week 6....

April can be a long month in its own right.  A shoulder season with schizophrenic weather patterns that change between seasons in a single day.  The quarantine is not helping with this.  Many of the state and national outdoor areas are closed.  Everyone is advised to stay home.  Schools have been shut down for the remainder of the year.  We are doing our best to 'shelter in place'  We did spend some time on the snowless cross country ski trails to out north and made a good 6ish mile loop.  The dogs did about 24 miles.  Even then we came across some people doing the same thing.  In normal times these trails are isolated.  But people are trying to do something while avoiding contact with others and using proper "social distancing."  We are eating well and have plenty of time to DF with things like camping doughnuts for breakfast, just because we need something to do.  Kids are antsy too and the online schooling is working but is not a great substitute for everything else that comes with the school package.

Birthdays cometh....

Easter and Birthdays mark this April.  The birthdays were a little quieter and contained far fewer people than normal but still the smiles and the mark of another year.  Grace entered her last tweener year and Merrick hit the Teenage mark.  Grace made all the birthday cakes, as ordering them wasn't really an option with the stay at home orders in place.  Shipping times were slowed way down on the presents but we did plan ahead for that so there were still gifts to open for the kids.  The online schooling is becoming more routine.  The kids are pretty good at getting themselves up and logged on to see what projects their teachers have left for them to complete.  The extra time has meant that everyone is willing to do family time together.  We have been hunting a killer, a mail order version of clue, and have had a some popcorn and family movie nights.  Short of that we are doing our best to flatten the curve on CoVid. 

Going Viral

 

The new going viral is CoVid and we are shutting this place (the country) down.  The schools have been shutdown and teachers and students are moving to online classes.  The restaurants are shut down, grocery stores have imposed limits and modified hours.  Elections have been postponed.  Several states have moved to a Shelter in place policy with enforcement.  These are strange times indeed.  Gatherings of 10 or more are prohibited and people are being asked to stay at least 6 feet away from each other.  It all feels like the beginning of an Orwellian dystopia.  Our acceptance of the changes comes with a cautiousness and trepidation.  Handshakes, using cash, sharing pens, gas station coffee refills are all a thing of the past.  Watching movies is not only a past time but also a bit cringe worthy as you watch the characters portray so many behaviors that have now become social faux pas in the last month.  We are adapting. Homework has become and online experience but the technology still allows the kids to interact with their friends and work in a small group.  Spending time playing board games and puzzles.  Moving our training online.  The basement furniture has been rearranged to make room for physical activities.  Ella practices her Lacrosse stick work and ball handling and Merrick has video training for Karate, Ella abrupt end to Lacrosse came with solo drills to practice, Sophia and Grace have soccer and B-ball to work on in the yard; once it dries out.  The spring snow melt and rains are keeping the ground soggy but we are still finding some time to get outdoors figuring the woods are, by their nature, perfectly socially distanced.  Merrick and I ran the dogs in the Oconto County Forest and we did a family walk at the Copper Culture State park.  CCSP was a new park for us to explore, it is small and cute and might be a good place to try fishing when the water levels recede.  We also took a short walk to check out Wequiock Falls.  We had been there in the past dry season, but if the water is high we figured it was the best time to watch the falls.

In like a Lamb

We scored an extra day for February this year and luckily for us it fell on a Weekend so we didn't have a longer workweek!  The month is short but we packed plenty in as usual.  It is dance season at school as a prelim to prom and the older two had plenty of fun.  The weather and our schedule cooperated enough for Amy and I to get out for some skiing, and few hikes in the snow as well.  The dogs got shaved and Hazel had to wear a vest to stay warm.  Grace is playing plenty of Bball although she missed two tournaments do to illness and most recently strep.  Ella wrapped up a production of Sweeney Todd in an amazing melodrama, cannibalism aside.  Her story was that she was going to auditions to watch a friend....she left out the part about her also trying out for the play.  When the show is about murder and you are the cop, that is a pretty solid role.  She was a natural and in her element.  March came in like a lamb with a beautiful 50 degree and sunny day.  It put a pounding on the ice and the snow, but the smell of spring and warmth of the sun was evident.

The Reflective Month Comes to Pass..

January has all but faded and left some snow to cover the brown stubble once again.  We have had big snows, big melts and rain too.  Mostly indoor activities either due sloppy rain or basketball tournaments.  Grace is playing some great bball and her team took first place last weekend after two back to back nail bitter 2 point wins.  There was also her first Jazz night, a big fund raiser for the band, where Ella disappeared quickly to find a boy...I think we unknowingly drove her to a date.  A trend that would continue during the month as she unbeknownst to us tried out for the school play and scored a pretty solid part as a policeman in Sweeney Todd.  Sophia is still working out with the soccer team, but not convinced she will tryout next month.  Merrick is working his way through Karate and logged his first injury, a twisted up toe that swelled about three sizes and turned completely purple looking like a small eggplant.  Grace and I did get the dogs out for a run which then required a bath for them, but they loved it and we saw a golden eagle and found a fish vertebral column and deer femur...did I mention the dogs need a bath?

The Holidays Cometh...

The New Year has arrived as it always does with a flourish of hustle and bustle and then back to the grind.  The snow has mostly held off and while we had a white Christmas, we also had plenty of rain that gobbled up the ski trails and all of those plans like so much run off.  We spent the first weekend back in EC with laughter and a large campfire in the balmy temps.  Christmas eve was spent playing pool and the kids cashing in pull tabs in our second annual trip.  We ended at the Chatterhouse after finding out the Abbey had removed its table in favor of more seating and profits.  The evening found our bellies filled with pasta and the kids were able to open comfy anoraks that they basically lived in for a week. Christmas Day was a drive to TR for plenty of ham and laughter.  The kids collectively flowed through the house there was always a sleep over or a kid sleeping over somewhere else all break long but by New Years eve it was time to bowl.  We hit the lanes for two 'solid' games before ringing in the new year.

The week before Christmas....

 

A season to be grateful.  We are caught up in the full hustle and bustle of the winter season with the solstice upon us.  Merrick and Ella bookend the week with concerts and Grace and I jingled some bells at for a cause.  The cookies were made and iced with care, the best they have ever done to be fair.  We spent some time in Oshkosh for a B-ball tourney and Grace came out smiling and Sophia says she doesn't have a new boyfriend, but we assume she is lying.  Merrick will graduate to a new belt this week in karate and we are all getting excited for the pending vacay!