A good family day... in quarantine.

We have been at home since around March 12 and we have I believe done a very good job following the recommendations.  I have only stepped foot inside a grocery store once since the end of February and we've kept the kids at home too.  Needless to say we've fallen into a new routine here and when life returns to what it will look like in the future, I am confident to say we will all miss this time.

I keep reminding myself that Gabe will graduate in 4 years and Michael in 5 and I am soaking up the time now.  Most nights after the girls go to bed, the boys and I will watch a show.  I have been introducing them to some good 80's and 90's movies like Splash, and Sister Act and the other night we watched Daddy's Home with Dad.  They keep asking to see more adult movies and I keep saying no, and then Jarrett reminds me that they are almost 15 and 13 and that when we were their ages we were probably watching the same movies they are asking to see.  I can't stop seeing them at my little kids even though both of them are way bigger than me.

Wow, sorry long tangent.  Anyway, today I took one of my exams for my class and after church I asked Dad if he was up for a drive.  The kids haven't let the house in weeks, and I thought maybe we could just take a drive to see what the outside world is like.  At first the kid were leary... "what? Like why are we leaving the house?"

We ended up packing up a picnic lunch and headed east toward Tortilla Flats.  We ended up eating our lunch on the way and as we drove we all noticed new things we had failed to see prior to this pandemic.  Perhaps its that in the last few weeks we've retrained out brains to see the simple things... things we missed before because our brains were on warp speed and couldn't stop.

As we drove the kids saw shapes in the rocks, Michael said the one he saw looked like a monkey to which the other kids all agreed.  We saw wild flowers, moss growing on the rocks, Gabe found a huge lizard sunning itself on the rock and when we got to the lake it was really fun to watch.  All of the kids eyes were pealed out the windows.  It was like we were seeing it all again for the first time.

 Turns out we weren't the only ones out for a drive and while most people didn't seem to understand the social distancing at all, we stayed in the car, I surprised the kids with Otter Pops I had brought along and we enjoyed our cool treat while we looked around.

Gabe wasn't very impressed as you can see in the background that we wouldn't let him get out and go down to the water where crowds of other kids his age were.  We just said the risk wasn't worth it.  

He eventually came around... 4 girl scout cookies, a sandwich and some fruit later. 

Meanwhile Jennings thought it was a huge treat to be able to get out of his car seat while we sat along the road.

Our view out the front window... 

After we enjoyed our treat, talked for a bit, we turned around and headed back home.  

It was a relatively quick trip but so nice to get away for a bit, even though we didn't talk to or come into contact with anyone, I will say it felt strange. 

We have been staying in the comforts of our home, doing our thing, bonding as a family and I must say, while we have our fights and arguments... for the most part... it has been wonderful.  The less amount of stress of having to race here or there, and how there is plenty of time for tasks balanced nicely with equal amount of time for rest and play.

Speaking of rest and play.  When we got home we had told the kids we could have a water balloon fight. They were all thrilled and jumped out of the van as soon as we pulled in the garage. The kids thought it was fun to get dad and ask you can see from the pictures below... I think they got him pretty good.  In the video you'll hear me say be careful of Dad's knee.... we don't need to go backwards after his surgery last December.  Even Madelyn thought it was funny to get daddy wet.

Yep, he's been working on his pitching....  

After the water balloon fight we all went swimming as the weather has turned to summer overnight.  We miss our cooler days already... only 6 more months of crazy heat!

Today was a good day.... It will be one of those days I'll look back on and miss for sure.  I am keenly aware that these next few years are going to fly by and never will our family of 7 living and growing together be the same.  So as we look at this time of COVID-19 and it can be so easy to focus on the bad and the negative, I am going to give great thanks for all the blessings instilled upon our family.

We are healthy.

We are safe.

We are without needs.

We have quality time to spend together.

We laugh.

We love.

We cherish this time.

Until next time,

Angie

PS:  And in another first tonight... this little guy decided he'd start climbing the stairs... all the way to the top... a few minutes later another baby gate appeared in our house again.