Catching up on February and March

 Well, we hit the one year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic here in the United States.  It's strange to look back on timehop on Facebook and to see posts about having "two weeks off" in addition to spring break, posts about the search for toilet paper and creating fun activities to do at home with the boys.  While we still aren't quite out of this pandemic a year later, our schedule is starting to feel a bit more like normal.

The boys are back in school full time now and it's made a huge difference in everyone's dispositions.  They both had their reading and math NWEA tests and did so well!  It prompted a trip to Barnes and Noble this weekend for them to get some new books as a treat.  I was the mystery reader over Zoom in Evan's class and I read "Those Darn Squirrels" - one of his favorites!  Evan published a non-fiction book about RC Cars and dedicated it to Scott!

The boys both still have religious education on Mondays nights, in person, until the end of April.  Evan takes in person guitar lessons on Wednesday nights and is doing really well!  He's playing lots of AC/DC and Twisted Sister songs.  Sean has tutoring Thursday nights over Zoom and it's helped immensely with math.  He's kept active with Scouts this winter and has had an in-person den meeting where they carved sticks with their pocket knives and a Zoom astronomy presentation.  Soccer and baseball seasons are about to kick off and I'm crossing all my fingers and toes they have a season this year!  Practices are scheduled and are right around the corner!

The boys have also taken an interest in playing disc golf on Hines Drive and driving their RC Cars on the track off Hines.  Now that the weather is getting warmer, we've been making an effort to get out and explore more.

Luna is doing well!  She healed well from her spay surgery back at the end of February.  She's gotten much better about taking walks, being with just one of us on a walk, meeting new people, and not barking.  She's such a good girl!  

Scott and I doing well.  I've been back at work since early February and Scott goes back this week.  We are both fully vaccinated and while I had a rough 36 hours after the second dose, I'd rather that than getting sick with COVID.  We are doing the best to teach over Zoom/WebEx and keep things engaging.  

We celebrated Scott's 39th birthday on the same day I was recovering from my vaccine and Luna was recovering from her spay surgery.  I guess that's what birthdays are like as an adult.  We made an awesome ice cream cake the night before (Evan and I) and we gave Scott a disc golf bag, some new ski gloves, two belts, and an IOU for some whiskey when we are in Tennessee.  

Other than that we have just been trying to get out a bit more.  Out to restaurants.  Out to museums and parks.  Trying to take some baby steps out of our COVID bubble now that we are vaccinated.  

And it's almost Spring Break!!  Five more days and we will be on the road to Kentucky and Tennessee!  

Shanty Creek and Shorts

 Josh and Jackie invited us up to their lake house on Torch Lake earlier in the winter, but we were unable to go since Luna was so young, not crate trained well during the day yet and was getting over being sick.  They invited us up again for this past weekend and the boys and I decided to go.  Scott stayed home with Luna (healing from being spayed) and he worked on the basement project.  The kids and I left around 2pm Friday to make the long drive up.  We stopped in Grayling for dinner at Dead Bear Brewing Co.  It was the first time we've eaten inside a restaurant in just about a year!

We got to their house around 6:30pm just as the sun was setting.  It was a beauty!  We unpacked the car, got our bedding set up, and the kids watched a bit of Zootopia on Disney+ while they waited for their cousins to arrive.  When they did around 8pm, we hung out over on their side of the house and played Mario Kart, had some drinks and snacks, and caught up.

Saturday morning we made some breakfast (I had prepped and brought french toast, waffles, and bacon).  The sunrise was gorgeous!  We got ready and left around 9:30am to head out to Shanty Creek to ski for the day.  The weather was perfect.  A bluebird day on the slopes!

We found some runs that the boys liked, challenged Sean to do a few others, and decided to take a quick snack break at the car around noon.  We went back out to the slopes after the break and skied the rest of the afternoon, taking another small break for hot chocolate (which Evan wore half of...).  

We left around 3:30pm to head to our late lunch/early dinner reservation at Shorts Brewing.  The kids all sat together at a table and split a pizza.  The adults got to sit at the bar and we each had an entrée.  Soft Parade on tap was fantastic!  And back we went to ski some more.  We skied until sunset and the kids (mine at least) were exhausted.  

We went back to the house and roasted s'mores over a campfire.  The kids did more Mario Kart.  It was an early bedtime for me.  I was beat!

Sunday morning we did breakfast at the house again.  The kids had cereal and I had the last waffle.  We left at 9:30am again to head out to do a hike at the Grass River Nature Center and to do some "extreme" sledding back at Shanty Creek.  The hike was nice, but definitely icy.  The kids enjoyed doing puzzles and looking at the animals inside the nature center.  The sledding hill was intense!  Icy as well, but they all enjoyed it.  I enjoyed watching...I'm too afraid to hurt my back.

We grabbed lunch at Shorts again, but didn't have a reservation.  Instead, we sat outside at this public space separated by kegs.  You could buy firewood from Shorts.  It was very cool!  I had a breakfast burrito and the kids shared a pizza again.  They also had fruity donuts (donuts topped with vanilla icing and fruity pebbles).  Then it was time to head back to the house, pack up, and head home.  We had a great time!