With November more than half over I thought it was time to check in our Fall Bucket list and move on to our Christmas bucket list!

• Run a family 5k – Planned for Thanksgiving Day
• Go to a pumpkin Patch – Triple Check!

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• Drink Fall themed beverages from Starbucks – Yup! The kids fell in love with steamers as well. The little holiday cups are the cutest! 

• Share hot chocolate with the kids – Check!
• Get lost in a corn maze – Anderson Farms is my favorite.

• Attend a fall festival – After missing last year, it was nice to return this year. 
• Carve Jack-o-lanterns – Check!

• Get dressed up and go trick or treating – Jack and Sally had the best time. 
• Bake pies – We will make pumpkin and Dutch Apple pies on Thanksgiving
• Make Boo Baskets for the kids This was so fun, can’t wait to do it again next year

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• Make fun halloween themed snacks – So many =)
• Go for a hike in the mountains One of my favorite things to do in the fall!
• Play in a pile of leaves – After a BEAUTIFUL fall we have enjoyed playing in the leaves. 

• Go camping – Check, I think our Buena Vista trip was my favorite
• Make fall crafts with the kids – Also check, I love how much the kids are into crafts now!

Celebrate Halloween in Disneyland!!! The BEST!

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We did everything on our list and really had a great fall season. It makes me a little sad to see it come to an end, but I love Christmas so we have a lot to look forward to!

We have had bucket lists for last summer 2021 summer 2019  fall  winter and spring.

What are your favorite things to do in the fall?

Since our quarantine was lifted but Cannon was still out of school we decided to take advantage and run off to the mountains for the day. We have had very warm weather so the drive was easy and the hike was beautiful. It fills my heart to get into the mountains as much as possible even if it’s just the three of us.

These kids thrive being out in nature and learn so much.

Emmy is getting better at hiking on her own longer. Having gummy bears in my pocket helps.

Soon this area will be covered in snow and completely frozen over.

We brought lunch with us and enjoyed a picnic.

Nature really does heal my soul, and after a stressful week this was exactly what we needed.

What do you do when you need to heal something?

We got Cannon’s PCR test results back and he does not have COVID so we officially get to break quarantine today!

We went to the library to pick up some new books and movies then went to a playground.

It was cold but warm enough in the sun, it felt good to be out.

Cannon took this picture, I am so grateful to have these special days with him.

When we got home we did some school work.

Reminds me so much of this time last year when Cannon had online preschool.

If we were doing homeschool for more than one year I would totally transform our formal dining room that we rarely use to a school room.

We are on day six of quarantine and the kids would really like to get out to a playground or see some friends. We are all feeling much better from our cold.

Cannon had a doctors appointment previously booked and his doctor encouraged us to take a PCR test and continue to quarantine until those results came back. So at least one more day for us. This same situation happened last year where Cannon was exposed at school in November, he got sick and we waited nervously for his test results. Luckily it was negative last year but he didn’t get to go back to school in person until the very end of January! This year he will be out of school for 18 days regardless of test result but will hopefully get to go back for two weeks before Christmas.

We are enjoying having Cannon home to do school with us. Our unit was focusing on Apples.

My favorite part of the day is snack and story time. The kids enjoy their afternoon snack at the end of ‘school time’ while I get my afternoon coffee and ready them a couple books.

None of this is ideal but there are some sweet silver linings, and like my mug says, Together is the best place to be!

Cannon took his second rapid Covid test and it was negative!

It’s so nice having these rapid tests, even if they aren’t as reliable as the PCR test.

I can breathe a little easier knowing that with symptoms Cannon is still testing negative.

In non-COVID news I have been collecting books for our Christmas Book Nook. I love this little Christmas Cookie board book.

I also grabbed The Little Reindeer, LOVE! I have to use a lot of restraint not to buy all the books, I love them so much. Thank goodness for the library, otherwise we would have to live in our books.

Do you have a favorite holiday book?

Since we are home now in Quarantine I wanted to bring as much joy as possible to kids’ day. I decided to have our Elf on the Shelf come early. We were thinking they would come early this year anyway because we leave town on the 18th and the season will be cut short.

The elves (named Jingle and Bells) also brought with them arrival bins for the kids.

These bins have things I want them to have the entire season so it wouldn’t work to give them as Christmas gifts. The bins have Christmas PJs, books, ornaments for the trees in their rooms, holiday shirts, coloring books, bath bombs and travel mugs.

We had a little breakfast party for them to welcome them back, nothing too elaborate.

I do LOVE when people go all out like Kristen and Shakira…..maybe next year!

Other holiday bins:

• Valentines Day 2021 Version
• St. Patricks Day
• Easter
• Welcome to Summer
• Back to School
• Boo Bins
• Arrival Baskets

** We also did Disney baskets for this years vacation, I think it would be fun to do little bins for any big trip. New toys, books, etc. for the plane or car.

We woke in the woods with some visitors outside Kermit.

The kids were excited to see a deer in our campsite.

Cannon still wasn’t feeling great and we needed to quarantine so we packed up our campsite to head home.

We found a Walmart on our way home that had rapid tests and had Cannon take one right there in the car.

I was very excited to see that this test was negative. It didn’t mean we were in the clear but it was a good sign. He would have to take another test in 48 hours. Luckily this test isn’t awful like the early tests and only tickles.

We spent the rest of the day unpacking cuddling and hoping for the best. We put up the kids’ playroom Christmas tree to add some joy to the house.

We were SO excited to get away for the weekend and into the mountains! We know this is our last trip up before winter settles in and we will be stuck on the Front Range. We booked a campsite at Mueller State Park packed up Kermit.

As we drove we couldn’t help stopping for lunch at a little Pub along the way. Eating at restaurants (outside) is also a thing we will miss when the weather turns too cold.

We then dropped off our trailer and made a visit to Florissant Fossil Bed National Monument. While we were hiking we got an email from Cannon’s school that had this title:

turns out someone in his class tested positive for Corona Virus and he was exposed at school on Wednesday. Now he needs to quarantine for 10 days or a negative COVID test. We will all quarantine with him since we all have such close contact anyway.

Cannons seemed to be fighting allergies all day and medication didn’t help. Later in the day he started to feel worse and I started to worry more. This is Cannon’s third exposure at school and it’s not fun.

We decided to go back to our camp site and stay for the night. We didn’t want to drive home late with Cannon not feeling well. We can quarantine in our trailer before heading home.

Our third exposure and quarantine, just hoping it’s the same result as the last two times and we avoid infection!

There have been many things in life I never said I would do, I need to stop saying that because I find myself doing the things I said I never would.

In this addition of me doing things I said I would never do, we have started homeschool. And surprisingly I LOVE it!

This came about because we decided to pull Emmy from in-person preschool this year because of COVID and scheduling. I didn’t want her to miss out completely so we started this curriculum gifted to us from a friend.

Playing at Preschool is a play based curriculum, and I love having direction for our activities. We add in our own activities, crafts and books a we like. Cannon is attending a half day school but when he is home he joins us for homeschool and likes it as well.

We start every school day with this calendar activity – routine posted HERE

I am trained in teaching but my experience is in teen and adults, I have a lot to learn about teaching littles. But we are having fun doing it together.

One of my favorite parts is afternoon story + snack time.

Is there something you said you would never do but now love?

Any homeschool moms out there with any great tips?

We were so excited to get Cannon his vaccine, and help protect him and the people around him.

He was so so brave.

We kept him home from school to keep an eye on him and just have a cuddly day. He felt just fine other than a slightly sore arm.

Here’s to things hopefully getting a little bit better! Now we just wait for Emmy to be eligible.