Happy Birthday!

SlimJim, you are the excitement and laughter in our days. Also the pins and needles when you climb too high or jump too far, but that's part of the package. You are adorable in your empathy and desire to be one of the big girls, and hilarious with your back and forth "no baby" and "baby, come play". You have blossomed into a talkative, inquisitive, always amusing kid, who is never without a hug or a cuddle for a parent or sibling who needs one, or a challenge to climb higher or go faster for a parent or sibling who isn't experiencing life to the fullest.

I can't believe we are celebrating our third, third birthday! What a memorable time... crazy quarantine, a visit from family after months apart, and an amazing toddler who is turning into an amazing little kid.

To add to the excitement of a third birthday, Gram and Grumpy, after months of social quarantine, agreed that of all times, past and future, our family of six was the cleanest, healthiest we could be since the start of the quarantine and going forward as things start to open again. Since we were all not willing to go many months more without seeing each other, and were hoping to spend a good part of the summer together, we all decided to brave it and have Gram and Grumpy and Auntie Jen visit for SlimJim's third birthday. After all, if they lived down the street, we would have all been social quarantining together all along.

I hope SlimJim had as great a weekend as the rest of us, surrounded by family.

I feel so fulfilled to have spent the weekend with the people I love so much and have missed so much the past few months. While I believe we should all be cautious, it isn't worth living in fear and solitude, missing out on time with family!

End of School and the Dairy Haus!!

(Drive Thru)

To start SlimJim's birthday weekend, a most exciting thing happened. The girls finished school for the year! They worked so hard to finish school early, since we didn't have anything else to do, and were so excited to be done by SlimJim's birthday.

To celebrate, we took another walk at the Spring Run Trail and we got Dairy Haus ice cream from their make-shift drive thru and ate it at the empty middle school parking lot.

Dance Recital?

The girls were really into their dance classes this year, so when Coronavirus lockdown hit, they were extremely concerned about the outcome of dance, primarily the recital.

Our dance school did a fantastic job of hosting zoom classes weekly. While it wasn't quite the same, between the online class and an app with a video of their dance, both girls learned their dances for the recital and were looking forward to it.

Sadly, things are not getting back to normal quickly enough for the recital to take place, so one of the end of year activities for the girls was a recorded zoom dance class, complete with costume.

We are hoping for an end of year performance, but it looks like it might be pushed out to the fall. 

A Backyard Social Distancing Playdate

We have been very close friends with our neighbors down the street since we moved in. The girls played with their three girls almost every day this year as they homeschool as well. For the kids, the hardest part of the social quarantine has been missing their constant playmates.

We finally had a social distancing playdate with a fire and kids playing the recommended 6 feet apart in the backyard! It wasn't really the same, but it was nice to catch up anyway, and the kids had a great time.

The most hilarious part of the evening was when the windy weather kept getting smoke in SlimJim's eyes. This kid always cracks me up.

Getting Out of the House

One of the things the girls requested we do while in social quarantine was hiking. There are a few slight hiccups to address when planning a hike with my children. 1. Three of four refuse to walk more than a tenth of a mile. 2. I only have two kid-backpacks, neither of which are suited for hiking. 3. The hikes we are familiar with all begin with playgrounds, which are roped off due to Covid-19, and the off-limits of those playgrounds mean nothing to 50% of my children. 4. I cannot drive to someplace half an hour away, hike for an hour plus, and have to drive home without needing a rest facility- all of which are closed. So... hiking, as of yet, has been a slight challenge.

We are fortunate enough to live near a lovely paved trail, perfect for biking and walking, a few miles from our house. While it isn't a hike, it satisfied our need to get away from our house and our neighborhood, which we walk through four or five times a day.

We even had an impromptu dance party

Back to the Woods

We don't have trees in our yard, so there isn't much opportunity for building forts or shelters or exploring the woods. The kids did set up a pretty elaborate "survivor station" by our garden which holds their attention for hours in the yard. But it can't compare to playing in the woods. We found a great fallen tree to balance on and jump off while on a walk yesterday. 

During nap, the girls and I went back to turn it into a safer and more fun "jumping log". We made a cleared path, added stairs, nailed on some railings and added a pile of mulch for jumping into. We're lucky to live by protected forest areas with great woods and trails to play in!

A Day at the Beach

State Parks are still open in New York and encourage social distancing, while limiting the number of cars that enter and closing all facilities. 

We took the kids to the beach yesterday morning to hunt for salamanders and play in the sand. There was no one there and the kids had a great time hunting for salamanders in the frigid water and digging a huge hole. We will definitely be visiting the beach more often. 

Sand

Nothing like quarantining to make you appreciate something so simple as new sand for the sandbox. Last year SlimJim diligently emptied the sandbox all over the yard. Leaving us with only an inch or so of seven year old sand that got rained on and snowed on and was less than desirable for playing. We finally emptied it out after all the ice melted and added new sand. Kept all the kids occupied for hours.

Into the Woods

With no less than three "walks" per day in our neighborhood, now that we can't play anywhere else, the girls were getting bored of our same two bike loops, so we ventured into the woods with the bikes. The girls are slow enough over the roots and through the twists and turns that SlimJim has no problem keeping up on his balance bike. It's a new favorite activity! Now I need an off roading push car for Mr.T. 

Just Quarantining

Other than not being able to go to playgrounds or see our friends, our day to day is pretty much the same as it was before we weren't aloud to leave our houses. So while it seems like most families we know are bored out of their minds, between school and the kids continued activities through zoom, we really don't have a lot of extra time in our day to feel bored or fill up with fun thing like learning tik tok dances. 

We've just been keeping on with the usual. Hanging around. 

The only thing that's really keeping us on our toes is the budding relationship between these two trouble makers. SlimJim is the resident daredevil and he's taken to teaching the Mr.T. the ropes.

in unidentifiable toddler babble to baby: "so let's just push all these books off the shelf here and see if we can jump all the way to the other end of the couch.

 

clear as day over the baby monitor: "Baby! No Baby! Baby, put your feet in here like this Baby!"

Grocery Shopping

Was never fun. With four kids. Which is why we signed up for a year of unlimited Walmart grocery delivery. But now, with no one wanting to leave home, there are no open time slots for Walmart delivery. Since the social distancing regulations have been put in place, we've been shopping a few times, and each time it gets crazier and crazier. First there wasn't food, then they started coraling shoppers like cattle through mazes of shopping carts. Now there are red tape lines and spots to stand on everywhere, so trying to figure out how to get to the checkout is like playing twister. The cashiers stand behind plexiglass shields, and since the CDC recommended everyone wear masks, almost everyone's face is covered. With limited operating hours, and our full schedule with our evening online classes for the kids, I decided to brave it and take them all with me to Hannaford today to buy at least two weeks worth of groceries.

They were troopers, though by the end we were all so done with groceries that its a good thing we bought five loaves of bread so we won't have to go back for two weeks!

And then I had to come home and sanitize them! How many more weeks of this??