Quarantine Day 56: Just trying to keep up

It's been a really busy week, so not much exciting happened today.

But, if you'd like an update on how the terrariums are doing, here you go! They are growing like gangbusters!

Quarantine Day 55: Princess Popcorn

Avery flagged some recipes in her princess cookbook that she wanted to try, so we decided to make her first choice today. This is princess popcorn and it's made with jello powder and marshmallows. It was delicious!

As a surprise activity, I got the girls a crayon melter and it was a hit. I think Avery spent over an hour melting crayons and making creations.

The girls had a "playdate" with their friend Daphne today. It started off with a little lunch together and then turned into pictionary, then a run and find different things. Here the girls are finding dirt for Daphne to see. :) The Zoom playdates always start out slow, but once the kids figure out how to play with each other over the internet, they don't want to stop!

In the afternoon, we did a parade by Morgan's teacher's house. We gave her the teacher appreciation signs. Morgan was so excited to see her teacher in person!

Quarantine Day 54: Teacher Appreciation

This week is teacher appreciation week. The girls made signs for their teachers to show during their Zoom calls.

Quarantine Day 53: Shaving Daddy's Head

Back to the daily grind... remote learning and working. Every day, I go through our calendars and put together a schedule for the girls, Matt and me that I print out and tape to the cabinet. Then, we try super hard to stick to it so we can get everything done that we need to do. The girls schedule has time for their different school lessons. Matt and I have our work time and conference calls marked off. Our general schedule is that I'm with the girls until 10am and then Matt is with them until lunchtime. They have some downtime after lunch where they can watch shows on their iPads, while Matt and I both get some work done. Then, we just play it by ear with who has conference calls or needs to get some work done. Usually, Matt can hang out with the girls starting around 4:00 since he starts working at like 6:30 AM. Some days, we can get in the work hours we need. Other days, it's a struggle.

Morgan on her Zoom call

Ever since Matt gave Grayson a mohawk, the girls have wanted to shave his head. He's keeping the beard until we go back to work, but the top of his head was fair game.

A sign the girls made and gave to Matt

Before

After!

Quarantine Day 52: Sunday Funday

Such a beautiful day today! We started off with some Roller Derby!

Yesterday, we saw a toad on the sidewalk. Today, we saw another one! And Avery almost ran over it with her roller skates. That would have been not so fun, but luckily she had some quick reflexes and narrowly missed it. Morgan had to check that it was ok.

Time for Sunday Funday and Happy Hour!

The Wilkens came over and the kiddos had milkshakes while the adults enjoyed some adult beverages!

The kids love jumping out of the swings. We tried really hard to get a good shot of each of them! We missed Avery in the air... but got her crazy hair!

It was really warm, so the kids wanted to play in the water. And, of course, it wasn't long before a water fight broke out.

Beckett's no dummy. All the other kids had small cups, but he came back and grabbed the bucket - ha!

Then, they requested the hose.

Drying off in the sunshine.

This seemed like a good idea at the time... trying to recreate the cousin pyramid with Erin and me. Not very successful.

Quarantine Day 51: The way things are today

I stole this from Facebook... a good summary of everything that's going on right now.

Today is Saturday May 2, 2020.
- We are at day 51 of social isolation due to the Coronavirus/COVID-19.
- The dollar is worth $ 0.924, the pound 0.808.
- Schools have been closed since mid March and those that are able to, are teaching remotely on-line. This will continue for the rest of the school year. We’re all wondering what school will look like in the Fall for our kids.
- There are lines / tapes inside the stores on the floors to keep people 6 feet apart and plexiglas at checkout stands.
-Toilet paper, hand sanitizer, bleach, antibacterial wipes and anything Lysol or Clorox is in short supply and limited per person.... IF you can even find them!
- Restaurants are open only for takeout, home delivery and pick-up.
- Parks, beaches, hiking trails and walk-in places are not accessible to the public.
- All major and minor league sports competitions have been cancelled as well as kid's sports. There’s talks of football season opening in August WITHOUT fans.
- All festivals and entertainment events have been banned/cancelled.
- Weddings, family celebrations and birthdays have been cancelled. Funerals limited to 10-20 people.
- People are doing drive-by parades and Zoom calls to celebrate birthdays!
- Young kids can’t understand why they can only see grandparents and other extended family and friends on a screen or thru a window if someone visits in person or on Facetime online.
- Hugs and kisses are not exchanged.
- Churches are online.
- We have to stay more than six feet apart from each other.
- “Social Distance” is the new buzz word.
- There is a significant supply short of disposable masks and gloves in hospitals.
- As of May 1st, wearing face masks is required in public places in Illinois. People are even sewing their own cloth masks for sale or donation to medical facilities.
- Stores are closing early to disinfect everything. (24 hour stores are even closing by 9pm)
- You can't find isopropyl alcohol easily. .. the supply per person is limited.
- Australia, USA, Canada and Europe have closed their borders.
- No one is traveling for leisure. Airports empty. Tourism has the worst crisis in history.
- One great thing though is that families are coming together like never before...family bike rides, walks, game nights, and drives to nowhere.

There are so many things that are different than anything we've experienced before. A few weeks ago, I would have felt so silly walking through Target with a face mask on. Now, I feel weird if I'm not wearing one.

A few pictures from today... we went on a bike ride today and we saw a few toads. Morgan is such an animal lover, it doesn't matter what. She just wants to hold it and love it!

Here she is hamming it up for the camera:

Quarantine Day 50: Bubbles

Avery said this morning, this was supposed to be the day we started going back to school. Yep, it was the original "back-to-school" day, but now we are riding out the school year at home. We're still not sure what the summer will bring. Brookfield Zoo canceled their summer camps. We were signed up for a week in August, so that's a bummer. The others haven't been officially canceled yet, but it's not looking promising. We'll have to hire someone to come and play with the girls during the summer so Matt and I can get some work done.

We have quite the selection of cereal at our house in the mornings. Today, Morgan asked which cereal had the most sugar. Turns out it's not the Chocolate Lucky Charms like I thought, it's the Frosted Flakes. Hmmm.

Matt got a new toy that makes gigantic bubbles! I'm not sure who loves this more, him or the girls! :)

Avery almost made it all the way to the tree!



In the afternoon, we made cookies. We split the cookie dough in two and made half the cookies with mini M-Ms and the other half with Reese's peanut butter chips. It's a toss up to which is better. They are both delicious!