Oh, look. We’re home. Work school work school work school at home. We’re used to it but I’m still regularly struck by how unusual this is.

Steven and Sammy spent some time looking at history stories together. Steven, in Penni’s cardigan.

Steven and I returned from New York with a lot of new clothes for Amaya, from Charlie. A top pick in the bunch is this LOL shirt with Charlie’s name on it. A girl in heaven.

Friday was Purim so it’s been a focus for the week. Nana got us hamentashen which we brought home from New York. The kids loved eating them all week! (So did I.)

Tuesday was a big day for Steven. We had a check-in with his eye doctor who said, because of his hard, hard work, he doesn’t have to wear a patch anymore! Steven has been patching for ~20 months, recently for 4 hours a day, and has been such a great sport about it. When we started, his best corrected vision in his right eye was 20/40. Now it’s 20/25 and he can even get some letters at 20/20. Way to go, Steven!!! We’ll check in again in 3 months just to be sure his vision is stable.

I asked Steven if he was happy and he said, “I feel really good.” We texted Daddy and called Nana and Grandma Sunshine to share the good news. This picture was taken while Grandma Sunshine was praising his hard work.

Over a year ago I was given supplies to make paper dolls. The kits had all sorts of skin types and clothing and accoutrements. This week the kids got them out and got crafting.

Amaya and Charlie, by Amaya. If you look closely, you’ll see their names and “BFF” on the dolls.

Chase, by Sammy.

By Steven, clockwise from the top left, Gabby, Penni, Amaya, Mommy, Steven, Daddy, Sammy.

In preparation for Hebrew school on Sunday, the kids made Purim groggers with kits provided by the school.

It’s warming up in MI. The highs were in the low/mid 40s all week! Sammy had to run outside to get something he forgot and he even ran outside without a jacket. Just briefly – but I see the light!

The kids had their 7-year well check on Friday morning. By chance, I saw Dr. Nancy Spangler at the office. She was the kids’ first pediatrician who left when they were young toddlers to run pediatrics at St. Joe’s hospital (where they were born). It turns out that Friday was Dr. Spangler’s last day before retirement. What a special opportunity to say thank you.

What I remember most about Dr. Spangler’s care was that, when the kids were babies, at every appointment she always checked in to see how I was doing. Her care of the kids included ensuring their mom was doing well. In those early days, especially during my maternity leave when we had appointments often, I was so appreciative of her care. And, of course, she was a wonderful doctor for Steven, Sammy and Amaya.

Penni came to the appointment with us so that, while each kid saw the doctor privately, the other two were supervised. Steven and Amaya had a lot of fun while Sammy was being seen. 🙂

All 3 Cline Kids are still growing on their curves.

Just a typical Friday afternoon when you have virtual school.

7 going on 15

Cuddling with Bobes

It’s been a relatively lazy weekend. Lots to take care of but also lots of good family time.

Jason and the kids built a bit yesterday. Magatiles are a near-daily activity.

EMS Steven and Dr. Sweety Girl spent some time caring for Jason. I think he’s recovering nicely from his heart transplant.

While the kids were at their well-check on Friday morning, their class had a science assembly with the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum. SSA were disappointed to miss it so Mrs. O’Neil got permission to record the zoom and sent us a link. So nice of her to do that! The kids already had some materials for the assembly which came home earlier in the month and the whole theme was space. Super fun!

Here, the kids are mapping the distance of the planets in our solar system from the sun. I love that they love science enough to voluntarily watch a science assembly on the weekend.

Sammy is learning to make scrambled eggs. Other than turning on the stove, he’s not far from full independence.

Sammy has two shirts he love – same design, one short sleeve and one long sleeve. They’re getting old and worn. One even has a hole. Though some effort searching, I found new versions of both shirts! Mom win!! The short sleeve arrived and the long sleeve is on the way.

The kids spent an hour and a half outside yesterday which brought their February outdoor hours total to 50! Thank you, Florida. 🙂

We started the day with Hebrew school and a Purim celebration. Queen Esther, a skeleton and Darth Vader all attended. It’s definitely not the same as being there in-person but the Temple does a really nice job trying to make it work.

After Hebrew School we had Part 1 of “Making Hamentashen”. We made the dough and set in the fridge for a few hours.

It was so nice out today. A real feel in the 50s!! I took the kids to their school playground and it turned out there were a ton of kids there play. SSA had a blast. Steven said it was one of his favorite playground days ever. We were there for two hours and they were running around the whole time.

Last kids standing…

Just a t-shirt outside in February!

Part 2 of “Making Hamentashen”!

We wrapped up the weekend with a meal from Amaya’s cookbook. Buckwheat noodles with peas and soft boiled eggs. It was really good and nothing I’d have thought to make on my own.

A big hug from Bobes during dinner. <3

That’s it for us! Have a great week!

Monday was a rude awakening with a lot of snow but these kids are resilient and out they went. It’s mid-winter break so they didn’t have school on Monday or Tuesday which definitely aided the return to normalcy.

What a difference a week makes.

Starting the closet cleaning process turned up a lot of old gear. 🙂

Sammy is ever the cook, even helping Penni make meatloaf for lunch. The kids are also more and more self-sufficient with basic needs. By the time Penni arrived on Wednesday morning, Steven and Sammy had made themselves microwave pancakes and Sammy had poured himself milk. What a great new era!

Wednesday was back to school…

Sammy in his new Naples t-shirt. Love it!

The kids are learning about the United States and our Presidents. Here’s Amaya’s interpretation of Lincoln. Lashes to die for.

Steven, explaining to Penni why the flag looks the way it does.

It’s C.A.R.E. month at school (Cooperate, Appreciate, Respect and Empathize) and each grade has a service project. The first graders are assigned the Novi Police Department so they made cards that will be delivered along with small care packages. The virtual learners are able to deliver their cards to a box outside the school. I appreciate that everyone can participate.

Steven

Sammy

Amaya

This girl’s hair! We are still working on the best care routine. It’s not straight and not quite curly but it definitely needs curly-type care. We’re trying Curly Girl approved hair product and a satin pillow-case. Really, though, I think we also need to work on sleeping in a scrunchy ponytail and/or plopping at night – a tall order for a 7 year old.

Two thirds of our kids were scared on Thursday night which led to this beautiful sleep situation. <3

Steven was showing Penni his favorite photos on his iPod and, if I can preen a bit, his favorite photo was one of his “best mama ever”.

There was significantly more inside time this week than last week – with obvious good reason – but Penni did a great job encouraging the kids to get outside as often as possible. Once they’re out it’s all good but the effort of going outside is sometimes an (understandable challenge.

Since Steven and I weren’t going to be around for the weekend so, Friday afternoon, the kids and I made a new Raddish kids recipe – cheddar, chive and bacon corn muffins. Not a favorite, but fun and easy to make. The kids also got a bonus patch in honor of their first full year in the program.

Still slayed by Amaya’s sleep mask

On Saturday, Steven and I made a quick trip to New York to see family. We had a 9:30am flight on Saturday morning with a flight back at 5pm on Sunday. When the kids were younger a trip this short would be too much, I think, but now it’s a breeze. A short flight with my expert fliers who know our routine inside and out.

I’ve been traveling with all of the kids together since Summer 2019 so it’s been a long time since I’ve had 1:1 travel. It’s as special as ever.

While we traveled, Sammy and Amaya set up a birthday party for their stuffed animals.

Steven wanted a picture together when we got to NY.

In-flight, Sammy and Amaya texted me to ask that I facetime when we land. Their wish is my command!

Amaya sent Chase and Charlie a care package that, by change, arrived today! Art work, Valentine’s cards and shells from Florida!

Nana and Savta came by for a good part of the afternoon. Poor Papa was under the weather. Steven was excited to show Nana how he plays Animal Crossing. Nana learned a lot of details about Steven’s island lol.

You can call Charlie, “Tootie“.

An hour outside in the cold meant some nice time by the fire when the kids came inside.

Exploring Voltron with Uncle Dave

At Thanksgiving time, Steven drew a picture of a slice of pizza and, on the back, wrote about being thankful for Dominos pizza. In January I finally, at Steven’s request, mailed it to Dominos headquarters.

Look what came in the mail this weekend. Amazing!!!

Back in the Land of Cheltenham, Daddy, Sammy and Amaya had a game & movie night.

I was thrilled to get these bonus pictures from Amaya. iPods for the win! She also sent a text that said, “The game winner is daddy.”

‘My Little Pony: The Movie” time!

Back in NY, the cousins gamed together before bed.

Sisters <3

We had a nice, very lazy day in NY. There was gaming and some more gaming. Steven built a Lego Air Force Once. The boys wrestled. 🙂 Nana came by in the morning and then again after lunch with Savta.

Amazingly, Steven and I were in NY together – just the two of us – this weekend 6 years ago! Had to recreate the photo. <3

While we were in NY, Amaya was very busy outside building an incredible snow fort! In Jason’s words, “She really focuses well on making them and placing them without them falling apart…She’s the most her, the most complete, the most happy, alive etc. when she’s doing something like this.”

It’s a late afternoon flight back to NY, some quick hugs with everyone and then right to be to get ready to start our week. Have a great one!

If we back up to last Sunday night, you’ll find Steven, Sammy, Amaya and I watching the Super Bowl with Jason thanks to FaceTime. For a long time, too! We wrapped it up in the 2nd quarter shortly before Penni arrived at the house.

Monday it was a school day / work day / pool day and Amaya was ready – wearing an oversized tank top that works perfectly as a pool cover up along with a big, excited smile.

The school set-up. Not bad!!

Like in December, the pool afforded SSA the opportunity to regularly swim between classes. The weather and the pool were even warmer than our last visit which was a big bonus. Last trip was great but we had a few cooler days which made it difficult to swim in the earlier part of the day. Not at all an issue this time.

The kids’ swim skills continue to improve. It’s amazing to watch. – The boys didn’t even want to put their faces in the water over the summer. I think late fall swim lessons and all of this concentrated time did the trick. In fact, Sammy is jumping in the pool and swimming in the deep end without a life jacket! And Steven, in his lifejacket and flippers, will swim the length of the pool. Meanwhile, Amaya’s perfected her underwater backflips.

Monday mid-day, while Steven and Amaya swam, Sammy and his cheetah watched on.

On Monday afternoon, Amaya got out of the pool and put on her PJs, only to get wet again and go for a swim in her jams. Why not, right?

Toward the very end of our last trip Sammy started to jump in the pool – first in his life jacket and, I think, without by the last day we were there. This time, he ditched his life jacket entirely by Monday afternoon and did an amazing job swimming all week. I bet he can pass the JCC swim test this summer.

Steven, loving the raft.

Last man swimming for the day.

At the Children’s Museum of Naples Amaya picked out an embroidery kit from the gift shop and has been working on it all week. She loves to sew and stitch!

Switch time together. A common theme for our evenings after dinner. Switch and Disney shows like Jessie, Bunk’d and Raven’s House.

We brought schools supplies with us which included craft materials for a virtual field trip. Amaya the Penguin!

This is Steven’s. He texted Jason this photo of it with a note that said, “It is a penguin face that is colored and color creative.” As a reminder, “Color Creative” is the name Steven coined for when he colors pictures creatively rather than the colors they appear in real life.

Tuesday at lunchtime – they’re back at it! Look at Steven go, with his face in the water. And Amaya – jumping right in!

Tuesday evening we went back to, what we call, Weena Wanna Beach (Weena Wanna Wenna Wanna Avocado!) to watch the sunset. The locals call in Vanderbilt Beach.

It was a lot warmer than last time and a lot more crowded as a result. Not too crowded, though. Don’t worry. We brought dinner, collected shells and took in the views. A pretty spectacular Naples evening if you ask me.

This girl found a sand dollar!

So beautiful. I have been fortunate to live in two places where the sun sets over the water – Naples and San Diego – and it really cant be beat.

Hi! It’s Wednesday and we’re back in the pool! Well, not quite “we”. Even though I worked all week I did find time to pop out and see the kids and even work outside when SSA were inside in class.

When we needed a rare swim break, Amaya got busy working on her embroidering.

With my girl. The humidity really did a number on my hair but I’ll take that over single digit temps any day.

The kids and I went out for dinner in Old Naples on Wednesday night. We found a great place right on the water. We could see small planes flying overhead as they took off from the local, executive airport, there was a fair amount of boat movement and just an overall beautiful view.

Laughing and laughing at the table games we were playing.

The favorite game was “telephone”. Some things never die!

I think it looks like Sammy has a fake background behind him.

It’s already Thursday! How can this be??

Penni and Amaya 🙂

I was able to put my feet in the pool during lunch on Thursday and also get some time to work outdoors while the kids were playing because it wasn’t in meetings. It was great!

Penni got in with the kids during their long Thursday mid-day swim.

JUMP!

Friday was a planned 1/2 day of school full of Valentine’s Day activities. Since we were all taking the day off on Friday, I gave the kids their school Valentine’s Day packets early. It was so nice of Mrs. O’Neil to put these together for them (and so much easier than us having to make cards for all the kids in their class).

After dinner time Switch time. Rinse, repeat.

On Friday morning I had one call and then we were all free for the day. Penni left early morning for her own weekend in Naples and the kids and relaxed until about 10am when we headed back to Delnor-Wiggens Pass State Park. Steven calls it “Beauty Wonder Beach” because of the shell he found last trip and Amaya calls it “Crabby Beach” because of the crab they found last time.

Ready for a gorgeous, hot day!

I got the kids some shovels and buckets at the concession stand and sand castles were the activity of the day. Plus shelling, of course.

Hot guy.

Water time!

“We always get ice cream when we come to this beach, right?”

Steven loved how curly his hair was on the trip. Can’t blame him. <3 <3 <3

On Friday afternoon it was back in the pool for our last swim of the trip. I got in too, this time and played “What Time Is It Mr./Mrs. Fox” with the kids – a game Penni taught them.

The finished embroidery! Way to go Amaya!

Last trip, in December, we flew back on Saturday and I left thinking about how nice it would be to have one more day of down time. It would bookend 4 days of school/work with 2 days of pure fun on either side. So this trip, I still booked the Airbnb through Saturday but we got a hotel near the airport for Sunday night.

I was a little unsure of this plan because it left us without a home base and, wow the house was nice, but it worked out perfectly. We left the house by 10am on Saturday and drove to Ft. Myers to drop the bulk of the bags at our hotel so the electronics wouldn’t fry sitting in the hot car all day. From there, we headed to Ft. Myers Beach which was the perfect way to end this trip.

While Naples is full of quiet calm beaches, Ft. Myers Beach is truly a vacation hot spot. All along the beach there are beach-side restaurants. You can rent chairs and umbrellas as well as jet skis, banana boat rides and parasail. Local boats dock in the water and it’s shallow a long way out – no more than waist deep on an average adult. There’s so much to see and do. As a bonus, the kids loooooved the soft, white sand.

That morning Sammy said, “Do you think this will be the best day of our trip?” And I think we all agree it was!

We found a perfect lunch spot right on the beach. Tables in the sand. Great food. Perfect view. It was spectacular. Steven said it’s his favorite restaurant ever.

There’s a view of the restaurant in the background. It looks like a dive but it’s the best kind of beach dive and definitely somewhere we’d return.

After lunch we found a spot to camp out on the beach. It was hot, even with the Gulf breeze, so we rented four chairs and two umbrellas. (By the way, Steven called seagulls “gulfgulls” because we were on the gulf. Love it!)

You just have to get ice pops from the roaming ice cream guy, right?

The water was amazing. Shallow, like I mentioned, with a nice pace of waves for the kids. Steven was braver than ever, venturing out with his brother and sister. I just love watching these kids grow.

Can you see in this photo how far out the water stays shallow? Even I had a blast going in. (But not as much fun as all of the people out in the water holding their boozy drinks. 🙂 )

In the sand, Amaya made a park complete with monkey bars.

Steven’s big castle

Sammy, chilling out

We had a dinner reservation at a open-air restaurant right on the beach and the timing worked out perfectly. One last hurrah!

We finished dinner in time to see the sunset from the pier.

And, since it was the last day of vacation, wrapped up our week with ice cream (Llamalicious) and snow cones.

This trip did wonders for our time outside!

Today we headed back to MI. So hard to leave but also so nice to be back.

Daddy – meeting us with Valentine’s surprises! <3

Steven used our red cups to leave a Valentine’s Message of his own – a heart with H V D inside. <3

Now we’re getting back to normal in cold, cold MI with warm FL on our minds. What *an amazing, amazing opportunity we had this week. I’m truly full to bursting.

*Thanks to Steven and Amaya for the name of this week’s blog.

We’re coming to you, again, from Naples, Florida! We booked this trip when we were still here in December because it was so much fun and the winter loomed so long and cold ahead of us. I honestly can’t believe how quickly the time passed. As we were driving around this weekend it felt like we were just here.

This trip we’re staying in the same area as last time (North Naples / Vanderbilt Beach) but in a house about 10 blocks over. The house we’d been at wasn’t available and I think it worked out for the best because the house we found has a screened in pool (fewer bugs, no leaves) and also gets some sun during the day which was the only downside of the pool at our December house.

But before we get to FL, here are a few highlights from earlier in the week.

The kids needed to pick out books to read in a system called “Epic” and Amaya spent some time work Sammy looking through books she’s read and making recommendations.

This week Sammy lost his 2nd tooth, and then lost his tooth! But it seems the Tooth Fairy is ready for all situations.

Mornings are for gaming in the Cline house. It’s definitely going to be an adjustment (and rude awakening) when Steven, Sammy, Amaya and I have to actually leave the house for the day, each day.

The kids have been learning about plants and the plant lifecycle at school. Here, Steven’s watching a video of a plant grow from a seed.

Here, Sammy is trimming grass that he grew as part of the lesson.

This week we started the second semester of school which includes some schedule changes. The kids’ “Specials” – Art, Music, World Language and PE – will now be synchronous instead of just video lessons. Where the kids used to just go outside and play during gym time, they’ll now have live gym lessons for 20 minutes, twice/week. At their first gym class, Steven told their teacher in response to something we didn’t hear, “No, I’m a triplet with Sammy and Amaya. We’re best friends, too.”

My heart. <3

Amaya absolutely loves my colleague Sean. Penni took this photo of us together, before she left, while I was finishing a meeting and Amaya was sitting on my lap watching Sean on my screen.

Photo and artistic interpretation by Amaya 🙂

This week, in addition to the schedule change, the kids also tried out working at the table together. According to Penni it’s going really well. The only piece to work through are small group break-outs where they’re all talking to different people on their screen and trying to talk over each other.

On Friday, Steven went to school in Penni’s sweater.

Also on Friday, we headed to the airport! Hooray!!

I’ve got two hand-holders in the back seats.

Off we go! From a real feel of -5 to 70s! Whoo hoo!

We landed on time and made it to the house by about 9:15pm. We toured the house, unpacked quickly and it was off to bed for all 4 of us.

Saturday morning in FL looks just like FL morning in MI.

A little after 10am we were ready to head to Marco Island. I haven’t been there in a very, very long time but it’s know for it’s shelling which is definitely a draw for the Cline Kids.

Again, we have two hand-holders in the car.

It was a loooooooong walk from the car to the gulf. I logged 2,000 steps, exacerbated by all of the gear I was carrying but it was worth it in the end.

We had warm weather, a nice breeze and intermittent sun and clouds for the 3 hrs we spent at the beach. Most of that time was spent collecting shells.

So. Many. Shells.

Beach waves!

There’s a guy who makes sand cows on Marco Island. He even has a Facebook page his daughter runs called, Marco Island Cows. They were incredible. This picture doesn’t do it justice.

We got back home in time for 2 hours of play time in the pool. I’m hopeful the kids get as much time in the pool on this trip as they did in December. It’s such a perk of vacationing down here.

First thing this morning, around 9am, it was back into the pool for 3 of us. Sammy thought it was too cold so he ended up just hanging out but Steven, Amaya and I all went in. Steven and I for an hour and Amaya for 90 minutes. Our girl really loves to swim.

Last one standing

iPod time while I got ready to head out. What was life before devices? Does anyone remember?

The kids loved the Children’s Museum of Naples when we went in December and it was rainy midday today so we headed back. Again, it did not disappoint. We were there for about 2.5 hours and SSA would have stayed longer if I wasn’t anxious to get out to eat (in time to get back to swim some more before it gets dark).

There was a whole area set up with a focus on Argentina. It was really interesting. We learned about what it’s like to go to school in Argentina, about their money and the common foods they cook. We learned about their favorite sport, the largest bird of prey (Andean Condor) and the Cave of Hands. It worked out well because, when we arrived, Steven had said, “wouldn’t it be nice if this was a museum where we learned stuff?” And so it was.

Digital painting

Last time we were here, as we were leaving the museum Steven saw this train table area. We were literally walking out and I wasn’t going to stop to play more. He was really sad about it, though, so it was very satisfying for me to see him enjoying the trains today.

There’s a big industrial play kitchen that the kids played in for a solid hour, I think. They served up meal after meal after meal. There’s a jukebox that plays different instrumental national anthems and Steven made sure that everyone at the museum heard the US national anthem over and over and over again. And then again. 🙂

Like last time, after the museum we headed down to Old Naples to eat dunch/linner on the water. Last time was The Dock. This time was The Boathouse. I thought the waitress was going to fall over when Sammy ordered the stone crab claws lol.

Steven is loving his FL curls, aided by my hair gel. (The humidity wreaked havoc on my hair which Steven called “bushy”.)

Sammy loved his stone crab and also shared some of my snow crab legs. Steven tried swordfish because “it’s my favorite fish and I didn’t know you can catch it” and loved it. (Broiled, juicy and seasoned well.) Amaya and Steven both tried my crab legs and, this time, loved them. Whoo hoo!!

Her future’s so bright…

Toward the end of our meal, an older couple who’d been dining by us came to our table to say that they were so impressed with how well behaved the kids are and how well they eat. These are things I already know but loved having SSA hear it from the mouth of strangers.

Typical Florida – you’d never know it had been grey and rainy a few hours earlier.

The kids were given pens by our waitress after she saw how much they liked the one I used to sign our bill.

We stopped at a little tourist shop before heading back to the house and Sammy picked up this souvenir. Yikes!

We wrapped up the day (pre-Super Bowl) with more pool time. Penni arrives tonight and tomorrow starts school & work. As much as we’d rather just play, play, play we know that we’ll get ample sunshine and downtime through the week.

Have a great week!