Go, Go, Goers!

We're free, we're free! Ava and I are FINALLY done with the 10 days isolation + 14 days in quarantine...and we stayed negative for COVID during that entire time. I am so excited to get out to stores again...that was a really, really long 24 days. I would prefer not to go through that again, so if everyone could just stay healthy and safe, that would be great, m'kay? The kids had a great spring break. Mostly (ok, really only) hanging out here at home, with the exception of the two trips that G and I took to Central Park. The first was to just take a walk on the trails and play at the park for a bit, and the second was to take part in the storywalk around the trail. It featured a sweet story by a Minnesota author: "Isle of You" The weather was sunny and a bit brisk as we walked along the trail and read the pages to each other. It was a special time that G and I spent together, and I treasured every minute of it. I loved this comparison...what a difference a few year...

Ah, spring is officially here! The snow is gone (for now), the days are getting longer, and spring break starts on Monday for the kiddos. Plus, we have a fresh coat of paint on most of our walls (only two bathrooms and the guest room are left with the builders paint.) Having those fresh and clean walls makes the biggest difference to feeling like it's a clean start...before we put things back, we're taking the time to wipe everything down and do a deep cleaning on things. Plus, it might be time to re-think what we have out on our shelves. It's a good time for a fresh start...it's spring! Both kids are excited at not having school for the next week...I've heard Ava say that she really just wants to do a couple of builds (she likes to build really neat houses in Roblox) and G will find a million different things to do around here. I'm excited that we only have one week left of our quarantine...next Friday we're going to do a fun community activity at Central P...

It's been one year of everything changing in our (literal) world. One year ago that we were told that we'd be working from home; one year ago that we were told the kids would be moving to a distance learning model; one year ago that toilet paper became one of the hottest commodities around. ONE YEAR! Can you believe it?!? And I find it ironic that we managed to figure out the WFH thing, and we managed to successfully tackle distance learning (both the crisis and the organized models), and we even managed to keep our supply of TP from falling to a scary level, but...now after a year, our family had COVID sneak its way into our home. G is doing great...he never showed any symptoms, but Scott is still coughing a bit and his voice is still shot. I think he's on the mend, but I'm keeping my eye on him. They're both out of their official isolation, and G was SO happy to snuggle with me as soon as he could. We were definitely missing those cuddle times. There was also a de...

It started out as a normal week...lots of stuff to do, both around the house and work. There was even a fun birthday party that G was looking forward to on Saturday. And then at 9:15pm on Monday, the school nurse called. She let me know that there was a positive case of COVID-19 on the bus that G rides home each day. The exposure dates were 2/24, 2/25, and 2/26, so G needed to quarantine for 14 days (along with everyone else on the bus.) And, just to be safe, we should get him tested on Tuesday or Wednesday. I thought it best to get him in right away, so on Tuesday, he and I went to do the saliva test (I thought that would be easier for him than a nasal swab.) And it would have been, except...he didn't know how to spit! But, after 40 min of really working at it, he was able to produce enough saliva to fill up the tube. And off we went back home, feeling pretty good about things (no one had any symptoms.) Imagine my surprise the next morning when G's result came back positive, a...