Lake Cumberland

We opted to take a summer vacation close to home this year. We don't feel that air travel is safe right now and lots of states with tourist destinations have high rates of Covid-19 infection. We were very fortunate that Robbie and Donna offered to let us go to their home on Lake Cumberland. It was SO good to get away and was especially nice after being sick and stuck in the house for so many weeks.

While we were there, we spent a lot of time on the water. We rented a large pontoon boat, which was lots of fun. The boys could jump into the lake from the second story, as well as use the big water slide. It was fun to ride around and explore the lake together. We did some fishing on the boat as well, but we had the best luck with fishing off the dock at the house. We also enjoyed swimming and floating. The boys liked to swim over to the land and explore. They found lots of geodes, which they were VERY excited about.

We took a trip to Cumberland Falls while we were there. It was about an hour away and definitely worth the drive. The large waterfall was really pretty. There were also a few other activities there, such as mining for gems, which Preston really liked.

Everything is so very different this year, including vacation. Even though we didn't get to go to Key West or some other tropical destination, I am grateful that we were able to get away at the lake and enjoy spending time together as a family. It is definitely a vacation we will never forget.

Robbie and Donna's house was really nice. We loved sitting on the porch and looking at the lake and at all of the birds that would come to eat at the feeds.

This was the view from the porch.

These pictures were taken down at the dock. Lake Cumberland is very pretty.

There was a waterfall and a working mill in a nearby cove. I have never seen anything like it before. We enjoyed exploring the area with the mill and seeing the waterfall. 

We liked visiting Cumberland Falls. It is a really pretty area and the waterfall is huge.

We spent LOTS of time on the boat. I enjoyed taking pictures of the lake and the land surrounding it, because I thought it was so pretty. 

There are lots of creatures in and around Lake Cumberland. We saw lots of turtles and Evan and Preston even used a net to catch a baby turtle. There were lots of butterflies and dragonflies, as well as lots of different birds. Evan saw a snake while he was exploring. He didn't catch it, but he did catch a little skink! Preston caught several bluegill and Evan caught lots of bass and catfish. He fished each morning and night and often during the day too. He caught his biggest freshwater fish, as well as one of the smallest too!

We celebrated Carl's birthday at the lake. Uncle Ron joined us and we had a great time fishing, riding the boat and relaxing at the dock. 

We had a wonderful time at Lake Cumberland.

Covid-19 and Our Family

In my last post, I discussed that both Evan and I had been diagnosed with Covid-19. At that time, Evan was recovered and I felt that I was getting better. Unfortunately, I started to feel worse. I had severe fatigue and some days,  I just laid around and did absolutely nothing but watch TV. I continued to have loss of taste and smell and there were times that I got out of breath easily. I also had some headaches. I was able to recover at home, which was nice. I still have some side effects like getting out of breath easily and sometimes I have a burning sensation in my chest when that happens. I never had the most common symptoms associated with the virus, such as a cough and fever. I am grateful that it wasn't worse. I am also VERY grateful that Evan had such a mild case of Covid-19 and that Carl and Preston never tested positive or got sick.

After Evan and I were diagnosed with Covid-19, the health department gave us strict quarantine rules. In order to not spread the virus, we were not allowed to leave our property for almost five weeks. It was tough to be super isolated, especially for the boys. There were some meltdowns and there was definitely arguing. Thankfully, there were some good times too. We enjoyed our backyard, especially the pool. We also liked watching movies together, playing games and cooking. We were fortunate that we were able to have food and groceries delivered. Friends and family also dropped off meals and medicine. They also surprised us with some nice gifts, which were awesome and lifted our spirits.

Here are a few pictures from our time in strict quarantine. There aren't a lot, because we didn't do very much!

This was our backyard set up. The garage was also outfitted with a TV, inflatable couch and some fans. I called it our hillbilly haven. 

Evan enjoyed catching lightning bugs.

Salons are now open with restrictions, but we had to continue to get haircuts at home.

Carl had the idea to make pizza and cheese sticks from scratch. It was fun and the pizza and cheese sticks turned out great. It was a really fun activity to do together.

We got out first big harvest from our garden. We used to tomatoes to make a vegetable pasta. It was delicious!

Independence Day 2020 - Covid-19 Style

Our Independence Day Celebration was definitely different than we had hoped. We would have loved to have a nice backyard party with our extended family. We even hoped to reserve a spot at the pool, since it is now open with many of safety rules in place. Instead, we spent the holiday weekend at home, because I have Covid-19.

About two weeks ago, Max's family got tested for Covid-19. They felt fine, but since they had plans to visit grandparents in New York, they got tested. Max's test came back positive for the virus. Since Evan and Preston had played with Max, we all got tested too. They called us the day after our test, to let us know that Evan tested positive for Covid-19. We were really surprised, especially since the rest of us tested negative.

After the call, we remembered that Evan had felt super tired about a week prior to the test. He had laid around all day and slept in the following day. He also complained of a little headache, but it wasn't bad and he felt better after some Tylenol. We just figured that he was exhausted because he had stayed up very late and gotten up super early. He never had symptoms that we typically associate with the virus, such as coughing, difficulty breathing, or a high fever. When we spoke to a nurse later on, she explained that those were likely his only symptoms, but that we should be extra diligent with hand washing and cleaning. She also suggested Evan try to isolate within the house as much as possible. He wasn't sad about the isolation, because he just spent his days playing Fortnite. He was actually pretty happy! The only thing that was a major bummer, was that we told not to leave our property. We were on super lock down, so we would not spread the virus.

After doing a lot of research, looking at guidelines, and speaking with more healthcare workers, we decided that we could test again last week. It had been well over 10 days since Evan's symptoms and we all felt great. I was excited the next day, when I learned that Evan no longer tested positive for Covid. Carl and Preston also tested negative and I figured my negative result would be posted soon too. Unfortunately, I received a call that I tested positive for Covid. I was SO sad, because I really thought we would all be well and that we could be out of our big lock down. I was really hoping we could spend the holiday weekend celebrating with our family.

Even though we had to make major changes to our plans, we did make the most of our weekend! Carl and I worked hard to build the new playhouse and the boys love it. Preston's favorite parts are the monkey bars and clubhouse. Evan loves to climb all over the top. Of course, that is not how it is supposed to be used, but he sure has a lot of fun!

We spent lots of time enjoying our backyard pool. Bonnie Mom and Grandpa dropped off a delicious dinner for us and we enjoyed eating together on our patio. Ron was also very kind to us and dropped off some fireworks for us. We did the fireworks at the end of our driveway and Max's family sat in their yard and enjoyed them too.

Overall, I am feeling good. I did end up with some fatigue, but I was able to take a big nap, as well as sleep in. I do have some allergy symptoms, such as a stuffy nose and some sinus pressure. Those are relieved with allergy medicine and are improving. I have had the same allergy issues on and off since March, so they may not be related to the virus anyway. I don't have a fever, headache, cough etc. I did feel a bit dizzy and out of breath while helping with the playhouse, but it was very hot outside and I was working really hard. I am uncertain if that was related to the virus either. I did also have loss of taste and smell. At the time, I attributed it to the allergy symptoms. I suppose it could be from the virus.

The really odd thing about all of this is that if it weren't for Max testing positive for Covid-19, we would have never known either of us had the virus. We would have just thought we were tired from the activities we had been doing. I am glad to know we have it though, because we can keep from spreading it to people we would normally see, like Bonnie Mom, Grandpa, Grammy and Granddaddy.

This virus is really odd. It kills many of the people that get infected. In the United States, we have had over 132,000 people die from Covid-19. There have been over 534,000 Covid-19  deaths worldwide. It also makes lots of people become VERY sick. Some of us are lucky and barely get sick. Other people get the virus and never have any symptoms at all.

Carl and Preston will be tested again later this week. I will be surprised if they don't test positive for the virus, since they were near me a great deal before I learned I had the virus. If they do, I am hopeful that they will have mild or no symptoms.

Although nothing else went as planned, I did start the holiday weekend off exactly as planned, by watching Hamilton! I have been so excited for the movie, since I learned it would be released on Disney+ on July 3rd. It was released at 3:00 a.m. EST. I did manage to sleep in until about 7:30, but then I made my way downstairs to enjoy the show! It was AMAZING! I loved seeing Hamilton in the theater last summer and I had hoped to see it again next spring. Of course, the pandemic has stopped all live theater, and no one knows when it will be safe to resume. This movie is amazing and it is the perfect way for me to enjoy the show until I can see it in the theater again.

The new playhouse is a hit! Preston loved supervising and testing things out as they were added.

I am incredibly grateful for this sweet little family of mine. It was so much fun to hang out and celebrate together. It wasn't like we ever planned, but we definitely had a good time!

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!