Memorial Weekend...at home.

It's been several years since we were home for Memorial Weekend.  We are typically up north at Scott's parents' lake house or a few years ago we were in Saugatuck with my family.  But, with us still under a stay home order, we did just that and stayed home (well, in Southeast Michigan at least).  

On Saturday we took our first trip to visit my parents in Troy.  Scott stayed home while I took the boys.  We stopped at the Chick Fil A at Somerset for an early lunch carry out.  They're set up in a food truck since the location is inside the mall and I was so disappointed to see a very limited menu and no iced tea!

The boys really enjoyed their visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house and got out all their favorite toys that they hadn't played with in at least 5 months (since they were gone to Tucson most of the winter + the pandemic).  We all had a dip in the hot tub and my mom and I worked together to give the boys a hair cut.  It was sad to say goodbye.

We got back home late afternoon and grilled for dinner.  The boys tested out the homemade bubbles and wands we had made on Friday.  It was so much fun!

Sunday, Mark and Janet came over to go golfing with Sean and Scott.  They visited for a bit before going just after lunch.  Evan and I watched Shelby and were pool bums all afternoon soaking up the hot sun and swimming.  We gave Shelby a walk too!  Nana and Sean came back after a successful 9 holes, while Mark and Scott did an additional 9.  Then, we all enjoyed Leo's carryout together on the patio for dinner.  It was a nice day!

On Memorial Day, we started off with a long bike ride around Newburgh Lake.  I finished my puzzle.  We played outside and the boys loved running through the sprinklers (we set up two at once).  It was another hot day, but we grilled again for dinner and did a bonfire in the evening with Mindy and Matt.  

Even though we weren't in our usual spot, we still made sure to incorporate water, swimming, yummy food and drinks, and a bonfire.  Oh, and the best part was seeing all our family!  Another holiday celebrated from home and it feels like we've been home for so long now...

Coronavirus Quarantine Week 10

I'm sitting here wrapping up a staff meeting zoom call and creating my lessons for tomorrow and am in awe that we are in week 11 of online teaching and homeschooling right now.  Some days I feel like we have a good routine down pat and we've created a new normal and other days I just want to scream at the top of my lungs because I feel like a caged animal. 

Anyway, last weekend we went to the first Farmers Market on Saturday morning, wearing our masks and keeping our distance as much as we could.  It felt good to have that one thing brought back.  We bought some huge carrots, muffins for the boys to eat, and some flowers. 

The boys got to see their cousins for the first time throughout this whole quarantine.  We rode our bikes over to their house to deliver some cookies we had decorated and they played together in the creek behind their house.  Sean said it was the highlight of the stay home order by far!  I know he's missed Adelaide a lot. 

We planted some flowers and then had a bonfire with two of our neighbors.  Again, it felt so nice to socialize with people and to let the kids play in the backyard!

Sunday the rain moved in for the next few days and so we took it as an opportunity to watch Pirates of the Caribbean and lay low!  Evan lost his tooth that evening and the tooth fairy visited our house, keeping herself 6 feet from a sleeping Evan!

Another school week started and there were several days of rain.  The boys completed their assignments by Wednesday so that we could focus on Cub Scout activities on Thursday.  My parents brought Sean his new bike over one day that they had found him at Meijer.  I also did a whole bunch of baking with my sourdough starter.

On Wednesday, when the rain was gone, we had a Jimmy Johns picnic lunch in downtown Plymouth to get out of the house for a bit.

The kids came home and did a sidewalk chalk city in the street with Jameson and insisted on having a picnic dinner with him too.  I started a new workout routine in the garage with some Coronaditioning videos that Sean's soccer coach has been posting.  It was a good day!

Thursday we took a trip to the Botanical Gardens in Ann Arbor again, this time bringing Scott.  Evan had to complete a Scout activity about hiking so it was a great place to do it.  We saw so much wildlife!  We saw 3 deer run right in front of us in addition to a snake, some chipmunks, minnows, and wild turkeys.  The kids had a blast!

Sean's friend, Asher, from school came and dropped off a little goody bag with bubbles, candy, and a few other trinkets.  It was a fun surprise!

It was a decent week!  We were ready for our long holiday weekend, but we were definitely bummed that we wouldn't be going up north this year for it.