It has been the most surreal past couple of weeks. As Kendall puts it, we are currently living out the pages of future history books. The Coronavirus COVID-19 has become a worldwide pandemic and Boise, Idaho is not exempt. Two weeks and one day ago, Idaho did not have any confirmed cases. Fifteen days later, as I am typing this blog, Idaho has 261 confirmed cases and 5 deaths. We are now on a statewide stay at home order for 21 days.
The schools have been told to remain closed until April 20th. However, it is not looking like a return on April 20th will likely happen. We just received a message from Kendall's district that stated they would begin online school on April 13th. They also outlined a plan for finishing the school year remotely, as it appears that is a very real possibility. I am incredibly grateful that Sidney has been doing online school this year, as her world has remained largely unchanged. She has not missed a beat. With her struggles, it is a very good thing that she is able to stay on course.
I am incredibly proud of how each of the girls are handling the situation. They have been very creative with their time. Though they miss their friends, they have not been nagging incessantly to see them. I think they understand that this is serious. They have been going for walks, bike rides, working in the yard, reading books, crafting, face timing with friends and generally making the most of it.
Just before all the crazy hit, I had a chance to take the girls up to the mountains for a few days. They each brought a friend along for the trip. It was wonderful and fun and relaxing.
Kendall found this awesome quote that summed up the trip, "I don't care how old you are, buying snacks for a road trip should always look like you gave an unsupervised 9 year old $100."
As soon as we dropped our bags in the room, the girls spied a number of deer snacking below our balcony.
Yes, that is Avery and Sidney playing outside in their pajamas. The cold did not seem to bother them at all. They were so happy to be outside enjoying nature and climbing whatever they could find, whenever possible.
The pool and rec center were appropriately closed, considering the current conditions. However, they had crafts that could be taken back to the room. The girls enjoyed painting these little canvases and making salt dough jewelry. We brought a ton of card games, but did not end up playing a single game. We did a lot of giggling and laughing, but really just spent most of our waking moments outside.
I am an early riser by nature, so I enjoyed my morning coffee reading by the fire. It was as nice as it sounds!
We walked at least five miles each day. There were stops along the way to take pictures, tromp in the snow and 'disperse' cattail seeds.
Though I somehow did not manage to get a picture of it, the girls built an awesome snow fort. They spent about 6 hours perfecting it. The girls walked to the edge of the frozen lake. I was not feeling too comfortable with them walking out onto it. That being said, there was a pond by our cabin. After two days of sunshine, Sidney decided to jump on the ice. Next thing she knew, she was waist deep in freezing cold water. It completely and totally freaked her out. I could not help but burst out laughing when she ran up the bank completely soaked with boots full of water. I suppose if you are going to fall through the ice, a waist deep pond is the place to do it. I recall the exact same thing happening to me at her age.
The girls had fun doing their own outdoor photo shoot.
I am thankful that we had this last hoorah, as I think we will be spending our days at home for quite some time!
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