Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving!

Izzy wanted to create a handmade gift for his homeroom teacher (which was also her 4th grade teacher).  Given the pandemic, this seemed all but fitting!  I love how creative she can be.

The recurring theme for 2020 is that traditional holiday celebrations have been postponed or revamped.  This Thanksgiving we would have been enjoying Oma & Opa's company.  However given the upswing in COVID cases and their age, it was best for this to happen another year.  We sat down as a family and discussed how they would like to celebrate knowing it would just be the four of us.  We all agreed to forgo the typical turkey meal at home and find an activity to get us out of the house.  That was easier said than done as many places in MA are still not opened yet.  We had wanted to go to Great Wolf Lodge which was to open over Thanksgiving.  That too was postponed until a yet to be determined date.  Eventually we settled on driving to Red Jacket Resort in New Hampshire to enjoy Kahuna Laguna - their indoor water park.

This was certainly not the typical experience we've had in the past when we've come up here due to the limited number of people allowed in.  That wasn't necessarily a bad thing as there was ample space to enjoy ourselves.  The kid's favorite was the wave pool.  It didn't matter what else we would be doing.  As soon as the kids heard the alarm sounding the beginning of the waves, we dropped everything and headed over.

This is one of my favorite pictures.  Micah and Victoria would sit or lay in the water while the waves pelted them over and over again.

This was Izzy's favorite spot to be as the largest wave occurred here.

Victoria and Micah are now officially tall enough to ride by themselves (over 48 inches tall!) down water slides.  I never thought I'd see this day.  Even so, we all enjoyed riding together in double inner tubes.

I was expecting our Thanksgiving meal to be whatever the options were for in-room dining.  However the hotel was offering a 4 course traditional Thanksgiving meal which Izzy and I ordered.  Micah and Victoria were excited to have other options but did enjoy the soup appetizer and Thanksgiving desserts. 

The following day we stopped at my favorite store in North Conway... The Christmas Loft.  They opened a new store next door (Tricks and Treats) which is all about Halloween.  Definitely still my favorite.

We continued the Bures tradition of putting up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving... always brings smiles to our faces! 

Jack-o-lanterns

Carving pumpkins was never one of my favorite Halloween activities which is probably why we haven't done it for year.  This year though it was the perfect indoor, pandemic, holiday activity.  Victoria, not surprisingly, wanted to be Micah & Izzy's cheerleader rather than carve her own pumpkin.

Micah chose a small pumpkin and simple face.  He needed help when it came to the cutting part as I bought small electric saws.  This made carving much easier... and may lead to doing it again in the future.

Izzy had a vision but soon learned her pumpkin wasn't large enough.  So she settled on a traditional pumpkin face.

They were very proud of their carvings!

 

Halloween COVID-Style

This year's Halloween took a different form given the COVID pandemic.  I wasn't quite sure how this celebration was going to turn out but kept a positive attitude.  We didn't talk a lot about what our costumes would be like until it was clear that costumes were indeed in order.  Thanks to the parents in the courtyard, we created a Halloween celebration with those that we've quarantined with since March.  Once that was decided, costume talks were in full force.  

This year, Victoria wanted to be Barbie.  She exactly what color of dress she wanted which was hard to find.  As luck would have it, we found this on clearance at Macy's.  The reminder of accessories she was fully in charge of.  Izzy wanted to be a statue.  What she envisioned was harder to create.  I created her wig one weekend with yarn which was a new skill for me.  Micah wanted to be Sonic the Hedgehog, his favorite video game character.  This was the one costume I sewed which was a change from past years when I sewed all of them.  I decided to go as Where's Waldo.  

Our courtyard is divided into six stacks of condos.  Each stack has at least one family living there.  The decision was for each stack to have an activity / candy for the children who live here.  This would help keep everyone distanced while making Halloween a memorable holiday.  We decided to create a Halloween Punch Board where children could collect candy contactlessly.  This was quite the hit for everyone.  We had to make sure everyone only went once so all could have a turn before allowing for repeaters.  My kids knew which cups held which candy and selected wisely when it was their turn.

Victoria especially loved the gloves that were filled with candy.  

Micah and his good friend, Fox.

Victoria and her good friend, Margaret.

Our neighbors, Charlotte and Nell.

Another of our neighbors, Maya.

Word got out quickly that there were a few houses that ready for trick-or-treaters.  This was my favorite.  A menu of candy options was posted at the bottom of the railing.  Each child would let her know what they wanted which was then send down the shoot allowing for distancing.

At times Izzy mentioned that without COVID she would be out with her friends.  I know this year is a bit harder for her because of how much her peer group means to her.  She however enjoyed hanging back with me so we could have a bit of just mom and Izzy time.

Two houses had pre-made bags set up outside.  One also included Halloween themed face masks for the kids.  This house below with the Halloween blow-ups has been putting out blow-ups since March on a consistent basis.  This house is one of our favorites as they are able to keep everyone smiling for months.  

The finale was a candy shower from the 3rd floor balcony.  This sort of reminded me of a parade where candy is thrown.  There are always those kids who run and try to get every piece of candy, those that are too slow, and those that hang back.

We were definitely not out as long as previous years which was 100% okay with me because it was a tad chilly.  Nonetheless, the kids made a huge haul and spent the evening sorting and trading.  Once that was finished, we sat down to take in a Halloween movie while enjoying mummy cupcakes.  We spent the month of October watching Halloween movies every Friday including Hocus Pocus, The Haunted Mansion, and Goosebumps.  On Halloween we watched a movie none of us have seen... The Witches.  Next year I'll have to make a new list of movies but have been specifically instructed that they cannot be scary ones.  

 

Snow for Halloween!

They day before Halloween we were greeted with few inches of snow.  This was somewhat problematic as the days prior were in the 70s and, thus, many trees full sets of leaves.  Many branches were found down including one in front of your courtyard.  Luckily no electricity was disrupted.  Given the amount, it was clear we would be trick-or-treating with snow.  I remember a similar occurrence when I was a kid.  It looks like everyone gets to have one Halloween with snow (all dependent on where you live).

 

Imaginations & Barbie

Barbie has been a mainstay in the Bures family for generations.  It shouldn't come as any surprise that, on a snowy October day, my children entered into a Barbie story that needs to be shared. 

What's a girl to do when it's snowing outside in October(!) you might ask?  Go to the beach of course!  Barbie and her friend got up bright and early to hit the beach by 7am.  Of course they were the only ones there which allowed for some much needed relaxation.  (Diane - remember the purple swimsuit?)

By 9am, more folks were joining Barbie on the beach.  Some were even adventurous and got into the water to enjoy the refreshing waves. 

With all the commotion in the ocean, sea life was awoken and came to check out what was happening.

I guess Ken must have smelled and tasted good because the sharks went after him.

Have no fear.... another brave swimmer is on their way to rescue you.

Beach officials decided that a lifeguard was needed for swimmer safety.  Luckily they found one quickly which allowed the beach to stay open.