Pictures from Q2 2020

The second quarter of 2020 has been… different! We’ve been in lockdown for most of it because of COVID-19, so we haven’t had much opportunity to get out and do much.

We’ve been making the most of our time at home though. Both Ellie and Jack have helped me to till and reseed the lawn, Ellie has been busy doing remote learning, and we’ve ventured out of the house a handful of times.

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Christmas 2019

For Christmas this year, Ellie got a nice little array of gifts.

She had asked for lots of books, since she’s really getting into chapter books at school.

Hands down her favourite gift was something that Santa got for her. Ever since going hiking with Daddy, she’s wanted a hiking backpack with a bladder in it for drinking water on the go. Well, Santa delivered and Ellie was over the moon.

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Ellie showing off her painted nails

Ellie gave herself a manicure, which is adorable in and of itself, but then, while speaking to aunty Shelly, she was showing off each finger in sequence. Well, she didn’t quite understand why she found it so funny when she showed aunty Shelly her middle finger.

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Ellie starts 1st grade

Ellie had an amazing first year at school. She learned so much and it’s astounding how well she can read and write now.

She had a great summer of relaxing, while keeping her skills up to scratch.

Now she’s back at it and having a great time. She’s got a wonderful teacher, excellent classmates and is loving getting back to learning.

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This Hawaiian princess can’t get enough of reading

This summer in particular, Ellie has really dived in to reading. Most mornings, I can expect to find her on the hallway floor, in front of her bookcase reading to herself, or if it’s a really good day, reading to Ellie.

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Our first family camping trip

This summer, we finally had the equipment and the support to do what we’ve wanted to do since moving to Portland: go camping.

We were invited by some friends to go car camping with a whole bunch of families, which sounded ideal because there would be plenty of confident hands assisting us, and lots of other children for the kids to play with.

So, off we went. We went to Barview Jetty Campground on the Oregon coast, which was flush with the amenities that would make Martina in particular comfortable, such as running water, flush toilets and hot showers.

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