I'm not sure how all of your weeks went this past week, but it seemed like a tough one here. It was apparently the kids "Spring Break", but it didn't feel too much like one this year. It was just a lazier week than the previous ones because we didn't have any school work to occupy our time, and the news wasn't terribly encouraging as we moved closer to the "peak" of the virus. More social distancing rules were put in place for many of us, face masks are now strongly recommended whenever you go out (so I cracked out my sewing machine and "tried" to make some), and we are all missing our friends and shopping!
Some highlights of our week though, were Emily's 11th birthday (she got her OWN post for that special day, so check it out), Abby's follow-up epic egg drop, fun times in the backyard together, more movie nights ("The Help" and "Onward" were on the list this week), Abby & my "fake spring break" afternoon of sunbathing together, getting ready for Easter, Facetiming with family & friends, and more exploring back in the woods.
We hope you're all finding ways to stay safe and have a little fun in your homes too!
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Check out Abby's follow-up egg drop video! She and Brian went to our deserted downtown Raleigh, and dropped it off the highest parking garage they could find... It was 80 feet (and yes, they did get permission from the garage to drop it!)
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The news clips weren't terribly positive this week, but we didn't expect them to be seeing as the next two weeks are supposed to be the most grim...
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The stores are all beginning to limit the number of people allowed in, they are making all of the aisles "one way", and encouraging everyone to wear gloves and masks.
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Shopping feels a bit like this now...
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and this guy seems to have the right idea...
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Trips to the store might be a little more stressful, but you have to get food to do all this cooking these days since there's no restaurants to go to anymore!
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We're not sure if this quarantine is going to be lifted anytime soon...
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But, with the news showing the numbers of cases increasing, it's not surprising at all...
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So I guess it's time to embrace this new "normal" for a bit, and I took out the sewing machine, watched a few Youtube videos, and made us all some masks for when we have to go out... I was pretty excited to find some fun scraps of fabric from a project I never did a few years ago (see... procrastination can pay off!), and I had everything I needed to get started!
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Now, before you leave, you grab some hand sanitizer and your mask on the door on your way out the door...
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We have continued to enjoy some walks in the woods together, and the girls have been practicing their photography!
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They were also busy making a bunch of Tik Tok videos... as always! Quarantine has brought these siblings closer together, and they've been having a great time together!
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It's been another beautiful week here, and Ben even got to see a double rainbow and confirmed what we learned last week... that the rainbow's colors on top are backwards!
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Quarantine has also brought the "little boy" back out in Ben, and he's back to playing with his "guys", animals, dinosaurs and Legos... There's always a war going on somewhere these days!
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Some other interesting headlines from the week: The British prime minister came down with Covid-19, some cities started "curfews" to keep keep people in their homes, and Bernie Sanders dropped out of the presidential race...
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And with all the news blurring from one day into the next, it's no wonder most of us feel like this...
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But whatever day it turns out to be, we are still making the best of it here... Warmer weather has brought on more backyard playing and campfires with smores!
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The middle of the week was a fun "different" day , as we celebrated Emily's 11th birthday! She has her own birthday post you can check out, but we had fun having socially distanced donuts with neighbors for breakfast, baked multiple cakes (even a coveted quarantine toilet paper cake), and even went tubing on the river behind our house! It was a pretty great quarantined birthday if you ask me!
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More news as they start weighing options on when to start opening things up again...
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Despite how "scary" the world seems out there, when we look up, we see beautiful blue skies, and Abby & I decided to spend a day on the back porch soaking in some sun, drinking lemonade, listening to Bob Marley & pretending we were at the beach on spring break...
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Ben didn't get the memo that it was 80 degrees...
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Last news clips of the week... numbers are climbing, so remember to stay in, stay safe & wash your hands!!!!
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As we move into Easter, I read this rendition of Dr. Suess's "The Grinch", and it was a wonderful reminder of what Easter is and isn't, and why we aren't losing anything this season by not dressing up, doing egg hunts with the neighborhood or having dinner with family. Jesus lives, and for that we are SO grateful!
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We still enjoyed some traditional Easter celebrations on our own... Emily filled some eggs for a hunt with leftover Halloween candy I found... (let's just call it "resourcefulness" instead of a lack of planning on my part...)
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Even though eggs were hard to find this year, and they nearly all cracked when I tried boiling them, we still had fun decorating some... This year we even added paint and nail polish to our tools since we were being "resourceful"... Our neighbor's decorated theirs in their driveway too, so we could do it "together"!
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We had a lovely surprise delivery to celebrate the day! Thanks Nannie & Grandpa!
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The Easter Bunny even did some social distancing and drove around to see the kids in the neighborhood since the malls are all closed... people are pretty creative these days!
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Just to leave everyone with one positive thought to end this crazy, hard, emotional, but also joyful week... These are words that I need to tell myself everyday!
Stay safe, and love from our family to yours!
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