Bound to happen at some point in time, I was actually surprised we made it this long... but after 4 weeks of in-person learning, our district has transitioned to plan C which means were are completely virtual again. The girls will be doing school from home until at least October 23rd. At that point the district will reassess the situation & decide if it is safe to return to school. The schools were doing an amazing job and there was very minimal {if any at all} spread of Covid. The issue is our state is at an all time high & the hospital ICU's are overwhelmed. We all need to stay home to slow the spread & help bring the numbers back down. So homeschool it is!!!!

I spent the entire day yesterday organizing bedrooms & making comfortable learning spaces for all three girls in their bedrooms. Easier to be home & succeed when their space is cozy & organized. All three were thrilled & ready to start their 1st virtual day today. So far, so good! They've all rocked it today & are about to wrap it up for the day. Day 1 complete without any hiccups.

Marin starts her day 1st at 7:30 am. She works best with low lighting, coffee or some sort of drink & a candle burning. She needs her perfect ambiance! 

Margaux starts 2nd at 8:00am. She was so excited last night to get the small LED Christmas tree out for her desk. Not surprised at all, but she had her space all organized & ready to go this am.

Maeve asked me last night to wake her up by 7:00 because her first meet is at 8:30am, she needs to get dressed & have breakfast. Made me smile, she is ALL about the schedule. Followed it to a T today & even made her own lunch. I loved hearing Melissa's {her teacher} voice all day as she taught the lessons. It is nice to hear a familiar voice.

In the spring when they went virtual the little girls spent most of their time in the kitchen at the table with me. This time is very different in that they all have face to face instruction via their iPad all day long so they need to be in their own spaces. Today went great, really hoping we can continue on this way with them being most comfortable in their rooms. I really think it may be after Christmas before they are back to in-person school. Hopefully I am wrong. We've got the month of October to get ourselves situated before I start another long term sub job teaching full time Nov- the begging of February. One big happy school over here!!! I am confident we'll all rock it! xoxo

Gary was supposed to have a run in Marquette this past weekend. By the time the race was cancelled it was too late for us to get a refund for the rental so we decided to take a much needed long weekend & explore Marquette with the girls. Lots of anxiety going into the weekend because of the huge increase in Covid cases over the past few weeks in our area. In the end, we decided to take a slight risk & spend as much of the weekend outside & distanced as much as we could. So glad we did, it was beautiful & so much fun for the girls. It was their first time visiting & we all really enjoyed it.

We had a perfect fall weekend. Leaves changing & comfortable temps. The girls will pose for any photo opportunity they see these days. Marin is always looking for a good shot for a pic she can post on Instagram. Definitely a teenager. Downtown had so many cool murals & photo opportunities outside.

We spent 90% of the two days outdoors & it was much needed. A lot of hiking & a beautiful sunset the first night on top of Hog Back Mountain. The views were amazing, the pictures definitely do not do them justice.

So fun exploring & spending time up there. We brought snacks & drinks! Both needed after what was a pretty crazy hike to get up. The girls were troopers though & handled it so well. Marin was a little too comfortable near the edge, but it produced some pretty cool photos. Margaux & Maeve needed some persuading to sit near the edge. They were not as comfortable as Marin.

Family photo at sunset... Love these photos & this sweet family of ours.

Gary & I took a million pics because he didn't like the way his shirt looked in the 1st ten. What a photo diva! This one was much better... rare photo of the two of us. I am always behind the camera.

Saturday morning we were up & hiking again pretty early. Dead River Falls did not disappoint. The hike was a little scary in my opinion (huge, steep drop offs) a little too risky for my liking but again the kids did so great. They wanted to keep going to see more! We also hiked a more safe trail that we all enjoyed.

Sunday morning it was time to head home, but not before waking the kids up at 6:15 to hike Sugarloaf Mountain to see the sunrise. Very early for tired kids, but it was worth it for them all to see the sunrise on top of the mountain. More beautiful views.

As much as Gary would prefer to be racing, I think it's safe to say this weekend turned out pretty great due to the fact that he was not running. We were able to enjoy Marquette more than ever. Not sure we'll get another 100% exploring weekend up there without Gary running... but it sure was fun. I know our girls will be requesting a return next summer. All three of them asked if we could stay longer. Thankful for our family time together & outside time with friends. Fingers crossed no one was exposed to the virus & we can check that off as an awesome weekend and a much needed weekend away from home.  With the temps dropping, we're all aware that our outside days are numbered. Goodbye summer... hello fall. We're ready for you! xoxo

 GG's birthday this week. We didn't really get to celebrate my grandpa's birthday in July so since it was nice outside, we decided to go get a quick visit in. As the temps drop it will be harder to visit with them. This was also the first time I went in their house. I masked up & went in to quickly put up her fall decorations & added a few pumpkins that I bought her. It looked great! Don't want to expose them at all. In my heart I know we are being cautious for them. Although we are all at risk, the older population is definitely a concern. Good news is they've been rocking it & we visit as much as we can. Cupcakes for all to celebrate the big birthday for our GG.

At home this week we've been trying to enjoy the nice evenings as much as possible. Dinners outside, evening fires & time in the hammock. Fall is such a great time of year, we are soaking it up while we can.

Week two at school in the books. Taking it one week at a time & the girls are doing so great. Marin is happy to be with her friends... masked or not, she doesn't care as long as she's with her bffs. Margaux is rocking it, but struggles a bit with the mask. By the end of the day she is tired & most days has a headache. It is a lot to get used to wearing it 7/8 hours a day. Plus her backpack is SO heavy. Both Marin & Margaux's schools are not allowing the use of lockers because they are too close so they have to carry all their stuff every day. Marin isn't complaining, but Marg's little frame can't handle it. She's doing her best though, definitely thankful it is only in-person 1/2 of the week. Maeve is so carefree & just happy to be at school. She comes in the house after school puts her mask in the laundry, washes her hands & heads right to her room to put her clean pj's on. She is so my daughter... grossed out by all the germs! Makes me laugh. Looking forward to another low key fall weekend. xo

 Looking through all the blog posts from the past few months, it makes me smile that we had such an awesome summer even amongst the chaos of Covid. Weather definitely cooperated & allowed us to do some pretty cool outdoor exploring. Yesterday we continued on with the exploring & did a Wisconsin waterfall tour. We'd talked about doing it all summer & the days got away from us. So glad we fit it in because we had an awesome day! 

The whole Broaghen crew with the un-pictured waterfall behind us in the top photo. It was the best we could do with a phone timer. Thankfully the second one we found a stranger to snap a photo... then quick disinfected the phone! 

Each waterfall was so unique & so were the hikes leading up to them. Some much easier than others but all very enjoyable. Temps in the 60's so the fresh air felt good & we weren't too hot.

At the end of the day, we saw a total of 5 waterfalls. Left by 10:00 and were home around 5pm ready to relax a bit. It was a lot of exercise for everyone. Kids loved it. I would say we are all definitely ready for the Broaghens to take the Smokey Mountains summer 2021! Something we are all looking forward to!

After some downtime & dinner we headed to a friends house to catch the 4th of July fireworks. Sounds funny but on the actual 4th of July they were cancelled so they rescheduled for Labor day weekend. We literally watched the show & came right back home. We were all ready for bed!

It's been a busy weekend. On Saturday Gary also headed down to Madison for the first time in a long time to see his family & attend Jesse & Crystals wedding reception. The girls & I were bummed to miss it, but we couldn't take the risk attending a large gathering with them being in school. If one of us were to be exposed at this point, we'd cause a classroom shut down. Again... Covid sucks!!! Gary has to be cautious too, any exposure for him puts him back at home & he definitely needs to be in the office as much as possible right now. 

I am like a damn broken record... but this is all so crazy! Can't say it enough. After months & months it is still hard to believe this is all even happening. WTF is all I have to say... Pardon my language. Tomorrow we head back to school for week #2. Fingers crossed we can keep going at least a few weeks. xoxo

 First Day of in person for the Brown chicks! Not the typical 1st day of school but we're rolling with it. Marin & Margaux both getting rides to/from school each day & Maeve will be walking/biking as much as she can. There is bussing available but only one child per seat & more mask time for the kids so we are choosing to just drive them. Marin is easy because Gary can drop her on her two in-person days on his way to work. Most days Margaux will ride with me M/W because I will be subbing those two days & home with them T/Th.

Marin, off to 8th grade! So crazy to think that next year she'll go to high school. Ahhhh, my baby Marin!!! Where does the time go? We are so proud of you. xo

Margaux ready for 6th grade. Both big girls are looping with their teachers from last year so they are comfortable with their teachers day 1. Margaux did so great last year, we can't wait to see how year 6 is for her. So proud of you Marg! xo

And Maeve starting her last year of elementary school as a big 4th grader. Maeve has a teacher that is brand new to the school this year, but lucky for her... she's my college roommate! We are so excited for them to spend their days together & know they'll have a great year. So much pride in you too Maeve! xoxo

Maeve & Eva dressed for the day today while Hazel & Talayla have their turn in pj's!

We walked & made a pit stop to pick up Sloane so she could walk with us for her first day of kinder! Exciting day for her too. It is fun that she & Maeve get one year at the school together before Maeve heads to intermediate school next year.

Melissa shared these pictures of the kiddos in class. It was so nice to see Maeve in the room doing okay with her mask on. Hard to believe this is the new normal. I feel sad that they all have to cover up those cute faces but it is what keeps us safe at this point. We are so thankful for all of the girls teachers. We so appreciate them!

As always, I am so anxious for them to be home so we can chat about their days & thankful it is a short week with it being Labor day weekend. We'll get some extra snuggle time at home this weekend. xo

Time for School!!! 

Today is the first day of virtual school for the bigs. It is a lot but here is what our school year will look like for now. Maeve is still home today with no school because they are doing an elementary staggered start. So hard to keep it all straight. Gary keeps asking me daily to remind him.

Marin (8th) will have a hybrid schedule. She'll attend every M/W in person & T/TH virtually at home.

Margaux (6th) will also be hybrid with the same schedule as Marin, except she will add every other Friday to her in-person learning days.

And Maeve (elementary) will be full time in-person. 

So tomorrow will be first in-person day for all three of them. All written down in 10 places so we can attempt to keep the days straight. Ugh!!! 

This morning Maeve went outside to see her friends off to school while she was still in her pajamas. Kids with the last names M-Z attend today. A-L attend tomorrow. So two friends going, two in pj's start tomorrow. 

Maeve will definitely enjoy her last summer day today while the others attend school. 

Tomorrow they'll be off to school with their masks on. We are trying to stay distant & keep the circle small so we can avoid the virus. We are hearing that it will only take a few cases to shut school down. No one wants to be the family that shuts the school down!!! We're doing our best to stay outside & staying home as much as possible. It was so odd not having kids running in & out of the house all summer long but we made it! xoxo