March 2020 - The Year of the Pandemic Begins

Claire celebrating her dear friend, Layla, at The Mermaid Factory

And so school closed.  March 12th.  And just like that the kids are learning from home. 

Uncle Stephen got married!

What beautiful but strange days

Get Well cards for Aunt Laur-o-mar. 

We are outside as much as we can possibly be.  Grateful to live in such a beautiful place at a time when we can't be doing our normal things. 

The most impressive project Graham has completed during his academic career - he put in so many hours on this book report and learned so much!

Not a care in the world

Before schools closed, Tanner did a special project for school and presented The Human Body to his classmates.

Launching our "Learn From Home" environment with root beers and getting our chrome books all ready to go. Coming in to this time with energy and good spirits.  

The first of MANY outdoor fire pits and roasted marshamallows.

A glimpse of "school"

Even church is at home. 

Washing away the germs from lunchboxes, backpacks, etc.  EVERYTHING gets sanitized these days. 

The cafeteria is open

Microscopes - coming up with creative extracurriculars

Baking bread.  It's hard to find flour and yeast in the grocery stores these days.  EVERYONE is baking bread.  We have sooooooo much time - exploring and learning new things.

Recess each day may be my favorite subject.  Kayaking after lunch.

And wine most afternoons......

Exploring the marsh

Upgraded the cafeteria with trays and a buffet each day for lunch.

Perfect lunchtime activity - the Sunnybrook chicks are hatching on the web cam

We organized a scavenger hunt through the neighborhood for our dear friends with treats at the end for everyone who solved all the riddles

Perhaps the last time Claire wore her hearing aid and Baha.  Her mask gets in the way of all the straps. 

Headed to the beach house for a change of location

And Kyle dyed everyone's hair blue!

Graham and I played chess almost every day

Baking special treats - again!

More sleepovers than we can count.....

We are now tracking things - how many games of chess, how many miles ridden on bikes, how many boxes of legos created, how many delicious special treats we have tried, fire pits and marshmallows.  We are going to plant a vegetable garden.  And we are attempting to do every outdoor activity offered in our area.  At this point the kids prefer orange soda over grape.  

Oh - and Claire and I are doing puzzles allllll the time - lovely relaxation.