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

The big 6!

The Big 6!

Time sure does fly when you are having fun, and in a blink of an eye, I turned 6! (Can you believe it?)
This year's birthday as a little different than years past. We decided to pack up and head on a 9 day adventure after I finished Kindergarten and hit the open road! We drove the Lake Superior Loop, and boy was it fun! Here is a family picture from our trip:

Once again, I want to keep up with tradition I wanted to share with you my Top 10 things I enjoy now that I am the Big 6 (Which is what I consider to be classified as an "Adult" and not a kid!)

1. Ice Cream....Who doesn't love that delicious cold treat? I especially like it when my Grandpa comes to town and we have it for breakfast! (His tradition, which I am happy to join in on!)

2. Trains....shocker I know! All the years of updates, and one thing remains the same, I LOVE TRAINS!

3. Adventures...Between nature hikes, random festivals or just a surprise fun day, I love any adventure that comes my way!

4. Cooking....You can call me Chef Donovan! I love helping my mom cook, and we have decided that Sunday's are our cooking days together! Needless to say the kitchen is pretty dirty when we are done, but we love every minute of it!

5. MN Gophers....once again, I am a huge University of MN Gophers fan. Needless to say my mom and dad are not...they are big University of North Dakota fans! They are big rivalries, but what can I say...my cousin Jessica is a U of M Hockey Cheerleader, so her love for the Gophers rubbed of on me!

6. The Tooth-fairy....Boy-o-boy has she been busy! I have lost a total of 4 teeth so far, with a few more loose one right now! I get really excited to see the money she brings me (so I can put it in my piggy bank)!

7. Airplane Rides....Nothing I like better than to go on an airplane as we fly off to an adventure. (Or as I like to call airplanes, Mom's work!)

8. The Lake...I truly enjoy my time at the lake getting to sit by the campfire, swimming in the water and going fishing of course! (My cousin Dominic sure knows how to fish!)

  

9. Cousins...Spending time with my cousins Ben and Mateo is always a great time! We definitely give my mom and dad a run for their money, but we have a great time at our annual sleepover weekend!

10. Family...I love getting to spend time with my grandparents as often as I can! I was one luckly guy to have them all at my Kindergarten graduation!

Well, that about wraps things up for my 6-year recap! Hope you all enjoyed and stay tuned for more adventures to come....I have a long list of "To-Do's" for this upcoming year!!

Stay cool everyone! (Like me in my sweet shades!)

- Donovan