Summer Activities During a Pandemic

In our state, things have continued to slowly re-open, with many new rules and reduced capacities. We are still at home most of the time, as we don't feel safe eating inside restaurants, going to amusement parks, etc. Carl is still working at home and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The school board and JCPS staff are still making decisions about school and whether it will be possible to go to safely go to school in the school buildings this fall. They have already moved the start of any school until the end of August, to allow more time to make decisions and plan for how to make things work best for the students and staff.

Carl and I have had plenty of time to take care of our little garden, since are at home most of the time. This week was really exciting, because we have lots of things growing! We have peppers, strawberries, kale, and tomatoes!

We spend a lot of time in our backyard. This beautiful butterfly flew all around us as we were swimming.

We all love the pool! It is my favorite way to spend a sunny afternoon. 

We have spent a lot of time fishing. Preston loves to catch anything, but Evan is thrilled to catch the big fish!

We have enjoyed watching lots of movies and shows together. Preston had an especially fun night watching in his new shark costume! He is quite the character!

While hiking, we found some Queen Anne's Lace. I remembered picking it as a child and my mom putting it in water with food coloring added. I repeated this little experiment with the boys. Preston thought it would be fun to do it again and try different food colors.

Evan lost two teeth in less than a week!

We planned to repair the damage to our play house, but it turned out to have a lot more damage than we anticipated. We decided it was best to disassemble it, because it just wasn't safe. We weren't ready to be without one though, so we ordered a new one! We are hoping that it arrives soon. They boys are excited to have a new play house with monkey bars!

Several weeks ago, Preston did my makeup. Carl decided to give it a try as well! The fist picture was is his first try. I thought it was actually a wonderful first attempt, although the eye makeup is a bit different on each eye. He was determined to do a better job, so the next day, he read about how to apply eye make up. He tried again and did an amazing job!

Evan also wanted to have some fun, so he painted my nails! I think he did quite well for his first attempt!

Preston is a big fan of relaxing and watching his favorite shows and movies. I often find him in his little nook that he creates on the couch. He is quite happy watching shows in his nook with his blanket and pretzels. 

Carl has always been very good at cooking. He has had more time to be creative with his cooking lately and he has created delicious tofu tacos. They are an Asian and Mexican blend of flavors. Tofu tacos have become one of my favorite meals!