As Utah moves through the rainbow from Red to Orange to Yellow (and lots of begging for Green) "risk levels" for the coronavirus, I completely relate to the meme my friend Erin sent me above. Everyone (and I know it's not everyone, but plenty of vocal and visible people) seems to think it's over or it's a scam or it's not that bad. I get their sentiments sometimes. I just want it to be done. I want to not have to think about it anymore. I want "the good old days" when we could go to the park with friends and not think twice about it. (I want to post a monthly round up without calling it Quarantining anymore! Gosh darn it, I'm doing it!) But the truth is that it's not over. Every day we see numbers climbing higher and higher. (Big scary jumps lately, midway through June.) And I'm still thinking about it and worrying about my response to it and how to handle the increasing invitations to go out into the world with people outside of my household. Oh, and on top of that, there are riots and discussions about race and police brutality and white privilege. It's tricky. It's exhausting. I haven't felt the panicky feelings I felt in April, but I've definitely felt the discouraging, stressed, sad feelings plenty of times as I did in May. But just like in March and April and May, I've felt plenty of peace and gratitude and joy. It's a wild time, man, but I do have it good. And I know it. And I'm still working on the rest.
 |
| 6.1.20 (it's allergy season for us kids! Sam said it looked like he had a "haunted eye" after spending a few minutes out in the breezy, pollen-filled afternoon) |
 |
| 6.3.20 (ready for a morning of disc golf! - isn't he so handsome?) |
 |
| 6.3.20 (and proof that the claratin and eye drops worked to bring down the puffy redness) |
 |
| 6.4.20 (library day - returning these cute ones) |
 |
| 6.4.20 (library day where we actually went INSIDE! this pic kind of breaks my heart - they were so good about wearing the masks and staying close and not touching too much that they said, "maybe next time we can stay longer!" these are the times I long for our pandemic to disappear, but I'm so grateful for good kids who are adaptable and cheerful despite the challenges) |
 |
| 6.4.20 (how long do you think it will take her to get through this stack?!) |
 |
| 6.4.20 (I really enjoyed this, even though i read it not that long after our earthquake. I think it helped to realize ours was nothing compared to this! But it also helped me realize we all react similarly to a disaster like that. But it wasn’t just about the earthquake. It was about a fascinating woman and others in her community and I really loved the structure around the play Our Town that tied it all together. Very well done; I learned something and was entertained. Great combo!) |
 |
| 6.4.20 (a post-dinner bike ride to check out the poppies - they're perfect!) |
 |
| 6.4.20 (well this one is a little odd) |
 |
| 6.4.20 (after we checked them out we ended up riding down to the North Arm Trailhead and turned our evening into a Bike/Hike) |
 |
| 6.4.20 (A beautiful novel in verse based on the author’s experiences as a girl who moved to Alabama at the end of the Vietnam War. Beautiful and powerful and also quick to read.) |
 |
| 6.4.20 (a sample of the story - I really liked this page) |
 |
| 6.5.20 (One morning Sam said, "I can totally draw a sauropod." And then he hopped off the couch and did it.) |
 |
| 6.5.20 (Another quick but thoughtful read. I liked this and then promptly gave it to Cal. A gentle way to talk about racial differences and kindness.) |
 |
| 6.6.20 (the wind whipped up just after dinner and the rains came down and so did a tree across the street from us. Gregg went out to move some sticks and saw off a log that would let a car get by one side. But it was a big log and needed a lot more manpower (and sawpower) than we had to move the whole thing) |
 |
| 6.6.20 (I called the county roads department (I didn't know who to call about something like this, especially on a Saturday evening) and left a message, but after a couple hours of not hearing anything, I decided to try the non-emergency dispatch line for the sheriff. About two minutes after I got off the phone with him, I looked out the window and saw the fire department hard at work. We got the kids out of bed to take a peek at the action - this is entertainment at our house!) |
 |
| 6.7.20 (Sunday best - a new birthday dress for Cal and a new shirt (bought last year but way too big then) for Sam) |
 |
| 6.7.20 (we ventured over to check out the damage on the tree across the road - it's hard to see, but it pretty much exploded at the base) |
 |
| 6.7.20 (puddles! we got more rain out of this storm than we did all of the month of May!) |
 |
| 6.8.20 (Sam told me to take his picture, so I did. I think he was showing off the crown he made) |
 |
| 6.10.20 (checkin' on the poppies again. they make me so happy) |
 |
| 6.10.20 |
 |
| 6.10.20 |
 |
| 6.10.20 |
 |
| 6.10.20 (lots of giggles from this opening sentence in a chapter in Adventures with Waffles, which we've been reading in the hammock lately) |
 |
| 6.10.20 (and plenty more giggles when I found this little number on the wall in the kitchen - this is what happens when your four year old gets his hands on some giant googly eyes and scotch tape. (Cal was not amused.)) |
 |
| 6.11.20 (when they're only 99 cents a package, how can you resist? Looks like we're making jam today before we go camping!) |
 |
| 6.11.20 (I had the best assembly line helpers - Sam washed the berries and I took off the stems and mushy parts.) |
 |
| 6.11.20 (Cal diced them up into little bits.) |
 |
| 6.11.20 (then we added the sugar, lemon juice and ultra gel, bottled it up, slapped on some labels and popped them in the freezer. done!) |
 |
| 6.13.20 (I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep, so I snuck out before everyone else woke up for a cool morning walk around the neighborhood with my podcast about fitbit.) |
 |
| 6.13.20 |
 |
| 6.13.20 (hard to see them, but there were two young bucks in the field behind our house as I walked by) |
 |
| 6.13.20 (packing up this week's faves to return to the library. lots of good ones here!) |
 |
| 6.13.20 (finished! Full of funny moments, adventure, and plenty of tender and sweet stories, too. Two thumbs up!) |
 |
| 6.13.20 (after our party with the Elwoods, I found the kids' checklists for the day during my cleanup. Sam's on the purple paper says: clothes, decor- (and then he finished the word on the back, seen below, too cute!), and clothes . . .) |
 |
| 6.13.20 (the other side of Sam's list: tions (to finish the word decorations), and "on" (to finish the job: clothes on)) |
 |
| 6.14.20 (for church we talked about being a good friend and then drew pictures of things we like to do with our friends. Sam melted my heart when he drew this pic of our car and trailer and "going camping with Callie" as something he likes to do with his friend) |
 |
| 6.14.20 (Callie drew a picture of playing soccer with Sam (but I didn't get a picture of that) for her thing she likes to do with a friend (how sweet is it that they picked each other to draw about, totally unprompted?! made our mom and dad hearts burst!) but then she also drew a picture of the teardrop that was pretty dang good.) |
 |
| 6.14.20 (serene summer sunset) |
 |
| 6.15.20 (Grandma and Grandpa Elwood brought big cans for the kids to turn into stilts - it was especially fun to listen to Ramona and Her Father on our Sunday drive and hear that she and Howie made some tin can stilts in that story, too!) |
 |
| 6.15.20 (they're pretty good at maneuvering these things) |
 |
| 6.15.20 (Gregg got a game of corn hole for his birthday from my parents and we broke it out for some FHE fun) |
bonus video!
6.16.20
 |
| 6.16.20 (evening walk with a moody sky) |
 |
| 6.16.20 |
 |
| 6.16.20 |
 |
| 6.16.20 |
 |
| 6.17.20 (Sam drew this TGV train based on a picture he saw in his latest train book from the library) |
 |
| 6.17.20 (a pretty good likeness, I'd say. Especially for a four-year-old artist) |
 |
| 6.17.20 (today's baking project!) |
 |
| 6.17.20 (Ta-da! I've had bagels on my baking bucket list for a long, long time but I don't know why I was so intimidated by them. They were not hard at all and turned out so amazingly! YUM! as a sidenote: I was on a huge carb baking kick this week; I made bread yesterday, finished english muffins today, and made bagels to wrap it up!) |
 |
| 6.18.20 (Cal has been wanting to make a solar oven she saw in a science book we got from the library, so today we finally did it! First we gathered our supplies) |
 |
| 6.18.20 (and after it was assembled we had to put something in it to cook! (We chose s'mores)) |
 |
| 6.18.20 (side trip to the garden to install the scarecrow from Grace - we've had something eat our carrots right off, so it is definitely needed) |
 |
| 6.18.20 (back to check on our solar oven - 105 degrees! and we actually saw it get up to 112 at one point) |
 |
| 6.18.20 (not quite soft and squishy marshmallow, but the chocolate definitely melted! and a fun little science project snack for a summer morning) |
 |
| 6.18.20 |
 |
| 6.18.20 (browsing through my latest Ogden Valley News and I just have to smile and chuckle at all the dyer's woad coverage we see in the paper) |
 |
| 6.18.20 (exhibit B) |
 |
| 6.18.20 (and C) |
 |
| 6.18.20 (I really enjoyed this. Not only did I learn a lot, but it was written in an entertaining (not boring, like I thought at first) way. Nineteen chapters for the 19th amendment, with each chapter headed by an object that played a part in the movement for woman suffrage. so cool!) |
 |
| 6.18.20 (Uncle Ryan and Aunt Lea asked for a drawing of an ICE train from Germany. Sam was happy to oblige.) |
 |
| 6.19.20 (A Friday Funday adventure: we rode our bikes to the library! We got our summer reading prizes, returned and picked up a few books, printed off some tax papers, and played at the park stage (and monkey bars) with friends we bumped into while there. We ordered lunch from the new BBQ place across the street and ate it on the bleachers in the shade. It was delish!) |
 |
| 6.19.20 (we tried a variety of meats and sides and everything was super yum!) |
 |
| 6.19.20 (ready to hit the road back home!) |
 |
| 6.19.20 |
 |
| 6.19.20 (pit stop at the lake for a little rock splashing) |
 |
| 6.19.20 (water break!) |
 |
| 6.19.20 (back on the bike path! it was so nice! And the kids rocked the ride - it was long (about 10 miles roundtrip) and we were all tired when we got home, but man, it felt good to do something big like that as a family and have it go so smoothly! bucket list check!) |
 |
| 6.19.20 (Sam crashed hard when we got home.) |
 |
| 6.20.20 (Cal got her revenge by moving the googly eyes to Sam's baby picture on the wall.) |
 |
| 6.20.20 (lovely sky on my evening walk) |
 |
| 6.22.20 (our first harvest!) |
 |
| 6.23.20 (corona haircuts, take two. the mask worked amazingly well to keep the little hairs out of his nose and mouth) |
 |
| 6.23.20 |
 |
| 6.23.20 (Cal made us mini apple pies from her kids cook book - they were delish after dinner (and after a dip in the pool)) |
 |
| 6.23.20 (and for the record, Upqua brand Butter Toffee Crunch ice cream is super delish with mini apple pies!) |
 |
| 6.24.20 (I done voted!) |
 |
| 6.24.20 (giving the paunis and henlines a run for their money with my hawaiian lunch plate dinner. mel was the source of the chicken recipe and obb gave me the one for the salad) |
 |
| 6.28.20 (while we were on vacation her birthday present magazine came in the mail and she devoured it Sunday morning) |
 |
| 6.29.20 (makes me chuckle) |
 |
| 6.29.20 (Cal was determined to sew Minnie a new dress. And she did it! (with a little help)) |
 |
| 6.29.20 (he wanted to bring Ted along on our bike ride but since he doesn't have a basket like Cal, he had to get creative) |
 |
| 6.29.20 (I spy snow up at Powder! A great ending to the wettest June in over a decade!) |
 |
| 6.29.20 (the kids had some money burning holes in their pockets so we got online on walmart.com one afternoon and did some shopping. Sam chose this truck and Cal chose these sandals and they were so excited when they came today!) |
 |
| 6.30.20 (we walked to the post office (mostly to get out of the house and get some grumpy kids moving) and on the way Cal picked (and named) all these flowers and weeds along the side of the bike path. She's pressing them to make a flower book.) |
 |
| 6.30.20 (wildlife sighting on my evening stroll) |
 |
| 6.30.20 (more wildlife - some "teenage" duckies with their parents out for a swim on the canal) |
 |
| 6.30.20 (and still more "wildlife" though not very wild - we've never seen calves in this field down the street and around the corner from our house before!) |
Quarantine Low Downs:
March, April, May
No comments:
Post a Comment