Chaos and Peace: Coronavirus Week 19

Our week was a mixture of chaos and peace.

There have been some pretty fantastic sunsets lately, and last Monday's did not disappoint

 The kids played outside more last week, with temperatures comfortable enough for windows to open for much of the week. 

Play got creative and crafty this week as well!

 We were able to watch a Bald Eagle circle over our house for a while one afternoon, and found it pretty cool to watch as it climbed higher and higher

 Especially when it was joined by a mate!

It was an exciting mail week as well, as the kids each got a new comforter for their bed, one of their own choosing and brand new, something none of them had ever had before.  It was quite a process to narrow down the choices and find the perfect one for each of the girls.   In the end, Ezri went with space...

 Alora went with horses,

 and Tierney went with princesses

 Elam also got a new comforter for a twin bed that he has yet to get, but it was a no-brainer what would be on his - Thomas!

Wednesday afternoon, Alex, the kids and I, along with Kathy and her boys, headed to Opa and Oma's new house to help unload a trailer of things we had packed a couple weeks back.  Then, while the kids played as Oma unpacked, Opa, Alex, Kathy and I headed to Holland, to re-fill the trailer with contents from their storage units.  Upon our return, we were joined by Jay & Becci to unload that trailer full as well.  It as a late night before we headed toward home.  On Friday, we returned to repeat the process, this time beginning with the trip to Holland to fill the trailer with the remaining items in storage before returning to unload them.  Each day, the kids worked very hard carrying items into the house and helping all the way, willingly!

 We made one last trip on Saturday, after lunch, to help organize and unpack all that had been moved in the past few days.  That night, we brought a trailer of stuff back with us to be disposed of in the compactor, which was a fun event for the kids to watch!

Late Saturday night, we waited out the sunset in hopes of catching a glimpse of the NEOWISE comet that has been in our orbit the past weeks.

The wait was awful long and buggy, and after a while the kids all gave in.  I stuck it out a little longer, practicing some things with my camera and just shooting around the sky.

The wait paid off!  With the help of my telephoto lens, I finally did find and capture that comet!  Zoom in and look for the green spot with the trail behind it.

Another hot, humid, high heat index weekend meant windows closed and AC back on to stay comfortable.  Sunday was the worst with temps above 90 and heat index above 100.  We watched church at home and then ate a quick lunch before heading to the lake at Sandy Pines for a few hours of swimming with friends.

When we wrapped up the swimming around 4, we went to find Grandpa and Grandma at their place in Sandy Pines for a little visit and some golf cart rides with Grandpa.  Then we returned home and had ice cream for dinner!  A great way to end a crazy week!

Summer Traditions: Coronavirus Week 18

It stayed hot through much of last week as well.  Wednesday morning marked another milestone and tradition of our summer - Blueberry picking!!!  On opening day of the season at Beard's, we arrived at 8am to kick off the picking frenzy, eager to get our hands on the big, juicy berries.  We were not disappointed!  In about 1.5 hours, the kids and I picked nearly 30 pounds and consumed more than we should have, but they were delicious!

Freezer is now stocked for another year.  Yum!

Since things are all tossed around, where we would usually be working away and filling sheets and dropping off entries for the summer reading contest prizes, it has been quiet on that front from the library, with not much more info than that something is in the works and that we can track reading online.  Not knowing if there would be prizes or anything resembling the summer reading contest they enjoy, I raised the bar and challenged the kids that if they read a designated amount of  minutes each day (Ezri: 30, Alora: 20, Tierney: 10), I would allow them to choose anything they wanted to buy from Amazon in the $15 range.  Since that challenge, the kids have been hard at work. logging the minutes away.  Ezri is already over 15 hours of reading, Alora at more than 120 minutes and Tierney has read over 60 minutes just in the last week! 

We also enjoyed the return of the crop spraying helicopter later in the week.  The kids were quite excited to see it flying back and forth so low and close to our house.  We watched in a neighbor's yard for a bit and then the girls raced down to the end of the street to watch as he sprayed another section of field.

The kids discovered a tiny Praying Mantis while outside playing after watching the helicopter, so we scrambled to find the bug houses so we could check it out for a while!

With temperatures in the high 90's and a heat index well above 100 on Saturday, we tackled some projects in the house that had been needing attention for a good portion of the day.  Late afternoon we decided to head for Sandy Pines, which was very exciting news for the girls!  This would be our first time back since Labor Day last year.  We hung out at Grandpa and Grandma's place, grilled some burgers and had dinner, then donned our swimming suits and hopped in the golf carts for a trip to the lake.  The water was very warm and a welcome change from the heavy, humid heat of the day.  

 The kids swam for quite a while, then migrated toward the beach to build sand castles.

 While Covid-19 positive numbers are reported to be rising in Michigan again and the uncertainty of plans for school, MOPS and other ventures ahead remains a constant, we continue to enjoy the summer and look forward to a week ahead with much pleasanter weather and adventures around the corner!