Corona Virus....Still.....

 You know, I made that post in April laughing.....it won't last forever. We're surely through the worst of it.....and know of course, hindsight is 20/20, so I read back some of that post and laugh. After all.....we thought that was the worst of it. HAHA....Do you wanna hear God laugh, tell him your plans....

Things were JUST starting to close, shut down, shutter, cancel in early April. School was ended on a virtual note. No baseball. The County Fair was in jeopardy. All of it. From where I stand now, I look back over the last 4 months and I see a family of 5, our family and friends finding a way to make the most of it. 

No baseball/softball? Fine - we'll spend more time with the calves in the barn. We'll grow a garden (gasp, WHAT? AND NOT KILL IT!). We'll enjoy the little things a bit more. We ate out (okay, carried out food) to try to support our local businesses who weren't' allowed to have guests -- the very thing that keeps them alive. We tried some make and take kits (The Cluttered Owl and Arni's were two that we tried). We made a 6 layer cake. We curled Colton's insanely long hair. We buzzed Jason's long overdue for a cut, but no salons are open hair into a mullet/mohawk. We made masks to help the greater cause (we wound up with 4.....we petered out pretty quick on that one....). We Zoom'ed with family to play Kahoot trivia and wish each other birthdays - even though we only live 20 minutes away.  We colored. We made homemade noodles. We made slime. We hydro-dipped sandals. We fell victim to at least one tie-dye facebook marketing scheme. We watched the Catholic Church shutter it's doors and move to a virtual format....for now. We got to hang out with Fabian and his crew as they whipped out a new office for my new job! We saw constantly conflicting news from the media....#eyeroll. We stain-glassed things. We spent time with Wieses' and Maxwell's and our families and tried to just keep chugging forward. Honestly, I don't think you kids missed sports this summer. I mean, you did a little bit, but you found a deeper love for your animals. We agreed to more open shows and tried to maximize that aspect of our summers. We also used the extra time on our hands (read: Jason knew Colton was home bored and that he was a heck of a hard worker) to renovate the barn and put in the much anticipated cooler room. 

Here are a few shots of our fun times: 

And we virtual learned to round out the 2019-2020 school year.....which was....interesting: Remember - I was starting a new job in the midst of this transition - so I was basically managing 4 schedules. Newsflash, this is gorgeous, but we didn't stick to it very well....#wetried

Zoom meetings and review were often done from the floor in my new office....

We called this recess.....for these two at least....

I mean, #covid. What else can I say -- they were home, not sure what to be doing, while I was learning to work from home -- it was an odd time. So, we had to reinforce some things.....

This is the PERK to virtual learning. I had the Wiese boys one day while Krystle worked -- and we got to witness Daisy (our bottle baby) having HER first baby. It was a pretty special day on our farm! 

And then -- the last day of school came.....THANK THE LORDT!!

And while we didn't get to go to Frosty Freeze like normal and since it's 2020 and the weather was RIDICULOUSLY Cold.....we had a cookout instead! Momma needed it as much as the kiddos!! They were SO happy to see their friends and play like kids!! 

We actually DID have a Fair....not a normal one, and it was certainly strange, but we embraced it, got to show our animals and made some memories doing it. I'll do a separate post for Fair/Open Shows. We opted out of the State Fair at the last minute when masks became mandated. Instead, we took a little camping vacation to Lake Waveland and enjoyed the time together. 

It started off so good! Jason pulled the camper with the truck and I pulled the boat with Brad & Jacki's jeep. It rained most of the way down there, but we were confident it would wear off soon. When we got to Waveland, the site Jason had picked for us was flooded and quite tight, so we scoped a new spot in the rain and started back to the truck to move the camper. Except........Wrigs locked us out. Of the running truck. Dad was NOT happy. Thankfully, campin folk are usually friendly folk, and this gentleman stepped in to help us break into the truck with a hot dog stick to unlock the doors. 

Wrigs was not on Dad's happy list to start the trip, but Dad came around.....

It rained most of the first night and through set up -- so we ate our redneck dinner in the camper. Nothing like forced family time on vacation! HA 

You all were so excited to fish and hit the water, that when the rain seemed to have broke, we made a beeline for the docks to check it out. Em even caught a little one off the shoreline! 

The next morning, we hit the water early and your Dad quickly was asking himself why he thought a fishing trip with three kids and a wife was a good idea for a vacation. Tangled lines. Bait me. Am I deep enough? Let's try over there.......

But he was a good Daddy & captain and I think secretly, he got a thrill from driving the boat quite fast from one spot to another -- so it all panned out! 

I took a book and my swimsuit and basked in the sun and relaxation of the water! 

We didn't catch tons of fish -- a handful here and there -- but we had fun doing it! 

One afternoon we hit Rockville to check out the sites and visit Dad & I's favorite little spot - Thirty Six Saloon!

We detoured through the covered bridges and amish country - a highlight for Mom & kids alike! 

We had such fun Amish-seeking, we went hiking at Shades State Park one afternoon, followed by more Amish finding and dinner in Rockville! 

By the last night, we needed sweatshirts by the fire -- my favorite kind of camping. 

We had a great trip - sun, fishing, relaxation and Amish! It was perfect! 

Now to go back and fill in the blog gaps....sorry I bounce around. I'll just #2020 and move on......it may be my continual excuse until 12/31/2020....