Spring Break in Quarantine

Today we wrapped up a ten day break from school for our Spring Break.  As silly as it seems to be taking a Spring Break when our kids are already not going to school, I was actually grateful for the break from being my kids' teacher and from running a homeschool program at home.  Although I was a teacher for several years, homeschooling has never appealed to me for a variety of reasons.  As a result, I was glad to be able to take a break from working with my children for several hours a day assisting them with their assignments and activities.  Since we were supposed to be in Hawaii this past week and since we are not able to do most of the fun activities that we normally do when we spend a Spring Break at home (like going to the movies, or spending a day at grandma's house, or visiting the zoo, etc), I asked my family to sit down last Saturday night to brainstorm a list of quarantine-friendly activities that we could do during our ten day break.  After coming up with a long list of ideas that we wrote on sticky notes, I put together a schedules on two pieces of paper and hung them on the back door of our kitchen.  For the most part, we stuck to our schedule and checked off most of the activities that we had wanted to do.  Although it was no where as fun as being in Hawaii, we managed to make the most out of our Spring Break that we finished up today and enjoyed the incredible weather that we were blessed to have after two cold and wet weeks.  Here is a quick rundown of our week off at school...

A picture of the schedule I made from Monday, April 6th, through Monday, April 13th.

The first thing we did for break was pitching the two tents in our backyard on Sunday, April 5th.  After the kids helped Ron put them up, they spent most of the afternoon setting up their beds and playing in them.  It was the perfect way to pass the afternoon outside.

Lia, Logan, and Ella all spent the night together in the large tent with Ron in the smaller tent on Sunday night.  Although it had been a very sunny day on Sunday, it turned out to be a very cold night.  As a result, Ella came back into our house in the middle of the night.  I was so surprised to wake up Monday morning and find her inside.  Here is a picture of Lia and Logan all tucked into their sleeping bags at bedtime.

Ella snuggled into her own bed.

Ron winding down in his own tent.

We woke up to a beautiful day on Monday morning.  After Emmett's nap, Ron loaded up all of our bikes on the car and we drove down to the trailhead that runs along the Puyallup River.  We have not biked this trail in several years, so it was fun to be back there again with Ella on her own bike and Emmett in the seat on Ron's bike.  Here are the three older kids and me with the river in the background.

Ron and all four kids crossing the bridge.

My three boys riding down the trail.

The entire gang in front of me heading back to the car.

Ron stopping for a picture with an adorable, baby Emmett in the back.  Since we have gone on several bike rides since the lockdown started, Emmett has now become a pro on riding on the back of Ron's bike.  He absolutely loves it and never makes a peep!

Although Tuesday, April 7th, started out cloudy and cold, we decided to just stick with our plan and headed out after Emmett's morning nap to drive to Steilacoom, a quaint, little town right on the Puget Sound.  We have not visited this town since Lia was a toddler and so I suggested that we go back there to have a picnic lunch on the beach that we visited years ago.  After driving the thirty minutes out there, we discovered that the beach park that we had wanted to visit was closed due to the Coronavirus.  Luckily, after driving down the road a minute or two, we discovered another small park that was still opened.  Although it wasn't right on the beach, we decided that the grassy area would be ideal for our picnic.  Here are the kids and me enjoying our lunch.

Luckily, Logan had decided to bring his remote control car and he had a great time driving it all around this grassy park after lunch.  Emmett was mesmerized by his car and kept on following it everywhere.

Emmett loved walking all over this park.  He is always so happy to just cruise around outside whenever we let him "loose."

The kids and me with the Puget Sound in the background.

After finishing lunch and spending some time at the park, we decided to drive another minute or two down the same road to where the ferry terminal is located.  We discovered that we could access the beach by walking right under the large, ferry dock.  After parking our car, we wandered down to the beach to climb around on the rocks and look for crabs.  The one downside of this rocky beach was that it was not the ideal area for baby Emmett who is still getting comfortable walking outside in shoes.  As a result, he ended up tripping everywhere we went so we didn't end up staying at the beach for very long.

Ella and Logan climbing around in the large rocks above the beach.

Emmett cruising around.

Ella and Logan flipping up rocks looking for crabs.

Ron and the kiddos posing for a picture before heading back to the car.

On Wednesday, April 8th, the kids participated in a scavenger hunt around our house and yard.  Since I have been in charge of every scavenger hunt our kids have ever done here, it was a treat to have Ron write the notes and hide them everywhere while I worked on lunch.  He wrote and hid ten clues that were all Coronavirus themed that turned out to be quite funny.

Lia reading a clue to the kids that they found at our mailbox.

All three kids running past me as they headed to their next clue.

Logan reading a clue that they found inside the large tent.

The last clue took them to Ron's Suburban in the garage where they found a box of a dozen doughnuts from our local, doughnut shop in town.  We were all so excited to dive in!

During Emmett's second nap on Wednesday, the girls and boys divided for an afternoon activity.  I had promised the girls that we could have a cake decorating class the week before when I was decorating Ella's birthday cake and Wednesday turned out to be the perfect day for it.  I baked a cake for each girl and made a double batch of butter creme frosting so that the girls would have plenty of colors to choose from to decorate their cakes.  They both had such a fun time learning how to use different frosting tips to make different designs on their cakes.

When we were done decorating cakes, Ella decided that she wanted to decorate two graham crackers (to eat) with a fish theme.  Here she is showing off her finished product before eating it!

Ella's finished product.  She chose to write the name "Ariel" along the top since this mermaid is one of her favorite, Disney princesses.

Lia's finished product complete with her American Girl Doll YouTube and Instagram name:  AGD Dare To Dream.

The boys headed out to the shed for the afternoon to work on Logan's pirate-themed, pinewood derby car that they started months ago.  Although our ward does not even have a pinewood derby race on the calendar, Logan decided that he wanted to make one after seeing Lia race hers last April at our church.  Since Ron only finds the time every few months to work on it with Logan, it has taken quite some time to build!

On Thursday, April 9th, we were planning on driving to Tacoma to bike along the path above Chambers Bay before Logan crashed his bike as Ron was loading up our bikes on the car.  Needless to say, plans changed right away and Ron and Logan rushed off to Urgent Care to get his face stitched up.

Our poor, beat-up boy heading home after getting three stitches above his lip.  After some needed quiet time watching TV on the couch, Logan agreed to let us color Easter eggs during Emmett's afternoon nap.

Here is Lia decorating her egg with permanent marker before dying it.

Logan dying one of his eggs green.

Ella coloring away on one of her eggs.

Ron dipping an egg in the orange dye.

My beat-up boy and me dying our eggs together.

Our finished products that were all turned into deviled eggs three days later for Easter dinner.

Emmett woke up from his nap before we were done coloring our eggs, so he happily sat in his high chair enjoying his snack while watching us finish up.

After thinking it over for a few hours, Logan agreed to face his fears the very next day on Friday and let us go on our family bike ride along Chambers Bay.  We were all so grateful that he allowed us to do this as we all enjoyed this amazing bike ride with stunning views of the Puget Sound along the way.

The kids riding down the path.

Ella following Lia and Logan.

Ron bringing up the rear with baby Emmett in tow.

A close-up of our cutie in his bike seat.

The kids and me standing in front of the stunning view at the end of our bike ride.

Another shot of us and the Sound.  It's not Hawaii, but it will have to do!

On Saturday, April 11th, we all stayed in our pajamas and spent a lazy morning playing games around the kitchen table.  Here are Lia and Ron playing Ocean Labrynth.

Logan, Ella, and me playing Logan's new pirate, Lego game.  We also completed our "game day" by playing several rounds of hide-and-go-seek on all three levels of our house before bedtime later on that day.

Sunday, April 12th, was Easter.  As a result, the day was full with the kids enjoying their spoils in their Easter baskets, attending "home church," going on an Easter egg hunt, and eating Easter dinner.

Since our school district decided to make today, April 13th, a teacher work day, we had an additional day off that we had not planned on having.  Since Ron had to work all day long, I decided that it was the perfect day to get the kids to help me clean the house as it has been very neglected these past four weeks since every has been home full-time.  The kids helped me vacuum the entire upstairs and clean their bathroom.  I also cleaned the powder bathroom downstairs before taking everyone outside to complete a cool, chalk art activity that Ron had found online a few weeks earlier.  Here are all three kids working on their art after I made geometric shapes for each of them with paint tape.

Logan coloring in his shapes with various colors of chalk.

Lia working hard on her chalk art.

Ella proudly showing off her finished product!

Emmett and me sitting by his little chalk art that we made together.

And that's Spring Break in a nutshell.  We managed to stay happy, healthy, safe, and busy during our ten days off from homeschool, but I sure hope that everything is back to "normal" by next Spring Break.  Who knows.  Time will only tell!