Happy 2021! We're still under a stay at home order in our county and the public schools are also still distance learning from home, although we're still in Winter Break until January 11, 2020.

It's been cloudy so far for 2021 and it feels like winter, but nothing like the East Coast's winter. When we used to live on the East Coast, there were many days where it was below freezing! We don't have that here and we're thankful for it. All of the restaurants are only outdoor dining or to-go so no one is allowed to dine inside right now. Masks are mandatory for being outside, stay 6 feet apart and don't gather in large groups with other people who don't live with you. Those are the basic rules and I think people are definitely following orders now. Compared to Thanksgiving, our New Year's was quiet around the neighborhood. We have younger neighbors close by who usually have parties with other young folk and they didn't have one so that was a good sign. 

Stay safe, everyone. Just endure this for the next few months while the vaccines are making their rounds. Get through this and hopefully by summer, we'll have a more normal. God bless.

I wish my family-friendly event list for December isn't so sparse and that there are more things to look forward to in San Luis Obispo (SLO) county but we are under a stay-at-home order here.

Due to Covid-19 and the stay-at-home order, my family and I are following the rules and staying put here locally and not traveling to my hometown in San Diego (about a 5 to 6 hour drive south) for the holidays.


My preschooler had been going to preschool twice a week and they recently had to shut down their facility because a student or staff (they didn't specify exactly) tested positive for Covid-19. Sometimes symptoms take awhile to show so I've been monitoring my little one too, in case it got passed on to him.

For the most part, we're all inside the house but every so often, we pick up something to eat at a restaurant so we try to venture a bit further just to get a change of scenery, but still within the county. 

Yesterday, we went to Morro Bay to get some seafood to-go at Giovanni's Fish Market. They sell fresh seafood for you to bring home and cook yourself and also have an amazing restaurant menu that you can order from their window. We ordered the poke bowl and calamari and chips to go! I still enjoy going to Morro Bay to see the Morro Rock, even though we've seen it so many times before. Go take a drive there to take in some fresh sea air if it's been awhile since you've visited. A lot of restaurants there have outdoor patios for outdoor dining.

Whenever I have to run errands, I'd make an effort to get off the highway and drive along the 1 to see how busy Pismo Beach is. My most recent drive down that way was a couple of days ago and it looks like people are following stay-at-home orders because I didn't see a lot of foot traffic. However, the big and new Pismo Beach sign is worth seeing if you want to take a drive to see as it does light up at night. You don't have to get out of the car to see it. Just drive straight down towards the pier. You can't miss it! You can go on my instagram page to see the photo that I took of the sign during the day, if you're curious!

Other things that I'm planning to do to keep my kids entertained is start planning some outdoor work outs during Christmas break and letting them come along. My little one is still little enough for me to push in a stroller and I am blessed for that. Many playgrounds in San Luis Obispo County are open but with rules to follow, like wearing a mask and keep a distance, etc.

We also look out for food truck spots to get some food to-go. Many of them that roam around San Luis Obispo County are delicious! I've posted a couple of pictures of my food truck meals on my instagram @sanluisobispomom. I've gotten tacos, fried chicken, Hawaiian food, brisket sandwiches and even dessert from these amazing food trucks.

I know things are unpredictable right now but as always, I'll add more to the event list of fun family-friendly events in SLO as I find more! Have a safe and warm holiday season!

We visited the Spirit Halloween Store in San Luis Obispo on September 11, 2020. It was even scarier than last year's Halloween season. You can visit this very store this year located at: 323 Madonna Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405. Here's our video clip from our recent visit.

Related Halloween Items:

(My makeshift desk below for online learning.)
Distance learning starts back again in a couple of weeks for my soon-to-be 1st grader. It's going to be his second go at this. We're happy to be learning but distance learning means parent involvement is crucial from 9AM - 2:30PM on school days with more live meetings every day this time. It means mommy is also one of his educators again and we're going to have to do this as a team. We've learned how to make it work better for my son during the last go and I have been doing online school for myself as well for the last 6 weeks and will be continuing for fall. Here are some of my thoughts about online learning.

I have a new respect for live online learning and now in California, every college, whether you attend SDSU, Cal Poly, Cuesta College or Stanford, about half of their classes, if not more, are going virtual for fall due to precautions against Covid. This is how it's going to be now.

CONS
There are notable cons and pros to online learning. Without having to worry about gas and commuting time is nice but live Zoom sessions for 3 - 4 hours at a time for 3 days a week are totally different and can be tough with distractions compared to my traditional classroom years that I had experienced at SDSU. For instance, there have been occasions when my spouse just happens to be home while I'm on my live online classroom and he has asked me a random question that's totally not important right in the middle of my class. Because I put my headphones on, my husband can't hear the contents of my instructor's lesson or my group meetings but they can totally hear him if my mic just happens to be on. Furthermore, live classrooms online mean your webcam has to be on so every classmate has the option to stare at your face without you knowing for the entire session via live Zoom. Group work and sharing screens via web were clunky at first too. And importantly, if your internet is down in the middle of class, then that automatically logs you out of the class session and troubleshooting and waiting for it to get back on can be stressful.

PROS
Because classes are online, I don't have to find childcare for my kids. There were days when my kids would make a ruckus or need my attention (my little one is 4) while my mic and cam were on for group work discussions and I've had to excuse myself for a minute, but it's still manageable. Surprisingly, I still feel connected to my classmates, maybe more so than the traditional learning environment. I think knowing that we are all trying to get through this pandemic together, there is an energy that's different. We also get a glimpse into our classmates' personal lives without trying because we are sitting in our homes with the webcam on. Every once in awhile, a classmate's child makes a surprise appearance for a brief moment. My little one's arm made it to my last class meeting as he was trying to wave like any normal 4 year olds would do. This is something you don't see in a traditional in-person class setting.

If you or your kids are starting distance learning soon and don't feel all too good about it, just remember that there will be good and tough days. Give yourself some grace and sometimes where you pick as your desk space for you or your kids can make a big difference. We would move my older son's desk space to a different spot if he had a hard time focusing at any point last spring when we started distance learning last March through May. 

(My son doing distance learning for school last spring 2020 in the left picture)

Even for my own online learning, figuring out what personally works took a few weeks. I started out at the dining table and realized soon that when my husband is home too, he actually makes more noise than my kids. My fav spot is moving my end table to the front of my closet in my bedroom and then moving it back when class is over. I don't have room for an office desk in our home but really, I don't need one. Make-shifting makes it easy to move around, when needed. (See my top picture of this blog entry for reference on how I made my end table a makeshift desk for my online class meetings.)

I've tried my desk space outside once while my husband was home to watch the kids and it didn't work out too well for me. The glare from the sun that reflected onto my computer screen made it hard for me to focus on a lesson. It sounded like a good idea but in reality, it can be stressful if you don't have an umbrella like me in this instance. And the wind noises can be so distracting if you're speaking with your classmates and your mic has to be on.

Distance Learning can be challenging, but at the same time, it offers some conveniences to some families as well. Let's hope life can get back to a more normal by next spring but until then, hold on; we're in for a ride! You're not alone with the frustrations and adaptations with distance learning. Remember, as it's becoming a coronavirus Covid-19 slogan, "we're all in this together". And who knows, you might grow to like this method better.

Have a great Back-to-School week!