Quarantine Week 4ish: Rain, hikes, surf + making a peg leg and an airplane out of delivery boxes
Some moments from this week:
Big rain one afternoon and happy hour on the front porch
Walk with kids to S turns which I won’t do again…there weren’t many people to pass but couldn’t really get enough distance when we did pass people…there are better places for us to go…
Hike in Duck Pond area through some tall, tall grass (that’s what happens when you let a golf course go feral)
Delivery boxes are the best toys!
Nice surf a few days…so grateful I can go and also for my friend Jerica who meets me although we social distance…
Also work for me and school for the kids and Jeff coordinating school which is no small job and taking care of the house and cooking and also lots of games, FaceTiming friends and family, watching “The Voice” (the family) and West Wing (me), all reading together on the couch, playing the ukulele that I got for Christmas and Luke and I snorkeled one day and Zo and I baked cookies and read picture books together…lots of good in our lives right now…
Happy Easter!
XO
Maui empties out (quarantine week 3ish)
Quite week and all is well…everywhere we went it’s remarkable how empty the island is. I’m working hard, Jeff is running homeschooling and the house (and doing such a great job, so appreciate him, if he wasn’t doing it I wouldn’t be working), taking advantage of the phone and FaceTime for human contact, playing games, hiking and surfing, watching movies and reading together…aside from the fear that something might happen to those we love quarantine isn’t bad…
Happy Monday!
XO
Homeschooling, hikes + pretend drivers
Hi Everyone!
We’re getting used to the new Maui stay-at-home order (which is currently in place until the end of April), homeschooling with video meetings with the teacher, walks together most days, reading (Zo has started borrowing chapter library books on my iPAD and doesn’t want to sleep at night, just wants to read), seeing the hotel industry shut down, snuggled up watching TV, sleep tuck-ins, pretending to drive the car in the rain to give us a break from the house, and surfing is making me so happy right now. Work is busy. We’re all healthy. So grateful for all of our blessings and though in some ways this is all very hard it’s also wonderful to have all this time together as a family. Also really hard to plan for the future, but even before all the COVID-19 stuff went down I was focusing on trying to live in today vs being so planning and future focused.
One of the things I miss the most is dates with my husband (which weren’t very frequent but not being able to at all is hard). So we’re having a date on the front porch tonight after the kids go to bed, I’m getting dressed up (I never buy new shoes but I got some just before all this started and I haven’t worn them yet) and we’ll probably get takeout which we haven’t really done yet trying to save money. Can’t wait!
Happy weekend!
XO
Spring break + COVID-19 gets real
Last week was spring break and also the week that all normality left our world and COVID-19 took over. We’re doing just fine and I’ll have more to say about the whole situation later but short summary of the week: Hiking or surf every day, one last very small wrestling practice, legos, and getting out to shop and things are so different when you go to the store or Costco, oh boy. But all is well, we are safe, things we need are available. Hope everyone reading this is doing OK…crazy times…
XO
Luke and Zo turn 8!
I didn’t take a ton of pictures of the kids’ birthday this year but here are a few from first thing in the morning of the kids having sugar cereal in bed (a birthday tradition) and them opening presents. We also had a small but super fun party at the trampoline park (back when the world was different and you could leave the house…you know, a week ago…) and dinner and a movie at home just the fam. Happy Birthday Loves!!
XO
Last pictures of Luke and Zo as 7-year-olds
Kids asked that I take some pics of them the night before their birthday…last pics of these guys at 7…
XO
Surfing, Kubo, B-day prep + spaghetti
These pictures are actually from yesterday but didn’t want to forget to upload…kids getting spring break instructions (and being told about plans if school shuts down…they have lesson plans for several weeks and all their books on their desks just in case.)
Also at the park one of the trees is losing its leaves…so strange for that to happen in March!
Some loveliness from today:
I slept in til 6 AM which doesn’t sound like a lot but it was great
Surfing and whales are helping me to stay in a good place. So grateful for my husband helping me to get out of the house for a few hours!
Kubo and the Two Strings with the kids this morning…what a great movie!
Wrapping presents and making certificates for the kids 8th birthday tomorrow…love doing special things for them
Spaghetti dinner with everyone around the dining room table…
Sending love to all…
XO
Zo's "Student of the Week" week, a secret trail, surfing with whales
Some lovely things from the past few days:
Zo was “Student of the Week” this week and brought lime popsicles to share, read “Into the Castle” to her friends and shared her pictures and family tree. Fun to celebrate her!
She and I also found a secret trail outside Luke’s wrestling gym with a little rope swing for her.
Kohola this week for what may be a last public outing (other than grocery shop) for a while, who knows…
I sometimes think when I shuffle my music that a song is a message for me; yesterday that was John Denver’s “Sweet Surrender” which says in part:
There's nothin' behind me and nothin' that ties me to
Something that might have been true yesterday
Tomorrow is open, right now it seems to be more than enough
Just be here today, and I don't knowWhat the future is holdin' in store
I don't know where I'm goin' I'm not sure where I've been
There's a spirit that guides me, a light that shines for me
My life is worth the livin', I don't need to see the endGreat surf yesterday, the biggest I’ve been out in since I started surfing again, forgot how fun it is to surf some waves with some power. And the whale sightings were constant and everywhere. Magical.
XO
Aloha, stuffies hide their faces to avoid "The Bachelor," a glorious sunset + the library lawn
Some lovely things from the past few days:
Aloha Mixed Plate for lunch
Kids shopping for birthday week, they wanted their own baskets. And there are often free cookies for kids at Safeway which they love
All the sweet girls at gymnastics
Kids making sure no one (not even stuffies) was subjected to “The Bachelor” when Jerica came over to watch…see how they’re all facing away from the TV lol
Just a magical sunset at the beach last night with turtles and whales and the conch shell and the sun and I just felt so happy and grounded and at peace
The library has finally, finally opened their front lawn…reading beneath a tree this afternoon…
XO
Dentist, wrestling, birthday prep, Student of the Week, Spring Dance...whew, busy week!
This week I’m feeling like this is a time of great uncertainty, in the world at large with a political election this year and “Super Tuesday” this week and the coronavirus just starting to appear in the US and we have no idea if that is going to end up being no big deal or the exact opposite. Also personally as we talk and consider what’s right for us moving forward as far as where to live, work, etc. Nothing decided but it’s exciting to talk about next steps. The weather too is unsettled, crazy wind and rain, power outages etc. Work has been crazy this week. And the kids are turning 8 a week from today and their birthdays are joyous but also kind of hard for me because I want to have them forever, I love all the time that we spend together and know it won’t last forever…it’s wonderful to watch them grow…I just want to put my all into every day so I don’t look back and wish I had done more.
But in the swirl of all that life goes on…I’m in a black-and-white mood this week as you can see but we’ve had the dentist and gymnastics, wrestling starting (with a visit from a Saints football player who wrestled on their team when he was a kid), carpooling with Daddy like usual, birthday invites made at the copy shop, stuffies playing “Taco vs Burrito,” Luke being “Student of the Week” which had him reading the class his favorite book (“All Kinds of Cars,”) talking about his family tree (highlight: he said one of my favorite activities is snuggling…awwww…) and passing out popsicles at the end of the day, the Spring Dance Friday night which was really fun and cute.
Today I’m hoping for a duck pond hike (though it may rain and I’m the only one OK with that, so I might be going alone), getting ready for birthdays and the week (Zo is “Student of the Week” this coming week,) groceries, hopefully a board game or two, and cooking noodle bowls for dinner for the first time, hope they turn out yummy!.
Feeling so grateful for this full life we have.
Happy Sunday!
XO