Spring Break and Coronavirus

We only had one snow day this year and were able to make it up with an e-learning day, so we got the full two weeks off for Spring Break this year. Our last school day was March 6th. That first week of break, we stayed close to home with plans to go either to Brown County or Kentucky for a couple days during the second week. All our plans changed at the end of the first week when we started to hear about the spread of the Coronavirus in the US and recommendations to refrain from travel. We took "soft quarantine" seriously, not because we were necessarily afraid of getting sick, but because we wanted to do our part to help "flatten the curve."

When Bella gets bored, she bakes. She made some delicious funnel cakes for us.




I've been wanting to watch the Star Wars movies. I had never really seen them from the beginning, so could never really get into the story line. I wanted to do it properly and watch all nine movies, but who ever has the time for that? Well. . . now we did. We went in the order the movies came out: 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, and finally episode 9.


When we needed a change of scenery, we loaded up in Andy's Jeep and went for a drive. On one drive, we stopped at a cemetery because Andy had to make a phone call. Bella and Graydon found a fun climbing tree.




I've heard from many families that they are doing more cooking now that they have more time. It's kind of the opposite for me. I'm concerned for our local small businesses. With the forced dining room closures, many small businesses are struggling. So, we're ordering more take-out to try and support them.


We're eating pretty well these days.


Bella and Curtis made these cookies. So good, as always.


Kiddie cocktails for the kids during our movie nights. Curtis is getting pretty good at making them.


Passing the time with a game of Connect Four. We even had rounds played with our eyes closed, just to have something different to do.


Mabel loves the fire almost as much as I do.


And she'll take any snuggle opportunity she can get.


We celebrated Andy's 40th birthday during this time of "social distancing." The original plan was to have all of the family come down for a celebration. About a week before, we knew this was not going to be a possibility. Still, we celebrated.




Andy's big gift from us was a set of Apple Airpod Pros. To the left, you can also see some artwork that Bella made. She is so thoughtful and talented.


And instead of celebrating in person, we got in touch the way everyone is doing in these days - through Zoom!


Bella made the birthday brownies.




The evening ended with episode 9 of Star Wars. It seemed fitting to finish out the series that night.

One thing I'm enjoying is the slower start to the morning. I can take my time with my morning coffee and reading/journaling. And I really appreciate the warm glow of the sun in the living room during the morning hours. I'm usually at school during that time and rarely see this room so bright. By the time I get home in the afternoon, the sun has already passed over to the other side of the house.


The kids received fun mail from Auntie Mary. She wanted to help our kids with this isolation boredom. Thanks again Auntie Mary!!!


Here is the first puzzle we completed. I ordered it on Amazon as soon as I realized we were going to be spending a lot of time at home. This scene seemed fitting. In hindsight, I should have ordered more puzzles. When we finished, I went to order more and there weren't any available until the end of May or June at the earliest! Thankfully, I was able to find a seller on ebay, so I've got another puzzle coming soon.


Graydon got to work right away on this 3D globe. We probably finished it in about a week. I thought I took a photo of the finished product, but I don't seem to have it. It is currently the centerpiece of our dining room table.


We've also been playing more card games. Here is Graydon lamenting over having to give away a good card in our of our games!


Mabel is living her best life these days - lots of walking time. It seems she is doing the opposite of the social distancing that is her usual life.


Thanks to Google 3D image, we had a bear in our living room!


Andy took Mabel on a roller blade walk. I'm not brave enough for that one.


Curtis got some new rollerblades for Christmas that he is finally able to use. One thing is for certain - I am glad this social distancing/quarantining didn't start in January! Getting outside is saving our sanity.






Graydon made some no-bake cookies all by himself! His teacher posted the recipe as a fun extra challenge in his e-learning app. It did involve some melting on the stove, but he did it ALL on his own.


And they tasted so good!


Another walk for Mabel. We had the road all to ourselves. As it should be right now.


This is a sign of the times. Our town park is closed. No trespassing. Our school track and tennis courts also have yellow tape. All non-essential businesses are closed. It looks and feels so strange.


Taking a break on one of our walks.


Our school had a car parade this past Friday. This was the day after we learned we wouldn't be returning to school at all this year. I wanted to decorate my van, but I couldn't go to the store for materials since they weren't essential. So, I got out some wrapping paper, markers, and a few extra craft things that I had in the basement and made two signs like this - one for each side of the van. I also blew up five small balloons and connected them to my antenna with ribbon (which ended up popping pretty early in the parade). Our district is pretty spread out, so our parade took us about 3 hours to complete! Bella, Graydon, and Curtis kids opted to stay home instead of ride with me. They waited outside for about an hour to see the parade and, unfortunately, we bypassed our house on the route! I felt so bad since they waited so long. But at least it was a beautiful day to play outside.


The magnolia tree in our front yard bloomed and it is BEAUTIFUL!


On Sunday night, we participated in something called #porchprayers. Families all around town are going on their front porch at that time and praying. We prayed for health and safety with this virus, our 6th graders and seniors who are missing out on all of the end-of-the-year/graduation activities, and three local teens who are battling cancer.


One thing that has kept my spirits up is some funny memes. I see the value in laughing more and more these days.

This one combines all the Karen memes I've been seeing lately with all of the Cornonavirus ones. I'm not sure who this 'Karen' is, but she has really given us all a bad name!

And I think this one is my favorite so far. . .

It's kind of like Groundhog Day around here - each day is pretty much the same as the one before. But overall, we are doing as well as can be expected right now. Andy and I can still do our work from home (both look very different, but we've been able to adapt) and we are all healthy. We really can't complain. The main hard thing right now is just not knowing how long this is all going to last.