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| Callie's latest addition to the indoor art walls. |
On Saturday (the 14th) afternoon we walked/biked to the store to get some groceries to hold us over for a week or so - it was not a typically planned or executed shopping trip, but we did feel that it was probably smart to get something before it all flew off the shelves. It was amazing to see how many things were wiped out of stock from just the day before when we had walked over to the market to buy some rootbeer and apples and doughnuts. That was the last time we have been out in public or around anyone but ourselves (minus one big solo grocery trip I took to Winco on Tuesday (the 24th)). What a weird time!
We're doing our best to "stay home, stay safe" and feel really lucky to have a really good situation at our home:
- lots of space for forts and toys and puzzles to be strewn about inside
- plenty of room for running around and throwing discs outside (and the snow is melting!)
- plenty of food storage (and toilet paper) so no stress about finding the basics
- Gregg's already work-from-home job so no change to that routine
- a nice savings account so no fear of the future reduction in hours and pay that are surely to come because Gregg's company is part of the travel industry that pretty much evaporated overnight
- a very supportive and communicative teacher and principal who are doing everything they can to bring joy and learning to the school kids stuck at home
- a beautiful valley to enjoy walks and bike rides and quiet moments in fresh air away from people
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| 3.15.20 (the snow is melting!!) |
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| 3.15.20 (some backyard baseball for the boys) |
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| 3.16.20 (So I guess I am a hoarder after all - I added all these holds just today, but alas! before I could get to the library to pick them up, it closed! womp womp) |
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| 3.17.20 (a fitting word of the day for St. Paddy's, I say. have you ever heard it before?) |
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| 3.17.20 (the Ogden Valley Moms facebook group had a fun idea to put a shamrock in your window (or on your garage door in our case) and then everyone could drive around the valley spotting shamrocks from a socially distant appropriate spot) |
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| 3.17.20 (ready for the hunt!) |
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| 3.17.20 (it was a beautiful day for a bike ride/walk through the neighborhood - it's looking like spring!) |
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| 3.17.20 |
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| 3.17.20 ("remember when we couldn't climb on these rocks?") |
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| 3.17.20 (drat!) |
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| 3.17.20 (I will for sure be adding all of these to my holds list once the library reopens) |
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| 3.17.20 (first fire of the season! it was still a little on the wet side, so not a roaring success, but the new hot dog sticks from Grandpa E worked like a charm for roasting our mallows) |
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| 3.17.20 (s'more cute faces) |
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| 3.18.20 (I was texting and calling and talking with friends and family about the earthquake - oh, did we mention we felt an earthquake on Wednesday morning? yeah, that happened, too - and Cal felt the need to talk to someone, too, in the only way she knew how: good old fashioned letter!) |
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| 3.18.20 (today was supposed to be the first day of "home school" but because of the earthquake school was canceled so we did some drawing and crafting instead) |
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| 3.18.20 (one of our favorite distractions during this whole quarantine is the lunch doodles with mo willems series on youtube. I mean, just look at these pigeons! Brilliant!) |
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| 3.18.20 (today felt like a really good day for some Pat's take-out for lunch) |
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| 3.18.20 (good thing we got those new galoshes last week!) |
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| 3.18.20 (puddle walks are an excellent diversion) |
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| 3.18.20 |
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| 3.18.20 (dad and Sam time fixing the flats) |
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| 3.18.20 (Callie broke out the puzzles and covered the coffee table with all her work) |
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| 3.19.20 (distance learning day 1) |
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| 3.19.20 (Sam was way into it but we've learned that it's best to keep him occupied in another room and just let Cal do her thing without little brother hanging over her shoulder) |
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| 3.19.20 (recess on the "jungle gym" in the backyard) |
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| 3.19.20 (I spy two monkeys!) |
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| 3.19.20 (first day of spring!! we play a lot of disc golf these days - I sure am glad I got Gregg that basket for Christmas! it has been perfect for all of us!) |
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| 3.20.20 (Grandpa and Grandma Blanchard dropped off two giant cardboard boxes for the kids to aumus themselves with) |
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| 3.20.20 (cardboard is classic!) |
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bonus video!
3.20.20
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| 3.21.20 (second day of spring decor on the mantle) |
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| 3.21.20 (now they've turned the boxes into reading nooks - Callie has even positioned hers so the heat vent blows right into her fort) |
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| 3.21.20 (we needed an outing, so we took a walk to the lake - it's starting to melt!) |
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| 3.21.20 |
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| 3.21.20 (do you see the ice line?) |
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| 3.21.20 |
bonus videos!
3.21.20
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| 3.21.20 |
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| 3.21.20 (Gregg and I just sat on a dry hill in the sun while the kids played in the sand - it was heavenly!) |
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| 3.21.20 (hiking back home) |
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| 3.21.20 (our friend Erin dropped this "write your own adventure story" that Charlie started for Sam to continue. Such a cute, fun idea! Here's how it started) |
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| 3.21.20 |
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| 3.21.20 (and here is Sam's addition to the story (transcribed by Callie who was totally into this game!)) |
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| 3.21.20 (we took it back a few days later, but decided that it is probably better to just send pictures of our additions rather than move a physical book back and forth. and then the whole momentum kind of fizzled. . . but it was fun while it lasted!) |
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| 3.22.20 (sunday distractibaking project: Mel's snickerdoodle brookie bars. YES! They were fantastic!) |
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| 3.23.20 (just harvesting five years of curly dock weeks from the yard. as you do during quarantine) |
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| 3.23.20 (ultimate fort status!) |
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| 3.24.20 (plenty of puddles - and how fitting to be learning about the water cycle this week!) |
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| 3.24.20 |
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| 3.24.20 (ha!) |
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| 3.24.20 (it's deep!) |
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| 3.24.20 (plenty of worms out this time of year!) |
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| 3.24.20 (you can't see it, but she is pointing to a worm) |
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| 3.24.20 (Gregg ordered the kids their very own disc golf discs - Sam picked blue and red) |
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| 3.24.20 (Cal chose bubblegum pink, naturally) |
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| 3.24.20 (Grandma Blanchard offered to have a skype storytime with the kids so they brought their blankets and books and cozied up on the couch for about an hour! They both wanted to read to her, too, so that was fun both ways. |
bonus video!
3.24.20
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| 3.25.20 (Callie's teacher asked her to write down five things that make her happy, and this is what she came up with. What would you add to your list?) |
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| 3.25.20 (Cal made her famous chili for dinner almost all by herself - it was delish!) |
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| 3.26.20 (wait, what?!) |
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| 3.26.20 |
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| 3.26.20 (they were annoyed to wake up to the snow, but quickly decided to make lemons from lemonade and had a lovely time after all) |
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| 3.26.20 |
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| 3.26.20 (I mean, I guess it is rather beautiful with that blue sky!) |
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| 3.26.20 (we took a walk around the block and happened upon the firemen trying to pump out the giant puddle that had formed in their parking lot - they used a firehose stretched across the street to spray the water away from their clogged drain) |
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| 3.26.20 |
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| 3.26.20 (today's baking project? magic cupcakes from Cal's cookbook!) |
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| 3.26.20 (we didn't have peanut butter cups on hand, so we had to improvise with a homemade peanut butter ball version - but they worked perfectly and taught a good lesson on adapting recipes as needed!) |
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| 3.26.20 (finished listening to this delight while working on a big 500 piece yellowstone puzzle together) |
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| 3.26.20 (Gregg had a fun idea to take the kids out in the teardrop in the garage for some story time (and gave me an hour of quiet time in the house!) the kids loved it so much they were determined to sleep out there all night . . . by themselves! they lasted exactly five minutes before coming in, but are ready to try again every night since) |
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| 3.26.20 (finishing touches!) |
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| 3.26.20 (I predicted the snow would melt by dinnertime, and I was so close!) |
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| 3.26.20 (my solo twilight walk "around the block" was lovely) |
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| 3.26.20 (I'm thankful for Eden) |
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| 3.27.20 (Cal's favorite part of the home school day is when we finish up the slides from her teacher and turn on Mo - he really is a delight and teaches her so many fun things!) |
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| 3.28.20 (we needed an outing so we hopped in the car midmorning on Saturday and took a drive to Croydon and beyond, ending up at Lost Creek Reservoir - it was chilly and the water was still frozen and the trail down to the lake was muddy so we just hung out in the car and ate snacks and enjoyed the view) |
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| 3.28.20 |
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| 3.28.20 (then we drove down the road a bit further and ended up at the boat launch area. The sun was out for a minute so we got out to stretch our legs - the kids ran up and down the launch ramp a few times) |
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| 3.28.20 |
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| 3.28.20 (and of course there was some rock lobbing) |
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| 3.28.20 |
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| 3.28.20 (it's mud season! I promise I swept my floor just this morning, but here we are again after dinner with this pile. Let's play a game: is it mud or chocolate crumbs? Answer: both!) |
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| 3.28.20 (I was putting away all my birthday pictures and cards and came across this one that made me smile. I love Cal's attempt at acrostic poetry!) |
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| 3.30.20 (Cal's teacher suggested in her "fun Friday" email that the kids make a list of things they think are fun. We didn't get around to it till Monday, but here is her list) |
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| 3.30.20 (Mrs. Anderson also asked the kids to make a map of the way they get to school) |
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| 3.30.20 (the kids said they wanted to sweep out the garage. Alrighty then - let's do it!) |
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| 3.30.20 (then it turned into a scooter fest while I finished up) |
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| 3.30.20 (we had a muffin tin lunch and watched Cars 3 on Disney+ for lunchtime fun) |
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| 3.30.20 (with popcorn!) |
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| 3.30.20 (I got some fun mail today - a birthday present from my mom (and dad): an official CoCoRaHS rain gauge!) |
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| 3.30.20 (Charlie sent back his additions to the adventure story) |
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| 3.30.20 (I'm ready! You can view my data here. I'm station number UT-WB-22 (name: Eden 0.3 ENE)) |
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| 3.30.20 (I made Callie start a list of the books she's read during this quarantine - you know I love that sort of thing, and I think she will find it super interesting to look back on. So far all of these have been books that we have previously listened to on audio and then she pulled off the shelf and read to herself.) |
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| 3.31.20 (day 17? project: tidy up the kids' bedroom!) |
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| 3.31.20 (Ah, it's nice to be able to breathe in here again) |
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| 3.31.20 (Cal said, "Sam, do you want me to read you some Thomas the Train stories?" She didn't have to ask him twice!) |
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| 3.31.20 (we tidied up the shack thing in our backyard and the kids have claimed it as their own little play house/cabin, complete with a shelf for their special treasures! It's their very own "cabin of curiosities!" On display the first day: a brick with sprouts coming out of it, a nest made of horse hair, a beautiful pine cone, a smooth rock, colorful strips of bark, a shredded pinecone and a ponderosa pine branch.) |
Whew! We made it through the neverending March - bring on April and stay tuned for more adventures from our quarantine!
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