barrett: 99 months old

Here's my soon-to-be third grader!  We find out who Barrett's teacher will be this year tomorrow, and meet her at the "Meet the Teacher" event tomorrow night.  As you may know from the news, Texas's governor has issued an executive order preventing schools from requiring masks, even though Texas is a hotspot of covid infections.  I'm nervous for Barrett to go to school this year, no doubt, because unlike Britton, he's too young to be vaccinated.  Virtual school is only scheduled for a month and a half, which feels too disruptive.  So, we've stocked up on N95 masks, hand wipes and sanitizer, and discussed with Barrett how important it is to protect himself while he's at school.  

To celebrate the end of summer, we went to the aquarium on Saturday!  Barrett loves jellyfish because Britton loves jellyfish, but his best find at the aquarium was the axolotl!  I didn't even know they had one, let alone two of these adorable axolotls.

Barrett has started playing Roblox, and loves it when Britton will hop onto Roblox too and play with him. He still plays Minecraft too, and boy, is it going to be an interesting transition for him to be back at school without the electronic entertainment.  We've been reading the "Rainbow Fairy Magic" series lately, and we can get through the books pretty quickly.  Luckily, the library has a ton of them!

Likes:  axolotls, telling me about Roblox worlds, going on bike rides after dinner

Dislikes:  my key fob not working and stopping us from getting to play tennis

britton: 12 years old!

Geez Louise, not only did I forget to post Britton's monthly picture, it was her birthday no less!  And I forgot Barrett's too.  So, let's remedy this, shall we?

Britton is now 12 years old!  She decided that this year, she didn't want a big party.  She wanted to go bowling with some friends and the family, do cake, open presents, go to In-N-Out Burger for dinner, then go to the new Jungle Cruise movie.  A full day of celebration!  

Birthday sprinkle pancakes - a tradition!

Britton may not have had a big birthday party (in fact, one of her two friends she invited had to cancel due to covid exposure), but that didn't stop us from decorating and theming it out.  Britton's favorite animal now is the jellyfish, and it was a surprisingly fun birthday theme for me to run with!

This week, Britton starts 7th grade!!!  Next month, she's also starting softball, which has her both nervous and excited, since she's never played before.  She reads more books than anyone (adult or kid) I know ridiculously fast, and remembers every book too.  She finds obscure bands on You Tube, falls in love with them, memorizes lyrics, and for that she is definitely her mother's daughter.  Britton is still playing the clarinet - she made it into the symphonic band for this school year!  And while she's still shy and because of that can come off as detached or uninterested, she's super silly, sweet, and loving with friends and family.

Likes:  Sanrio characters, her new phone, playing Roblox with Barrett (this might be his "like" more than hers)

Dislikes:  waking up early, having to ride the bus this school year