Day 16

A new week! Technically today is a teacher institute day so I didn't have the kids dive into school work. However, they are both still working on the finishing touches of their state project, assigned by Auntie Amber. We started the day running a few errands, before heading over the river for a hike. Running errands looks like this: I went to the school to pick up a laptop for Grant. This meant pulling up to the curb and they brought it out to you. I took some checks that needed to be deposited to the bank. I would usually always go inside - not anymore. The lobby is closed. You go to the drive-up teller - I roll my window down, the tray slides out. I lay my paperwork down and say thank you and pull away - touching nothing outside of my car. I needed to drop something off at a friend's house. Normally I would just leave it on the porch- but when I got there they were on the porch. So now, I walk halfway up the driveway, drop the bags and have a brief conversation at a distance and while I back up, she can pick up the bags. The pool store that was opened last week, apparently this week it was now considered non-essential and they were closed.

We hiked for over an hour. It was really a beautiful morning. Crisp air. I am always surprised at the lack of wildlife we see, but then again I have to tell the kids to keep their voices down several times, so perhaps we scare the animals away! We maybe encountered 5 people/pairs on the trail. I instructed the kids to step off to the side when we would see someone approaching and it gave everyone a safe distance to pass. At our snack break I checked my phone and learned that Arizona had cancelled school for the rest of the year. When I told the kids they translated it into, it is probably going to be us next. They probably aren't wrong, but we still await the official word. The lack of summer sports and those being cancelled is weighing pretty heavy on them. Elizabeth lives for summer swim team. Grant's baseball team had been practicing really hard and he has been working on his pitching. He is pretty upset about the potential of his first year of kid pitch being cancelled. We were approaching the end of the hike and encountered an older couple. We had stepped to the side and they turned back when the saw the kids and very sweetly asked "kids, how ya doing?" They both kind of hung their heads. I explained that we had just learned that their cousin's school had been cancelled and that we were starting to feel the impeding doom. They had so many ways they could have responded...this was what they choose to say "Yep, probably going to happen here. Everything will be cancelled. Sports. Summer Vacation. All of it!!" Well thank you.

We had lunch and reading time and it was still only 1:00! I started on a few outdoor projects. The kids chatted with their cousins and we heard Stella's presentation on the state of Louisiana! We had a birthday car parade for a friend's son in the afternoon too.

Brandon was very worried that he only got 853 steps one day last week. So now he can work and walk at the same time! 

It was nice enough to work on their State projects outside!

The nice thing about having Brandon home is that he will occasionally allow for a few interruptions. He came to check on my outdoor project. (I was using a new power tool - he had right to be concerned!) When his day finished up he was able to walk out the back door and play catch with Grant. They played ball until almost 7:00! These are the good things we will remember about this crazy time!