Covid 19 Pandemic Week 10

Saturday May 16th:
Today was an odd day for the kids.  They weather was beautiful, but they just wanted a low key day inside and we didn't have an adventure planned.  They spent several hours in the basement playroom doing legos.  We decided another try at skipping nap time with the goal of a very early bed time (this has never actually worked according to plan).  Isaac and Lucy went on a bike ride while Charlie and Kerry went on a marsh expedition.  Charlie later said this was the highlight of his day.  After the outside time, we put a movie on for the kids while eating dinner.  Charlie managed to fall asleep with his body mostly laying on the wood floor.  This did allow for us to do a little additional hair cutting around at least one of his ears.  So far his current hair cut has happened in four separate stages and it's not going well...but every stage is a little better.
We were almost on track for an early bed time but then Lucy managed to take 45 minutes to poop and Charlie was raring to go after his power nap.  We ended the night doing a virtual game night with friends while our children continued to make appearances (why break the streak now...).

This picture actually captures how vivid and beautiful the colors and trail actually were today!

Running up and down the trail looking for sticks to throw in the creek.

Sunday May 17th:
Today marks another lazy day as this time the drizzle is preventing any substantial outside plans.  The kids have flourished with lots of independent and creative play!  We did a brief interlude to watch some mountain adventures through the REI channel on YouTube and then their creative play shifted to going on mountain expeditions. Today also included more legos!  Happy Birthday to Mema today!  The kids made her pictures and then their favorite babysitter came over so that Isaac and Kerry could go visit Pat for a couple hours. (It may be the first actual uninterrupted conversation we've had since she moved to Onalaska!)

Climbing the mountains!

Stopping for the night to roast some marshmallows. 

Monday May 18th:
Lucy was absolutely thrilled that she was getting her cavity filled today (what a weird kiddo!).  She did so well, and I'm almost certain she must have no idea she's getting shots with this procedure or she'd never be ok with it.  In other big news; we can no longer handle the number of times Charlie is waking us up at night.  In a last ditch effort to salvage our sleep, we are trying out giving him a true big boy bed.  He's pretty darn excited!

Waiting for the appointment to start.

Relaxing with the laughing gas and weighted blanket.

Deconstructing the toddler bed and turning it into a real big boy bed!

Tuesday May 19th:
Charlie made it through the night in his big boy bed.  He seemed a bit concerned about the sides being open and we can't do a side rail without a box spring...so today we re-oriented the bed next to the wall and Dad re-enforced the bed to withstand some jumping monkies.   Lucy is having a hard time adjusting to Charlie's new bed.  She desperately wants to sleep in it too because apparently it's comfier than hers.

A nice big batch of slime to play with.

Lucy really enjoys color by numbers.

Jumping monkies.

Obligatory game of tag around the clock tower.

Wednesday May 20th:
We decided to go tadpole hunting this morning at the best pond in town for tadpoles (Chad Erickson Park).  We struck out on tadpoles but did find some big frogs and a family of geese.  It was a perfect morning at the pond!
Our Solo Stove bonfire arrived today and we were excited to break it in on one of the nicest evenings!  Isaac found a big bin of kindling wood that has gone unused and has now been drying for 5 years; the fire was started and roaring in no time.
The night ended with our children turning into puppies (named Arfia and Cannon).  They were excited to start the next day waking up as puppies as well.

Snack time before looking for wildlife.

Checking the usual tadpole spot without luck.

Dance party with the campfire.

 

Our first go at it!  So shiny and new!

The perfect fire!!!

Lucy has transformed into Arfia.

Thursday May 21st:
Uh oh... there are no pictures, videos, or anything marked off on the calendar for the day...  I do recall the kids immediately reverting back into puppies for the morning prior to going to Paula's for a bit.  We also worked on some art projects surrounding butterfly life cycle.  The kids painted a toilet paper roll for a cocoon and did some planning for making a caterpillar (Mom had to do some craft supplies order at Target).
Isaac and I decided to treat ourselves to a "date" at home over the lunch hour.  The kids went to Paula's and we got a couple games of Yahtzee in for the first time since 2009!

Friday May 22nd:
Another very low key day!  What a strange feeling to stay put for the night on Memorial Day Weekend.  We don't even have anything planned for the weekend in order to make sure we avoid any possible crowds.

Week of May 16th in Videos

TRIP TO YARD WASTE SITE WITH THEIR STUFFIES

SLEEPY KIDS #1

SLEEPY KIDS #2

KERRY'S WORKOUT

WHEELS AND WATER

Covid 19 Pandemic Week 9

Saturday May 9th:
We started the morning with a FaceTime with Grandma and Grandpa Hyland while the kids worked on their playdough.  Today's theme was dinosaurs (and was a creative demand on Mom).  The weather became pleasant today and we decided to have a pre-mother's day celebration with a campfire given the dicey weather forecast for the next day.  We had high hopes of ordering a Solo Stove for curbside pick up today, but the stove is a hot item and is sold out everywhere.  We ordered one on back order and were able to borrow Jack and Aimee's instead.  The kids loved roasting marshmallows and the stove works so well that we are excited for ours to arrive!

Sunday May 10th:
Happy Mother's Day!  The kids came up to "wake" me up in the morning and brought along their card, flowers and breakfast.  Lucy has been working for a week on her picture and adding stickers to it every day. They were very thoughtful and cute.
Mother's Day had terrible weather, but Kerry did get out for a run during which it even sleeted!  Isaac went to the dollar store and bought some helium balloons for the kids and Mema Hoffman.  The balloons were a huge hit with the kids and entertained them for hours!
Kerry's other Mother's Day request was to bake some cookies.  The kids were good helpers and the cookies were delicious.  Isaac's idea for his Mom was great but the wind made it impossible.  He tried to float her card up to her 3rd floor balcony.

Just a funny photo of Lucy.  She wanted a unicorn balloon but we had to tell her the ballon said "Happy Day" instead of it being a birthday balloon.

Hours of entertainment!

Attempting to float the balloons up to Mema on the 3rd floor...great idea in theory...

Monday May 11th:
Today Mom returned to work for a a whole three days!  It was very strange waking up to an alarm and attempting to get the kids to daycare on a schedule.  Of course, we had to wake the kids up today as they chose today to be the only day to sleep in!  Kerry got to work in Caledonia and the drive is becoming prettier every time.  Today marked the first virtual video visit with a patient; luckily it went well!

Charlie decided to sleep in the recliner last night and was still fast asleep in the morning.

Lucy discovered she's strong enough to be the horsey! Maybe this will spare Isaac's back a little bit!

Tuesday May 12th: 
Another full day at Paula's for the kids.  Kerry was supposed to have a full day at work but most patient's cancelled out.  The big event for today was a trip over to Gundersen to watch the F16 jets do a flyover to thank the health care workers.  It was a nice evening and a lot of people were all around Gundersen Campus to await the flyover.  (Not much else going on these days!).

Waiting for the jets.  Charlie kept thinking the birds were the jets.

There they go, on the way to Tomah next.

There they are!

Wednesday May 13th:
Today was the last full day at Paula's for the kids this week.  Kerry's slow day yesterday was not to be continued as today was booked and included some extra projects.  This resulted in a 12 hour work day and not seeing much of the kids.
Isaac helped the kids set up an obstacle course in the garage and around the yard with the high light of a teeter totter and cones.
We ended the day by catching up on Mrs. Olsen's videos from the week and will get to jump right into the art projects tomorrow.
Today was also a notable day as the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down the Governor's Stay at Home orders.  Things might start to get interesting around here.

Learning about physics!

Obstacle course cones that we can borrow from the phy ed teacher across the alley.

Doing night school.

Thursday May 14th:
Today we watched Mrs. Olsen's Thursday morning video and then got involved in the art projects.  Lucy made a bumblebee and we all made tulips.  Charlie and Lucy then spent some time playing "pollination".
At the end of the day we did some family dancing to ABBA music and finalized a birthday cocktail video for Jack Zabrowski.  Then we walked over to the Zabrowski's house to deliver the cocktail to the front porch.  It was nice to have a face to face visit as we've only seen them virtually for 2 months now.

Intense concentration on bumblebee creation.

Here we go again with Charlie's art time.  Good thing he was due for a bath!

Friday May 15th: 
Lucy's teacher started the day with a fun weekend plan.  Lucy's class would usually have a pajama day at school with a sleep over themed class involving a sleep over for their stuffies. Instead, we will be doing the stuffy sleep over at home.
The first activity was a doozy!  We set up a zipline for the stuffies from the top of the stair way to the bottom of the living room.
We read stories, Dad took them on an adventure with dropping brush off to the yard waste site, and we went to a campfire.
Kerry did a solo trip to the farmer's market for our usual potted herbs.  The market now requires only one family member, a mask is highly recommended and routes are all one way.  Gone are the days of families on picnic blankets eating dinner and listening to music at the market for this summer.
Our campfire gathering with the Stull family felt serendipitous as the last time we did any socializing with children (back on March 14th) was at their house.  The future will be an interesting balance of continued social distancing while finding a way to integrate our family back into some components of our previous life. We certainly wont be joining the crowds at bars and restaurants.  We will continue with curbside pick ups whenever possible and we will be avoiding play grounds and multi-family or large social gatherings.  We will carefully be watching the case count in La Crosse county as the next 2-3 weeks may show the effect the stay at home order was previously having.     

About to attach the hanger for the zipline harness.

Covid 19 Pandemic Week 8

Saturday May 2nd:
We decided to revisit an old favorite from 2 years ago: Sidie Hollow County Park.  The last time we were there, we went in the late fall and did a camp fire.  This year we checked out a small portion of the trails and were surprised how big the lake was.  I would like to come back and paddleboard and Isaac and Lucy would like to mountain bike.  The fishing also looked great as we saw some large trout in the stream today.
As Isaac mentioned on his video post, the kids were all about the details and micro-nature today.  Lucy managed to catch some sort of butterfly or moth and there were many other insects, birds, and frog sounds explore.
We ate a picnic lunch and then ended our adventure for a quick wade in the stream at Esofea.  We did a different section of the stream and saw some more fish that like to live under the overhang of the banks.
On the way home from the parks, Lucy and Mom worked on a treasure hunt for Theo.  Charlie fell asleep in the van, so Dad hung out with him while we got the clues hid at Theo's house.  Lucy taped all the clues up and made Bunny fruit snacks the treasure.  She then watched Theo do his hunt from the sidewalk.

We stopped to take a closer look at this beautiful team of horses.

The insect that Lucy caught decided to land on Mom's shoe after being released.

Always a comedian.

Another walk in the creek at Esofea.

A windy family selfie on a dock at Side Hollow.

"Micro-nature"

Mom thought the reflection of the geese was neat.

Theo's treasure hunt clues :)

Lucy leaving the first clue for Theo at his mailbox.

Sunday May 3rd:
Today was the most beautiful day we've had yet!  We had a low-key day without any major adventures planned.  Both Isaac and Kerry got runs completed in the morning (they are competing in a virtual time trial up Ebner Coulee Rd).  Mom, Lucy and Charlie got a fun bike ride around campus in while Dad ran.  The rest of the day we enjoyed around our own yard including some play time with the hose and then sitting out in the sun.  The kids had a blast eating a snack in a chair fort while drying off and warming back up (that hose water was chilly!).

Monday May 4th:
This morning we returned to the marsh for a nature hunt after an inspiring video by Mrs. Olsen.  We found the majority of the things listed on the hunt including: a robin, nature items in fun shapes (like a heart shaped leaf), a hole where an animal lives, ants, squirrel etc.  They loved using their binoculars again and Lucy was excited to send a video of her bridge crossing to her teacher as today's book involved crossing a bridge too!
The smells of all the grills cooking did us in yesterday; so today we planned on our first cookout of the season...finally!! The kids spent almost an hour spraying down the grill with a tiny sprayer and then wiping it clean; what great helpers!  We are also in the midst of adding additional plants.  Lucy and Charlie have been able to help by using their tractor and doing some various digging/weeding.

Going on a nature hunt!

Hauling some plants to the other side of the house.

Busy cleaning the grill for the season.

Tuesday May 5th:

Charlie is creating a picture...and as always, his face becomes part of the art.

Playing "friend" with cousin Addis.  Lucy used her Belle legos and Addis used his Batman figurines.

Deep in production of the magic mirrors.

Lucy's magic mirrors for her friends: Hattie, Laney, Jessa and Kate.

Wednesday May 6th:
Today involved a visit to the dentist and we needed to generate a lot of positive excitement for Charlie as his first visit did not go well 6 months ago.  He was very ready and open to the idea and then Lucy decided to tell him he would be getting a shot as a "joke".  We were barely able to recover from that one, but with more positivity and bribery we got Charlie in through the door.  We all wore our masks, but the kids only lasted a minute in theirs.  Charlie did so well during his visit.  He asked questions about the tools and let the hygienist do a full cleaning.  He did not want Dr. Clara to check him, but he was ok with "just Clara" checking him.  Apparently he associates the doctor word with shots.  Lucy did great as always with her check up.  She's quite the grinder at night and managed to grind off one of her sealants and now has another small cavity.
After the dentist we had a family dance party and had a blast busting out the moves for Willie's birthday movie we are creating.

Thursday May 7th:
Today we got the kids to Paula's bright and early (that was a tough one for everyone) as Charlie has been waking up several times per night lately.
Isaac and I drove to Stevens Point to see Grandma and Grandpa Hyland and get some bulbs planted.  It was luxurious driving in the car and being able to talk uninterrupted!  Lucy and Charlie were having a great time watching a Bobcat rip out bushes in the yard next to Paula and didn't want to leave.

The only picture of the day that I got.  A distant visit from Abbey and Maddie while at the Grandparents.

Friday May 8th:
Isaac got out for a chilly early morning run, and luckily the kids "slept in"!!!  While the kids were at Paula's, some major kitchen cleaning/re-organization was able to happen.  Then we put together a video for our friend Willie's 40th birthday.  It was a logistical feat, getting about 30 clips from 6 families arranged to form the performance of a creating and smoking a cocktail.  Isaac and I were cracking up every time we got more clips from friends.
After Paula's, the kids had fun creating music/songs outside while banging on blocks of wood.  We fed them dinner and then their favorite babysitter Sara came over while Isaac and I did our first socially distant hangout.  It was a very cold night and we were going numb by the end of it, but it was nice to have some adult interaction and to hang out by a campfire.  Unfortunately our kids were running around wild when we got home at 10:15 pm!!!  They had a blast though!

Prepping for the cocktail video; first we need hand sanitizer.

Charlie was still awake at 10:27 pm...