April 2020

Pandemic Mask Sewing

As the Covid-19 situation became more understood, our community was looking for individuals willing to help sew cloth masks.  Carol signed up and ended up making many, many masks.  Using the pattern that she was provided, she also made some for our family.

Easter

Easter was a little different in 2020 since we could not go to church and instead watched online.  We didn’t let that stop us from dressing up and taking some family pictures like we normally would.  And the Easter bunny still made it to our house somehow.  I assume that the little bunny was wearing a cloth mask.

 

Pandemic Yard Project

Since I wasn’t really going anywhere, I decided to do some additional home projects.  A local hardware store was kind enough to deliver some items needed to create a fenced in garden area.  The front part of the garden was intended to be a vegetable garden and Carol wanted to use the back, sloped section for a flower garden.  It all needed to be fenced in because our dog has a bad habit of digging up plants.

Bike Ride

As the weather got warmer, it was a good time to go on bike rides around the neighborhood.  Jenna enjoys the new hot pink tandem bike, but it makes the ride a lot harder for the adult who rides in front.

Carol’s Birthday

Carol celebrated her 46th birthday in 2020.  Of course, we didn’t feel safe going anywhere for her birthday, so we just celebrated at home.  With an ice cream cake and presents.

Random Pictures from the Month

Jenna in Mom’s dress, long curly fries and a cloudy sky

May 2020

Mother’s Day

We celebrated Mother’s Day at home this year with breakfast in bed and flowers delivered. The breakfast in bed was Jenna’s idea, her best one ever!

Beginning of a Garden

Carol ordered some plants online and were able to get them in ground.  Things began to look good!

Grant’s Birthday

Grant celebrated his 12th birthday.  We had an online party for him and used devices so that Gramma and Pa and Nana could watch him open presents and blow out the candles on his cake.  He got some pretty neat presents, including some binoculars and a painting from Nana of our dog, Daisy.

A New Pool!

Since we could not go to the local pool or to swimming lessons, we decided to buy an above-ground pool and set it up in the backyard.  We got it set up and waited for the water to get warm enough to get in without completely freezing.

Random Pictures from the Month

Jenna doing her own makeup, Dog Kennel, Only Talking to the Dog, Nate in a Box and Carol and Jenna selfie

June 2020

Pool Fun and Maintenance

As we moved into June, the water temperature in the pool became more comfortable and we were able to spend more time in it.  My attempts to build a contraption to heat the water were not successful, so we had to just wait for the sun to warm the water up.  We soon realized that taking care of a pool is a lot of work, as you have to constantly be cleaning out leaves and checking the chemical levels.  Even so, we are very happy with our purchase.

Jenna’s Lost Tooth

Jenna lost one of her front teeth and was VERY excited for the Tooth Fairy to come.

Nana’s Visit

Since Nana was taking the same precautions that we were (avoiding stores, putting off non-critical Dr. appointments, social distancing, wearing masks, etc.), we felt it was safe for her to come for a summer visit.  She enjoyed the pool too and got in her laps.

Hiking

We have focused on activities that can be done while avoiding crowds, like hiking.  We found a local nature area with some good walking trails and enjoyed the outdoors.

Fire Pit

Another socially-distanced activity that we enjoyed in the evenings was burning some logs in the firepit in the backyard.  Toasted marshmallows are always a nice treat.

Backyard Camping

Grant and I continued our tradition of camping in the backyard for his birthday, though we waited until June this year when it would be a little warmer during the night.

Random Pictures from the Month

Extreme Closeups and Jenna’s Hearing Aid