, I also incorporated a bit more since I had the room to spend more. Check it out below.
If you are looking for a fairly easy craft to do to remind you of the outside while not suffering in the high humidity, this is it, ha! You can improvise with supplies if you don’t have what I used on hand, and it is easy for just about any age to do.
So way back in August of last year, Brad and I got really excited when we really put it together that we would have almost every other Friday together alone while Melody was at school. However, between his work travel, Friday holidays, and COVID-19, we had very few together. But we did get to go on a few, and I even took a few pictures along the way. We would spend Fridays going to a movie, furniture shopping, grocery shopping, and sometimes just relaxing at home! Maybe next year if things go back to normal we can do this again!
Melody’s birthday party this year was at night instead of during the afternoon like parties past. So I felt like food needed to be handled slightly different. Since it was from 5-7, I knew I needed to serve dinner food as well as the dessert food I had planned. My original idea of her party included more kids, more people, less food, and all desserts!
Melody’s second dance recital was last weekend. This year it was slightly different due to COVID-19, but honestly I loved it! First, the recital was moved from May to June. We were assigned a day similar to how it would have happened in May. However we did not have a rehearsal this year. Instead we came just for our single performance. They did a rehearsal, then immediately performed again for video purposes. Because of this, there were maybe 40 people in the audience at a time, and we only had to stay for just her performance. Then we were free to go! I think things went perfectly, and we felt really safe. Melody did so good, and I was afraid with the lack of in-room dance classes she would not know the dance. Overall it was such a sweet performance, and I would be ok if this was the new norm for recitals at her age, ha!
I found this recipe on instagram one day. I am going to share what I used to make these “mug subs”, but you can really use just about anything you have on hand that you would normally use to make a warm sandwich with. They are super easy, and they have become a regular lunch item for us!
foosackly’s is a fast-food chicken restaurant that my dad and I tried while in Pensacola. We wanted to try another new restaurant while visiting, and we passed it on the way to Pensacola Play Zone. Their focus is chicken, so it makes ordering fairly easy. There wasn’t an overwhelming amount of indoor seating, but they did have a lot of outdoor seating. Their chicken was really good. Much like Zaxby’s. Their ranch and foosackly sauce were both really, really good. If you like good chicken tenders, I highly recommend it if you come across one.
So unfortunately I didn’t get many pictures from Father’s Day as we just spent time enjoying life. We had a lot of Brad’s favorites throughout the day. We started with cinnamon rolls, lunch were just leftovers (nothing fancy), we went and grabbed coffee from Starbucks as an afternoon pick me up, then we finished the night with dinner and dessert from Freddy’s. I think Brad had a really good day. We ended the day playing outside with Melody which is always fun!
I always find Father’s Day crafts just a bit harder than any other craft. I don’t really know why. This year I found the perfect crafts for our dad’s, but Brad was the hardest one of all. I eventually found something online I liked and went with it. I ideally wanted things that involved her footprint, but she is awful when it comes to putting paint on her feet. This means I need Brad’s help which would ruin the surprise. So we went another route.
So I found this activity on Oriental Trading’s website. So if you want to do it too, that is where you can find a printable (or you can draw up your own in Microsoft Office or Pixelmator). So this gave us a new activity to do during school days with all the homeschooling we did this spring. We are also trying to continue to do school 1-2 days a week this summer.
So this spring was an interesting one when it came to dance. March 13 we received the news that schools would be temporarily closing for COVID 19, and since our dance studio follows the school calendar dance too was postponed. We spent the first week assuming it was spring break. Then our dance studio put together online classes for the month of April and a few weeks of March. Once (sometimes twice) a week we would do dance in our living room. Melody would do a Frozen dance from youtube along with her recital dance and dance instruction for her class. We have spent the last 4 weeks getting back to in studio dance classes but in a new setup. We have to drop off and pick up the kids via carline instead of going instead. They also have encouraged the kids to wear masks too. And it is recital weekend! So while dance was different, we adjusted and overcame it all. And we are thankful we did get to go back to class and have a recital!
Melody begs for crafts at all times I feel like. This is a craft we did early on during the quarantine when we were going over colors and such. We had all of the things on hand for this easy craft too.
So with all of our quarantine projects started to cause our garage to overflow because everything we decided not to keep ended up here. We already had little space due to all of the things we generally have and our lack of storage and shelving in the new garage.
While in Pensacola back in February, it was pretty cold. While it did get in the 50s and was sunny, the wind didn’t make you warm for sure! So we researched indoor play places to take Melody during the day while my mom worked. One place we found was called Pensacola Play Place. Based on pictures online, it reminded me a lot of Let’s Play, so we gave it a try!
During the quarantine we have tried to find fun ways to entertain ourselves at home. One of those things involved making a volcano. I had seen people doing this all over my facebook feed simply using a clear solo cup. But Brad decided to go beyond that and make a volcano using his 3D printer!
