March 20th: Kerry has every other Friday off of work, so she gets to start the official first day of school. The little bit of organized effort we put forth with Lucy yesterday completely backfired. She is having a very difficult time adjusting to the fact that homeschool is not the same as pre-school. She is quite excited about all her new learning materials and art supplies though! Today features making a cover for her binder as well as working on letters and a trivia game that helps her use a map and learn about the solar system. Kerry also tries out her first “virtual hangout” with Aimee and Jane.
March 21st: We have entered into the new normal of online shopping for everything as well as figuring out how to navigate supply shortages. Local stores are sold out of Charlie’s diapers and are no longer able to offer shipping on diapers. We were able to buy diapers online through the Wal-Mart in Viroqua, WI. We took a day trip to Viroqua today (one of our favorite day trip local destinations!). We watched an Amish buggy in the parking lot for awhile and then Isaac went into the store to get the diapers. There was a 2 story tower that uses a robot type device to deliver the order to you...is this the future of shopping?? While in Viroqua we did our outside adventure at Duck Egg County Forest. There was a neat creek and dam down below the ridge top. Charlie enjoyed poking in the mud. Back at home, Lucy was inspired to do some puzzle work after seeing Grandpa Hyland’s large puzzle project. Isaac ended the day with his first virtual “guys night”.
March 22nd:
Both Isaac and Kerry got out for runs and a rare sun-shiney day!
Today’s family adventure was a hike at the quarry. Charlie wasn’t interested in today’s family selfie.
March 23rd:
Today marks Kerry’s last day at the Caledonia outreach clinic for the foreseeable future. She spent the whole day calling patients (and got a glimpse into the difficulty of sitting still at a desk). After 4 days at home, getting out was still a welcome change though (sorry Isaac!).
Here’s Isaacs day on the home front which included a neighborhood scavenger hunt and math.
March 24th: Kerry returns to work solely in the La Crosse outpatient clinic. Daily temperature checks are now instituted. More calling of patients begins as we are cancelling another week out now.
We have continually tried to convince Charlie to allow a hair cut. Isaac even let him help cut and shave on Isaac. No amount of bribery has worked yet!
Kerry does her first ever monthly book club via Zoom.
March 25th: Kerry learns that PT staffing will be reduced to 2 in clinic days and 2-3 deployment days. Until a need arises, deployment days can be completed as work from home.
Meanwhile at home, the kids are excited to discover the bus giving out meals to all children under the age of 18.
March 26th:
Kerry’s Thursday off has come again and she gets to play teacher-mom. Today’s lesson takes us to a different marsh trail where there are some great bird viewing options. The kids’ binoculars were a big hit. When not looking for birds, they would switch to look through the other end while attempting to walk down the trail.
The binoculars now replace the headphones as the strange snuggle toy of choice.
A lot and not much at all has been happening lately!
March 12th: The school district was monitoring the situation but there was no need to close schools. Abbey and Johnny have returned to Stevens Point after the University of Wisconsin-Madison has closed indefinitely.
The Lumineers concert was cancelled for March 13th (this was going to be Lucy’s first concert). Our conversations about “yucky new germs” have started with Lucy.
March 14th: Governor Evers directs a shut down of Wisconsin schools for no later than March 18th until at least April 6th.
March 17th: Lucy has her last day of school. Luckily she still got to wear her St. Patrick’s outfit and made a Leprechaun trap at school and at home.
March 18th: Isaac has his first full day at home with the kids. It’s still business as usual for Kerry at the PT clinic but a vague email is sent out about non-essential clinic visits ceasing.
March 19th: Today is Kerry’s usual Thursday off of work. In a quick change of events, the PT staff is triaging all patients for the next 2 weeks into 3 categories: essential, non-essential cancels and non-essential phone visits. The first day of “homeschooling” is postponed while Kerry works on this task. We do manage to get out into the marsh for our daily “adventure”. Charlie’s new favorite item is his sound muffling headphones.
