Virus Vacation: Month 1

Everything was going smoothly.

Sunday, February 23rd was our first night in our new home. The girls started at their new school three days later while Eddie settled into life at home with me as a TK Dropout (on account of their new school not offering a TK program). We were still getting used to our new daily routine when I received a shocking phone call after school on Friday, March 6. The message informed parents that Elk Grove School District, in an abundance of caution, had decided to close all campuses the following week after the parent of a student was put in quarantine after testing positive for the Covid-19 coronavirus.

At the time, I told the kids that this was an absolutely unprecedented situation; never in my life had school been cancelled for an entire week. Thousands of people in the community were up in arms over the decision, and insisted that the school district had impulsively and prematurely pressed the "panic button". After all, on Friday, March 6, life was still normal. No one could foresee, at that point, the events that were to unfold over the next several weeks due to the coronavirus.

Elk Grove students were among the first--maybe even the first (too lazy to do the research)-- in the entire nation to be kept home. It would be another week before Governor Newsom issued the first "stay at home" order in the country for all California residents, thereby closing the rest of the schools in the state.

All this is to say... the kids have been out of school, at home 24/7, for a LONG. FREAKING. TIME. Longer than any other kid in the whole country. Today marks the first day of the 5th school week spent at home, and aside from a single afternoon over 3 weeks ago, we have gone no farther than the park across the street.

We are very fortunate. Considered an essential employee, Shaun is still working...with the added benefit of having received a nice raise, presumably for risking his health to be there (though he comes in contact with only a couple other people per day, thank goodness). As a full-time mom who happens to also be an introvert and homebody, I am far less affected by this stay-at-home order than probably 99% of my fellow humans. In fact, this couldn't have happened at a better time, as between unpacking, organizing, and the miscellaneous "to do" items that didn't get completed before move-in, I have more than enough work to keep me busy at home. And the kids. Well, they seem to be just fine. Maybe even too fine, considering the circumstances.

The truth is, we have always lived a quiet lifestyle. Apart from a year and a half stint in gymnastics for Avalon (which proved too costly in both money AND time), the kids have done no "extra-curriculars". No after-school programs. No lessons. No sports. Very few play dates and social gatherings, because, well, their aforementioned introverted mother. They are incredibly creative kids who don't need the incessant activity and entertainment of the outside world to keep them happy and engaged. As it turns out, I have spent years grooming my children to be quarantined.

All this rambling has led up to the reason for my post... pics from this last long, strange month in lock-down. I know that in the future we'll think back to this time and wonder how we spent the days, so I wanted to make sure to immortalize this period on my previously-defunct blog. Not pictured are the many, many hours spent on tablets, tv, and video games (Mother of the Year I am not). Also not pictured is an accurate representation of time spent outside, because...I'm not sure why. I either didn't have my phone on me, or just didn't think to take a photo. I may have been a little too preoccupied polishing off a couple books in the hammock. Anyway, rest assured we've soaked up plenty of springtime sunshine in the last month.

I do hope that this marks a return to regular posting, but considering how long this has already taken me to write after a dozen interruptions (at least) and I haven't even gotten to photos yet... I make no promises. (On that note, I truly have no idea how parents with young children are "working from home" right now. Yikes.)

Avalon, our aspiring school teacher, leading her siblings in conducting a science experiment with apples. She got the idea from an article she read online and even made everyone binders to record their observations in.

Posing in front of a "red car", an item on our neighborhood scavenger hunt.

Another item - taking a picture under a tree (this one in our front yard).

Baking cookies. Eloise and Eddie collaborated on a batch of chocolate chip (with a little help from Mom) while Avalon made snickerdoodles completely on her own.

Recording scientific observations with teacher Avalon (Eloise lost interest in the days-long experiment by this point).

Avalon attempted to make a papier mache leg cast for herself one day. This girl and her ideas!

Ellie reading to Eddie

Avalon and Eddie playing No Stress Chess. What a cool game! Thank you to Oma Kathy for buying this for us, as well as many other game goodies to keep us entertained.

The girls taking a virtual yoga class with Gretta on Facebook Watch

Eddie was good-natured enough to let Eloise dress him up like a girl...

...makeup included. Some of you will be relieved to hear that he did not enjoy this transformation one bit and only agreed to it in exchange for Eloise playing with him afterwards. 

Riding bikes in our new 'hood is practically a daily activity. Up until the last few days, the weather during this quarantine has been absolutely gorgeous. 

The E's playing a Guess Who? tournament.

Dark pic, but this is almost a daily thing... coloring, or some form of arts and crafts at the kitchen table.

Tasty science... making rock candy!

Avalon made eggs for us one morning and was particularly proud of her plating. :)

Desperate times call for homemade cotton candy.

We didn't have colored sugar on hand, so our cotton candy literally looked like giant cotton balls.

One of our old favorite activities... popcorn, smoothie and a movie in the afternoon. This happens a few times a week.

Playing chess with dad in front of a roaring fire. We are loving having a fireplace! #littlethings

Dying Easter eggs!

And finally, a pic of what has been going on while I've been writing this very blog. The girls worked together to bake and decorate this bunny cake completely on their own (I'm told Eddie took a break from watching Frozen to add the sprinkles). Avalon even looked up a recipe to make icing from scratch, since we had none on hand.