Max's 9th Birthday & May 2021

May 2021 brought Max's 9th birthday. My mother and Ian followed us up from East Hampton and we celebrated with our friends the Buddes, keeping things small. Other highlights included:

* More baseball and soccer

* More outdoor dining

* Mother's Day brunch at a local Italian restaurant. Luckily, we scored one of the few tables on their lovely patio, rather than the tent in the parking lot! The weather was so gorgeous, brunch was followed by a drive with the top down in Adrian's car.

* More Big Green Egg smoked beasts: salmon and pork shoulder

* Watching Jose's outdoor concert for Filipino Nurses!

* Veronica's end-of-the-year Woodwinds Concert. It was very much toned down and outdoors on the steps of the high school. I'm so glad the kids were able to showcase their talent. They worked hard all year to learn with the Covid restrictions.

* Veronica's spring dance recital (ballet & jazz). Again, toned down from the normal event, but indoors with masks. We really appreciated how hard the teachers worked last spring to make the normal events happen, albeit in toned down versions.

* Outdoor haircuts! Definitely our new normal in the pandemic.

* Red Sox game for the boys. Go Sox!

Click here to see the photos and videos from May 2021.

And here are photos that Gramps (Ian) took!

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April Vacation 2021 in East Hampton

We spent the kids' April Vacation in East Hampton at Jose and Erik's place. The absolute highlight of the visit was a first-ever Facebook video chat with my Lola (grandmother) in Manila. It was fantastic to be able to video chat with her all together. Other highlights included:

* A blustery visit to the Montauk Lighthouse

* Eating outdoors, with lots of seafood! Thank goodness for propane heaters and tents.

* The kids cooking with their Lola: sushi, lumpia (Filipino eggrolls), and pork belly bao buns

* The kids' first time mini golfing. The kids are now obsessed. 

* Date night for Adrian and I

* Celebrating Max's birthday early with Jose and Erik.

Click here to see the photos and videos from April Vacation 2021 in East Hampton.

Click here to see Jose's photos.

Click here to see Gramps' photos.

(Note: This blog is unlisted and is meant just for family, so please do not share any links to the blog or post any of these photos or videos elsewhere. Thank you!)

April 2021

April brought change in several ways. The weather improved, thank goodness. We were definitely suffering from a bit of cabin fever so we were eager to get out of the house. Here are a few highlights from April 2021:
* Lots of Adrian's smoked salmon and smoked ribs. Adrian's Big Green Egg is definitely getting a lot of pandemic use.
* Veronica's April Fool's joke on Max

* Lunch in a yurt!
* After the yurt, we headed to the deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum. It was nice to be outside, enjoy the artwork, and give the kids a chance to run around

* The kids' return to full time in-person at school

* Adrian and I getting our COVID vaccinations. What a relief!

* The start of spring soccer and spring baseball for the kids

* Remote Filipino School: the kids learned a Filipino martial art called Arnis, that was shown in the new Disney movie Raya and the Last Dragon. It is amazing to have the Filipino culture represented in a Disney movie. 

* Veronica fluting

* More remote Filipino School, this time with an alumnus teaching the kids a hip hop routine!

* New furniture for the dining room and family room

Click here to see the photos and videos from April 2021.

(Note: This blog is unlisted and is meant just for family, so please do not share any links to the blog or post any of these photos or videos elsewhere. Thank you!)

March 2021

March 2021 activities included:

* Very carefully expanding our pod for some much-needed time with friends, the Buddes and the Kings

* The beginning of the spring soccer season

* The weather finally being warm enough to eat outside at a restaurant!

* Patio firepit!

* Electronics in the car so that Veronica could participate in her Virtual Hogwarts Role Play class while Max was at the dentist.

* More virtual learning

Click here to see the photos and videos from March 2021.

(Note: This blog is unlisted and is meant just for family, so please do not share any links to the blog or post any of these photos or videos elsewhere. Thank you!)

February 2021

Activities from February 2021 included:

* A little dancing by Max

* Max doing a virtual music class with his "drums" in the basement

* My new boss, Secretary Pete Buttigieg!

* Veronica using fruit as electronic instruments with her new Playtronica

* Making crema de fruta in virtual IP (Filipino School)

* Snow!

* More of Adrian's smoked salmon. The kids love it!

* Adrian's birthday with a seafood dinner, a Mandalorian/Porsche carrot cake, and Filipino ube profiteroles and mango cake. Followed by one of his favorite movies, Thor Ragnarok!
* Two days later, we celebrated Valentine's Day with more lobster, more bubbles, ribs, beef brisket, and mac and cheese.

* Veronica's flute video submission for the IP Virtual Talent Show. She plays "Bahay Kubo", "Blackbird", and "Hey Jude". Veronica has developed a love for The Beatles like Mama and Daddy. We couldn't be more proud.

* More snow! The kids are becoming more and more helpful.

* Getting a new sofa in the living room that we ordered back in December 2020.

* A snowy walk in the Middlesex Fells. The kids were less than happy about this. Sadly, they did not appreciate how lovely it was, no matter how many times we tried to point it out.

* Adrian's pork shoulder, yum!

* A few silly videos of Max

* Veronica's contribution to her class' mystery story compilation

Click here to see the photos and videos from February 2021.

(Note: This blog is unlisted and is meant just for family, so please do not share any links to the blog or post any of these photos or videos elsewhere. Thank you!)

January 2021

January 2021 activities included:

* Max practicing his recorder

* Max combining two of his favorite foods into an awesome Spaghetti Octopus

* Patricia's short ribs

* Veronica conducting a science project down the stairs

* Veronica receiving items in the mail for her Hogwarts Role Play class

* Patricia's arroz caldo

* A cold and windy outing to Plum Island for some birding (shout out to cousin Alex!)

* Adrian's scrumptious ribs

* The inauguration! Including Jose's appearance in the inaugural concert that evening 

* Veronica practicing her flute

* Snow!

* Adrian's smoked salmon

* Adrian's osso bucco

Click here to see the photos and videos from January 2021. 

(Note: This blog is unlisted and is meant just for family, so please do not share any links to the blog or post any of these photos or videos elsewhere. Thank you!)

Christmas & New Year's Eve 2020

We were lucky to be able to spend the Christmas and New Year's of the pandemic with Jose and Erik and Charlie in their new house. Here are a few photos from our time there: 

Click here to see the photos and videos from Christmas 2020.

Click here to see Jose's photos from Christmas 2020.

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December 2020

Highlights from December 2020 included:

* Decorating the Xmas tree

* IP (Filipino School) Virtual Christmas Party

* Veronica making a carrot cake, Daddy's favorite!

* More deer visits to our backyard

* Snow!

* A drive-thru Christmas light show!

Click here to see the photos and videos from December 2020.

(Note: This blog is unlisted and is meant just for family, so please do not share any links to the blog or post any of these photos or videos elsewhere. Thank you!)

Happy Star Wars Day!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/a241LS8ynqn3Ubph9 

(As always, please do not share this link. Thank you!)

November 2020

November 2020 highlights included:

* Another Wake-Up Winchester for Veronica

* Fall foliage!

* Adrian doing some work up on the roof

* After living here for over 10 years, we have deer beginning to frequent our backyard. Exciting!

* The end of the fall soccer season for the kids

* Virtual classes and virtual IP classes

* Thanksgiving! Just the 4 of us this year. Veronica is really getting good at making that apple pie.

* Our annual tradition of purchasing our Xmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving

* A family dune hike at Crane Beach; it was a gorgeous, sunny day. Afterwards we had a late lunch on the patio at a seafood shack. Yum!

Click here to see the photos and videos from November 2020.

(Note: This blog is unlisted and is meant just for family, so please do not share any links to the blog or post any of these photos or videos elsewhere. Thank you!)