Going with a combo here as quite honestly, there's not a lot happening around these parts :) We've kind of settled in to the "new normal" which I shudder at that word but it's true. Online school, limited interactions outside our house and lots of free time (but no where to go)! It's all bizarre but truthfully, I feel very rested! We've been forced to slow down and I can say, that's not a bad thing. At the beginning of April Reese received snail mail from her Girl Guides unit and that brought a huge smile to her face! Such a simple thing but it brightened her day. We've taken to daily walks (sometimes twice a day!) and Reese has found a love for rollerblading during these walks :) We celebrated Easter, just the 5 of us but tried to include all our usual traditions minus going to Church and seeing extended family. We made Easter cookies, painted Easter eggs and had a big feast! The Easter bunny brought some goodies, the girls went for many roller blades around the neighborhood and Cal and Blake have started running with Quinn. I am now working at the Butterdome as part of the COVID response team. It's hot and sweaty in the scrubs, mask and face shield and feels so surreal. I told Cal the other night, it kind of feels like a James Bond movie or something. When I'm on a coffee or lunch break, I go upstairs in the Butterdome and can overlook the 'field' where the temporary assessment centre has been set up. It's a very odd scene as everyone is in full PPE and walking around, doing their various duties. Like I said, it reminds me of James Bond looking down over a science lab or something! Bizarre!
We started out May with a drive to Waskahegan Staging Area near Cooking Lake. Parks were re-opened and we had a nice hike with Quinn! The weather was fabulous and it was nice to walk around somewhere other than our neighborhood ;)
The big highlight of the past two months was Blake turning 13!!! 13! An official teenager, my baby boy, how did this happen so fast?! He may be taller than me but he'll always be my baby boy!! We are so proud of the young man he is growing up to be! We could not celebrate in as grand of a style as we would have liked to but we did manage a drive by birthday parade and visits from his friends (from a safe distance of course!)! He seemed to enjoy that and we were so thankful to everyone who drove by and stopped to say hi and take a picture and shower him with gifts! Thank you so, so much!! Grandma and Grandpa got to enjoy dinner with us in the garage as well and we made the best of it :) Love you to the moon and back buddy! Now stop growing up so fast!!
On May 15th I drug the kids out to a local field to watch the snowbirds fly over. I told them it was an educational field trip during their at home learning experience ;) It was cool to see, I'm glad we went! May long weekend was unlike any other, no lacrosse tournament or camping with friends and family. But we had a great weekend working on long overdue house projects and still fit time in around the fire with s'mores and some outdoor adventures! We enjoyed a walk at Louis Hole Provincial Park. And another blessing in these quarantine times has been more time to discover our beautiful river valley! Cal and Blake have been enjoying runs with Quinn, while the girls and I walk! They are up to 12K and the girls and I are at around 4K :)
Thankfully at the end of the month, restrictions allowed us to gather to celebrate my parents 40th wedding anniversary. Unfortunately their plans of a large gathering at a local hall had to be cancelled but at least we were able to all get together in person at the Stecyk's. We are grateful for that in these challenging times. We enjoyed a delicious dinner by the Stecyk chef's, a Cameron homemade cake and lots of visiting! Happy 40th anniversary Mom and Dad! xoxo
