Happy Holidays!

 Happy Holidays! 

May this Holiday season bring joy and excitement as we welcome the New Year! 

Enjoy our 2022 holiday card from one of our favorite places...Colorado!!

With Love,

Donovan (and my Mom & Dad too!)

9 Years Old

 Hello! Well...it has been quite a year to say the least! I finished up 3rd grade and an looking forward to seeing what 4th grade has in store for me....but seeing how I just finished up my 3rd grade year, I am more excited about summer than thinking about next school year! 

I have a lot of fun stuff planned for the summer, including hanging out at the lake, doing some fishing and of course vacation....just a few of my favorite activities! Speaking of my favorites, here are some of my top favorite things I have did this past year:

1. My cousin, Jessica got married and I was honored to be in her wedding! The wedding part was great, but the reception was way better! The DJ played some great music, and they had all the soda you could drink! (Plus, everyone kept saying how handsome I looked in my tux!

2. I got to do some fishing which was great because the fish were eager to take my bait! I like to try different option for bait, and I can say firsthand that fish do like marshmallows, meat sticks, corn and cheese! 

3. I am still involved in dance class, and I have to say it is so much fun! This year we did 2 recitals and 1 competition. We got to go home with a 1st place trophy for our group number which was pretty cool! I think I may be ready to do a solo next year!

4. Vacations are the best part of my year! This year we took a few trips to check out views, do some hiking and of course stay at fun hotels. (My favorite part is after swimming in the hotel pool, I lay in bed and eat popcorn while watching Diners, Drive-ins and Dives!)

5. Trains are still my thing...and when I say thing I mean my absolute FAVORITE thing!! Most of our trips involved checking out different train museums that I have on my "need to go to" list!

Stay tuned to as we have fun vacation to Colorado planned that we are leaving in 2 days for! I have a feeling there will be a lot of hiking, pool time and fun places to eat while there. 

Until next time,

Donovan 

Happy Holidays 2021

 Happy Holidays from my family to yours!

We wish you all the joys of the season, and hope that you have a wonderful holiday and a very special New Year! 

8 Years Old!

Well, I am now officially 8 years old, and this past year has been one for the books! The pandemic certainly put a damper on our travel plans, but we made the most of it, and spent a lot of time hiking local trails, enjoying time at the lake and spending time as a family.

Mask Up and check out my Top 10 for this year (Even with COVID, my adventures never stop!)

1. Jump, Jump... When COVID hit, everything closed...so we brought the Trampoline Park to us...my parents were able to get their hands on a trampoline for our backyard before they ran out of stock! After 4 hours of attempting to put it together herself, Mom finally asked for help and Dad came to the rescue. (I have to note it was over 100 degrees when my mom was trying to set it up.) Once it was up and ready, I was able to enjoy it...and I love it! I spend time jumping on it every night, and I am getting good at tricks! 

2.  Daily Adventures... These have become something my mom and I have done all summer long last year. We loved being able to spend out days playing outside, going to the train yards, picnics in the backyard, and LOTS of science experiments.  Mom made sure to save the cool experiments for when my dad got home from work though so he could join in on the fun - Mentos and Diet Coke are my favorite thing to do with my dad!

 

3.  Lake Life... With COVID numbers so high this past summer we decided to spend a lot of our quarantine time at the lake. I was able to enjoy eating s'mores by the campfire, being in the water, and with my Uncle Kevin's help, we found a snake!

4.  Adventures in Train Watching... Who doesn't love going to find trains? Since all of the train rides around the area were canceled due to COVID, we decided to hit the road and look for all sorts of trains! We found so many; Burlington Northern Santa Fe, CSX, and  Canadian Pacific just to name a few. (Yes, my list could go on and on!) 

5. Deck the Halls...  Christmas this year was very different. Because of the state restrictions we stayed home and celebrated just the 3 of us but made sure to FaceTime family to make it feel like we were all together. Santa must have noticed I had been extra good because he really went all out with surprising me with a model train to start my collection! (With extra batteries for my dad to make sure he was stalked up to replace them for me!) 

6.  Dancing Fever... While my dance class was virtual to start, once COVID numbers went down we were able to go back into the studio. I love dance, and even received a 1st place trophy from my first competition I did! 

7. Winter Adventures... What do you do in MN when almost everything is closed because of the pandemic and it is cold outside? Making snowmen and ice skating were at the top of my list. When it was warm enough to go outside, I laced up my skates and with the help of mom, dad, Auntie Kimmy, and Uncle Kevin we all went skating. I also made a few snowmen in our yard as well. 

8. A long Weekend Getaway... We decided to hit the open road for a 5 day adventure to enjoy the trails, make some memories and see some cool waterfalls. We headed up north and enjoyed the views of Lake Superior. 

9. 2nd Grade, COVID addition...  I officially finished 2nd grade at the beginning of June and my teacher, Ms. Miller was awesome! The year started off as Distance Learning, then went to Hybrid, then back to Distance Learning before we finally got to go back full time in-person for the rest of the school year. It was nice to be able to see all of my friends in-person again, even though we all had to wear masks! 

10. Official Start to Summer... Summer is here, and to officially kick it off, we enjoyed a night away at a hotel where I swam, had a pizza party, and ate popcorn in bed while we watched my current show of choice, Dinners, Drive-ins and Dives! 

Well, now that I am officially 8 years old, I can't wait to see what the year has in store for me.. Stay tuned for the next update as I am sure there are many more adventures coming my way!

- Donovan

Happy Holidays!!

 Happy Holidays everyone! 

From my family to yours I hope you all are happy, healthy and safe!!

7 Years Old!

 The BIG 7!

Can you believe I am officially 7? 

This year has been like non other to say the least. 

So, without further a-do, here are the top 10 things that have happened to me this year - half the year was normal, and then the last part of my year is COVID Addition 😃: 

1. Family....between a cold winter and COVID, we had a LOT of Family time this year, which I loved! 

2. A Message from The King! Yes...Hamilton is one of my favorite movies, so naturally I wanted to be King George for Halloween this past year! I mean, who doesn't want to be the King of the Candy! 

We decided to do a Star Wars theme for our pumpkins this year as well. (My dad gets all the credit for the idea, but I did the paint job!)

3.  Movies and Pizza...my two FAVORITE things! Every Friday we have a movie and pizza night. (yes, every Friday!) We decided since it was cold outside that we would have some fun and make our own movie-theater experience at home! This has now become a tradition in our home, and by selling food, tickets to the movie, my piggy bank is filling up!

4. Cooking..I love to help my mom out in the kitchen, and she now lets me do it all on my own! (I still haven't mastered the art of keeping a clean kitchen while cooking, but no one seems to complain!)

5. Trains...some things NEVER change, I love trains! There was a train expo in town so my mom decided we needed to go. It was so much fun and I of course wanted to buy every train possible! (Who knew model trains were so expensive!)

6. Riding my bike! The training wheels are officially off and I am ready to hit the big trails! Watch out because I like to ride fast, and stop quickly so my tires make marks! 

This was my first attempt at riding my bike without training wheels! Dad gave me a push, Mom recoded it and I was off and biking! 

7. School ...I officially completed first grade, and am very excited to be going into 2nd grade next year! We were only in school about 1/2 the year until the Stay At Home Orders went into effect! Luckily my mom made it home about a day before that happened from Vancouver - otherwise she would have been stuck there! She then became my teacher for the rest of the year, which wasn't so bad as she made it fun!

Learning and lounging! 

My mom decided it was too nice out to teach indoors, so she got creative for my writing assignment! 

My Uncle Dave (The Sheriff) made a guest appearance on my class zoom call! 

There was a drive-by parade at the end of the year so we made sure to have a big sign for all the teachers to see! 

8. Gardening.... I planted carrots, peppers, tomatoes for the summer (Which was part of my science experiment for school!) 

9. Unrest...A lot was going on in Minneapolis to say the least in May/June. The city was in a state of unrest, and my mom and dad made sure that I  understood and learned a lot about racial injustice. I am so thankful that my cousin, Dominic was in Minneapolis to help protect our communities (and that we were able to see him!) During the time of the unrest, I helped my mom do all of Dominic's Unit for the National Guard's laundry. We even had the opportunity to provide them all with a meal for dinner one evening. 

10. Summer Time! Like all the summers before, I enjoyed my time at the lake! (This year we spent more time than usual since we were all on Stay at Home Orders!) I truly enjoy being in the water, making smores and hanging out by the campfire! My favorite thing to do is to bring a chair into the water, have a smore and watch the sunset. 

I also received a trampoline for my birthday, but as I am writing this update, my dad is currently setting it up and asking mom to come and help....I will have to post pictures of that on my next update because I am sure I will be using it a lot! 

Well, until next time, stay safe and healthy...and don't forget to Mask Up! 

 PS - My mom still says "Smile" even when we wear our masks! haha