What Happened to Summer? (Living in a Pandemic in the Summer)

I am updating this blog like a boss today right?! It's August 12 so this post is on point with what we've been doing so far this month (spoiler alert: not much!)

Most of my days are filled with worries about the upcoming school year...

 The above absolutely sums up my feelings.

We had a big lead up to the governor annoucing the plans for schools and then his message basically left it up to each district. UGH! So, we waited for our district to evaluate and meet with the local health officials. And now we know the plan. It's a Hybrid learning situation.

I don't feel great about it. 

I wonder if it's worth the risk to send Ella to in person learning two (2) days a week.

Our district has cancelled all open house and orientation opportunities.

Yet, they want us to send kids to school in person.

It's hard for me to come to understand this decision.

First, we said we'd leave it up to Ella. Now, I'm not sure if we should!

The other part of the Hybrid learning situation is that they have split up to the student population by last name to allow for the 50% capacity in person learning threshold. Bummer for Ella since most of her good friends fall in the opposite group. 

She will start middle school this year. 

Will she have to meander the hallways to switch classes (she's never had to do this before because this is her first year at the middle school) and what about lunch? Will they even use lockers this year? 

So. many. questions. 

So, I'm waiting.

I'm waiting for more details and better guidance from our schools on how they intend to keep everyone safe and what happens if someone tests positive. Will we all end up distance learning anyway? 

I know nobody knows and everyone is dealing with this just like us. 

It's just scary and hard.

Recent letterboard...

Jay shopped for groceries and apparently thought we were feeding monkeys here! 

What in the world with all of the bananas!

School supply order arrived! I placed an online order for all of it this year due to the pandemic. 

So weird to do that! But, at the same time it was pretty sweet to open the box and have all the stuff there. In the store, it's hard to find some of the items!

Looking forward to reading the latest Grisham book on the deck this weekend 

Also on the agenda for later this week - working on trimming some landscaping!

The things I haven't told you about July (Living in a Pandemic in the Summer)

July, oh July. The month of July FLEW by. We started off the month with our first trip out of our local area! We went to Worthington for the 4th of July. They still had fireworks, and we were excited to see family and hang out for a few days out of our own house!

While there, Ella scored a bday gift - Look at this shirt! So perfect!

Hanging out with cousins!

Waiting for dusk so the fireworks can start!

Ella was all lit up for the fireworks show with a unicorn headband! Obviously we had red white and blue puffcorn to snack on too!

Fireworks in a pandemic meant that we stayed in the vehicle to view them. Other people went out to sit on the grass, but they were supposed to social distance and wear masks. Due to the bugs and germs, we stayed in the truck

Back from the weekend festivities, this is the latest look for grocery runs - I have added my blue light glasses. I first started to wear my sunglasses inside, but that was kind of odd, so I changed to my blue light glasses. Pretty soon I will probably wear swim goggles! LOL!

Sometimes this is how I feel! This letterboard brought to you by Ella

In July baking news, this was a strawberry "salad" but really it's not. It has a pretzel crust with a cream cheese filling situation and a strawberry top. It was okay. Jay really wanted to have it. I'm glad I only made a small sized pan because we didn't even finish it.

Being 11 and spending the summer entirely at home means a girl has to get creative! 

Spa day on the deck!

Or picnicing in the grass with the girls!

Ella has also started to get into science experimenting. This cool one she found on Pinterest (she LOVES to check out my Pinterest finds). Pretty cool experiment using Dawn soap and a wash cloth to create bubble "snakes"

Ruby didn't know what to think!

Jay and I still working from home. I'm still working from the kitchen because it's too hard to figure out where else to go. LOL! Most days, you will find Ruby close by....

Ella finally got to have her 2 besties over for a sleepover in July. They had the best time! Even though they have talked for hours and hours over Facetime since schools closed in March, seeing them live and in person is so much better. There was lots of giggles, exciting screams and girl stuff.

July 27 was a big day! 

On July 27, 2019, we drove a LONG way into Wisconsin to meet Ruby! 

Can you believe she's been living with us for an entire year?

It seems longer than that to me. 

I am not a pet person, but Ruby Pearl really is a perfect dog for us. 

In honor of her big day, she was gifted some new toys, including this new favorite!

Ella made some sweet treats for us in July - no bake oreo cheesecakes. 

They were delicious!

Hi, still working from home but wanted to point out that I get dressed on the daily!

Forgot to tell you back in May about the flowers we planted in the yard!

Our neighbors have invited Ella to help plant bulbs in their garden in years past and then they have shared the flowers with us in the late summer. This year, because of COVID19, they gave Ella a bag of bulbs for her to plant here. She and Jay planted them and the flowers have started to bloom!

We rounded out the month celebrating Jay's birthday!

It was a relaxing day hanging around the house. We got donuts for breakfast (duh!) and then went to Rack Shack BBQ (our FAVORITE) for dinner! I made Jay get a pic. LOL!

We're not ready to eat in a restaurant yet, so we get the food as takeout and eat in the vehicle!

For gifting, we added to his Home Depot gift card stash and he got a shiny new coffee gift card too.

Dang it Ruby!

The things I haven't told you about June (Living in a Pandemic in the Summer)

 June happenings from our neck of the woods:

Pants check Friday

Grandma Deb made a trip to our house after the state loosened up the restrictions to deliver Ella an Easter basket and her birthday gifts!

She got some fun Easter basket finds and clothes for her birthday (no pics)

The weather was great, so we spent time on the deck and in the yard playing bean bag toss!

Did you catch any of the Press Your Luck games that re-booted this summer? I LOVED this game growing up and I still think it's exciting to watch! NO WHAMMYS!

I decided to volunteer for one of the many "to do" items that is on our home improvement list - restain the deck. It was in desperate need of staining but man that's a lot of work! First, I had to do the deck cleaner with that brush and it looks easy on the instructions but my body was so sore after cleaning the deck and it took me like 3 hours! 

Obviously still baking over here...these were so so - an oreo cookie bar.

Father's Day 2020 in quarantine! Jay requested a Home Depot gift card, which we gifted but then we also surprised him with his favorite coffee growler!

Ruby got a rain coat!

My hair is OUT of control

And we love hanging out on the deck!

The things I haven't told you about the last day of school!

The last day of school was obviously from home, but I wanted to keep the traditions alive, so we still snapped the last day of school picture!

Ella received a surprise delivery of super cute birthday cookies from Grandma Jolyn!

Our school rescheduled the drive through parade and the theme was tropical, so were ON IT!

It was bittersweet because this is Ella's last year at the elementary school! 

We got to see each of her teachers on the parade so that a great time!

Jay was pumped because the school created a video of the parade event and his truck made the video. LOL! Like he's famous now or something.

The things I haven't told you about Ella's quarantine birthday (Living in a Pandemic in the Summer)

June arrived and you know what that means! Ella's birthday!! We were planning for a big 11th birthday, with a flamingo theme, but the COVID19 Pandemic had other plans. She still had a wonderful birthday and we thought we would be able to have the party later in the summer, but again, as I write this in August, we haven't been able to get everyone together yet. At this point, we'll probably table the flamingo theme for next year!

To make her birthday special in the pandemic, I decided to order up those birthday yard signs to surprise her and get the neighborhood to honk in her honor on the big day! Thank goodness it arrived. The shipping kept being delayed and after back and forth with customer service, we were able to have it overnighted and it arrived in the nick of time. Whew. Now about these pictures. You will have to see what's different! 

Okay, first difference: Jay decided to remove the fence in the porch area that day, so the pictures I took in the morning had the fence, but the pictures I took later in the day, do not! LOL! Also, we noticed afterwards, that Ruby Pearl totally photobombed Ella's picture! Do you see Ruby sitting at the front door? OMG! Hilarious.

We kept the donut tradition alive and ordered up an "11" giant donut for our fave shop. Well, this one has got to be the biggest we've ever gotten. WOW! 

We all wore flamingo shirts for the celebrating!

We tried to get on the Today Show virtual plaza, but we weren't chosen (bummer).

Ella had made a sign just in case!

She wanted to bake something with me on her birthday, but not her birthday cake (more on that below), so we decided to make birthday cake pops!

Her cake request was ice cream cake from DQ. We didn't want to get the big cake since it's just the three of us, so we got the ice cream cupcakes which were so cute and delicious!

This is 11

I am certain her wishes included being able to see her friends!

Family in flamingo shirts for the win!

The undocumented parts of the day included a suprise car parade from her BFFs which was so unexpected (we were all supposed to be doing a car parade at school but it rained so they cancelled) and then we had facetime with family too!

Happy Birthday Ella! It was a strange birthday FOR SURE, but it was still great to spend the day with you and celebrate your big day!