Daniel & Annabel's Adventures

Tuesday, June 9, 2020

Quarantine Week 12

Quarantine Week 12: May 31- June 6

The end of week 11 was officially the end of the "shelter-in-place" order in our state, with the weekend beginning our Phase 3 re-opening...not that we went anywhere or did anything differently. In fact, I'm in no rush to rejoin society as a whole. I'm quite happy to hang out in my cocoon and wait this out a bit longer.

So, for week 12- still counting it as quarantine, for our house, simply because nothing had changed for us. Not much will here on out, truth be told, except maybe to eventually see family for dinners, and hugs, I hope. Stores, I'm in no hurry for; all events and other places we normally go during summer are cancelled; places like the zoo and such are still closed...like I said, we still can't do a whole lot- and that's okay with me.

Daniel is still working on Ben's giant Star Destroyer. Annabel is still working on Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. She is also working on a novel in verse- so impressive and adorable. She still rides bikes and enjoys sprinkler fun with her friend Aggie. Daniel sees his friend Manny online for games. I read. I clean. I play with photos on my computer. We all walk/ride together almost daily. Oh, we also baked a bit this week- I had been craving my raspberry nut thumbprint cookies (yummmm), Daniel wanted Peppermint Patty cookies (these were okay), and Annabel wanted to make madeleines (which were quite the chore to make, but not too bad- and yes I had to order a madeleine pan to make these, yay for Amazon two day shipping). Ben and I finally finished that dang hard Mickey puzzle with the ridiculous gold frame border. Phew. Taking a break from puzzles now; besides, the table is covered with Star Destroyer pieces. Annabel's bangs needed trimming again, so Ben did that Monday. We headed over to the school blacktop one afternoon and the boys drove their remote control car, Annabel wrote her novel in verse, and I laid in the grass and looked up at the tree branches (something I couldn't tell you the last time I did- it was fun!).

Friday we celebrated Ben's 20 year IBM anniversary! Crazy to think 20 years. By celebrated, I mean...well, he got the day off, played with the kids, got donuts for us, fixed our outdoor faucet (we can use our sprinkler again now), and just had a mostly average day off, truth be told. Still, it's quite something to revel in the knowledge of- 20 years hard work- for which I'm grateful as his hard work enables the life we live and love. And we do so love having him work from home all the time!

Also new this quarantine week- We are now the proud owners of a fire pit! It's AWESOME! More on this news in another post, but it definitely deserves a mention in this week's post, too!! In short- we've used our new fire pit a ton since we got it and put it together Saturday!

Picture time now! Enjoy!

Daniel working hard on the Star Destroyer still.

That paw over the edge...kitty cuteness.

Daniel wanted Peppermint Patty cookies...I told him he had to help then. He did...a little. He liked the cookies, but wouldn't necessarily want them again he said. Fine by me- they were okay (plus I'm not a huge mint fan). I did love having his help in the kitchen, as I always do.

Squashed kitties. Two in a box. That can't be comfortable. I'm not sure the one who joined second cared, haha.

Finished puzzle! Ta-da! Phew, finally.

So many pieces...this Star Destroyer will take a long time to build!
(That's the idea, haha, wink wink!)

Cosmo kept me company in the kitchen while I baked this week.

Annabel poring over blog books. This makes me so happy. The kids love to read their past stories and see the pictures. They also love to say I want to see this one picture from this one time...at which point I laugh and say good luck, haha. But still, so fun to take these trips down memory lane with them, often on the computer, too, as we watch old videos and look at tiny Annabel and tiny Daniel. Awww. Those were the days. These days are good, too, though. :)

Ben cut Annabel's bangs after her bath one night. They were really long! Much better now!

Annabel helped me make the madeleines she wanted from her cookbook. A lot of work, but fun and pretty good.

Daniel and I have taken to reading Harry Potter during the day (not just at bedtime, as usual) so we can make more progress on it. We're on book 6, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We love how the kitties usually come join us, too!

Donuts! Thank you, Daddy! Yum!

Ziggy is literally sitting on two different tables. Again, how can that be comfortable!

Remote control car time! So fun to watch.

Annabel worked on her novel in verse meanwhile.

And I laid in the grass and looked up at the tree branches. So cool.

Kitty company during our Zoom read aloud with Grandma Cheryl!

And last but not least even a little...our new fire pit!! More pictures soon! It's awesome!! We love it!

Monday, June 8, 2020

Quarantine Week 11

Quarantine Week 11: May 24- May 30

Week 11 began with Memorial Day weekend, which we filled with sprinkler fun, a picnic and hike, Lego building, and more fun just us 4. It was a little weird to spend Memorial Day this way (as opposed to with family as usual), but it was a nice weekend anyway. The kids really enjoyed the sprinkler fun- we hadn't done that in so long! It was great fun to watch.

One thing of note for Memorial Day weekend was the New York Times front page that Sunday which I'd seen shared on Instagram. That page marked the news that we'd neared 100,000 deaths from COVID-19 in our country and, in very small print, it listed names of people who'd died of this virus...and the page only lists 1% of them all. Such a stark reality. That page was then multiplied by an Instagramer in another post to show how it'd look with the rest of the names. Again, stark. It was interesting.

The week unfolded much the same way as other weeks for us- somehow we filled our days. The kids were interested in going through their memento boxes, so we did that. Such a fun trip down memory lane. We played with play doh, something we hadn't done in ages. Mind you, this is all the same play doh we've had for years- I don't buy it anymore; it's crazy that it has lasted this long I think! Love watching the kids play with things they enjoyed for hours when they were little. We dusted Daniel's Lego display table in the back corner of the family room- his idea, and gosh when it's his idea I hop on it! Annabel worked hard on reading Harry Potter book 5 (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix- it's the longest one, so it was taking her a bit longer, to her dismay...I just encouraged her to keep at it and not dwell on the length). Annabel also sewed a Golden Snitch that is darling- this she gave to a friend (she made another for herself later), which was sweet of her. Such a thoughtful girl. Annabel and Aggie, who lives not far from us at all, have gotten together for bike rides around the neighborhood quite a few times, which has been so fun for them. The kids also loved playing games with Grandma Mary Kay on Duo (more Garbage and Guess Who) and of course we met with Grandma Cheryl on Zoom for our read aloud, still lots of fun! Oh- and this month's crates arrived, too. Daniel built his Tinker Crate immediately! He sure loves those things. Annabel was off with a friend when they arrived and has otherwise been spending all her time working on that Harry Potter book 5, so she'll get to the crafting fun eventually, too.

And that, my friends, was our first week of summer. It was a good, fun week all in all! I don't love the super hot heat we get in summer, but I do love the warmth and the greenery and fresh air and sunshine and wearing shorts and staying up later and all...I do like summer really and this week was a good start to it!

Now for picture time...

Memorial Day weekend fun!
Lego building...I love my cute Minions!

The kids helped Daddy in the yard. They each have their own branch clippers and they help pull weeds, too. Good helpers (as long as they have shade...they don't like getting too hot!).

We broke out the sprinkler that Sunday afternoon after the kids worked so hard!
So fun!!

Annabel did backbends over the sprinkler. She thought this was a hoot.

Warrior Daniel with the squirter tucked in his shirt behind him, haha. Cute.

I wonder what makes cats all tuckered out like so. Cosmo just looks like he ran out of steam right there and plunked down.

The New York Times page I saw on Instagram. No words. So sad.

That page image multiplied by an Instagramer to show how it would look if all 100,000 people we've lost to this virus were listed.

Memorial Day picnic and hike fun!

We followed that picnic and hike with a drive past our old house and old parks, as requested by Daniel. So cute. He'd wanted to see the "dinosaur park" but when we pulled up to it, it was completely new! He was a little dismayed only because he wanted to see it as it was in his memory. Annabel was aghast at seeing this park (which she had no memory of) because it had a zip line- how dare they when we have none by us! She was utterly jealous and has asked to come back when it opens back up. We'll see. Anyway, such a fun trip down memory lane. Our old house looks just the same- Daniel remembered it well, Annabel did not- and the "palm tree park" also looks just the same. One other notable difference is that the corner by the sports fields near our old house is all developed now into gigantic office and storage space buildings, which looks awful, frankly, and we're ever so glad not to be over there anymore!

Blasts from the past at the dinosaur park: May 2015 and April 2011 and August 2009
You might spy the dinosaur slide that inspired the name "dinosaur park" from Daniel. So cute.

The kids looked at their memento boxes...Daniel tried on his 1st birthday hat. It was a bit small. Another trip down memory lane. Check out his first birthday picture below, too!