Fall 2021

We're now halfway through November, and it's time for an update.

The kids have been back to in-person school since September. While having the kids home doing virtual school last year was overall a good experience for us, it's been equally good having the kids back in school. Felix got thrown into the deep end of middle school, learning a new building and new routine (and much earlier hours!). Iris has been doing well in 4th grade as well. We had parent-teacher conferences last month, and we heard nothing but praise from their teachers, which makes us very proud of them.

We decided on teal for this year.

My folks went traveling, so we went to the season-opening Badger football game in their place. It wasn't the greatest game (losses rarely are...), but Iris and I got our picture with the amazing UW Volleyball team.

Go Badger Volleyball!

We went to our first wedding in a few years, with the nuptials of my cousin Beth the following week. My aunt hired a face painter, and Iris convinced me to get mine painted, too. :D

The kids had a day off at the end of September, so the three of us had an Adventure Day in Marathon County. We hiked around the Dells of the Eau Claire, ate our lunch at the RiverLife Park, and took on Rib Mountain's trails, all for the first time.

We had the Dells of the Eau Claire all to ourselves!

We returned to "normal" for Halloween. We passed out candy and it was (un)seasonably cold. The kids both decided they wanted the same costume, which made a wonderfully creepy impression. This is how they greeted my folks:

As I said in the last post, Felix played fall baseball in Plover for the first time. That was a new experience - Sunday doubleheaders. It was nice to have a chance to play more baseball before it got to be too cold. Iris, naturally, made the 10U tournament team, and I've been assistant coaching. We had several practices this fall, and a scrimmage which made our weaknesses glaringly obvious. Now that ball season has wrapped up, it's swimming season for Iris. She competed in her first real meet this past weekend. All four 10 & under Rapids girls won a heat, which was awesome, especially because there was usually one of the others in the same heat. Iris got hers in the 50m backstroke, but she also competed in the 50m freestyle and 50m breaststroke.

Nick's been keeping very busy, with business during his first year of operation exceeding his projections, which is fantastic! Not much has changed for me except my hours. I have to be in the office for a percentage of the week, so I now take Felix to school, go in to my nearby office, work a few hours there, then telecommute the rest of the work day.

Awesome things: Pediatric covid vaccine availability (Iris got her first shot on the first day she could!), Season 3 of What We Do in the Shadows, the MST3K forum, Great British Baking Show eps

Be warned: Iris has decreed that anything pink, purple, rainbow, or bedecked with unicorns is banished from her room. She's no longer a little kid and has no tolerance for such childish things.