COVID - 19

I started this post in 2020.  It's almost 3 years later and a lot has changed.  We don't have to wear masks anymore (except to doctors offices) and we can do normal things like eat out, movies, and go to sporting events.  I'm pretty sure everyone in our family has had covid at least once even if we didn't test for it.  P/V have both had it and bounced back after a couple weeks.  We didn't get the vaccine but respect anyone who does.  It's a personal choice. 

What a few months it has been.  This world wide pandemic has taken the world by storm and totally changed how we do life. It started in March, in China I believe, but spread to the US and flights were cancelled, people worked from home, and then school was basically cancelled after Spring Break.  Teachers did their best to have "online" school, but it's not the same.  Even my school didn't return after Spring Break and I had to host zoom classes for the remainder of the semester.  It's been a wild ride. 

First we had to quarantine to our homes and neighborhoods.  We could walk outside but had to socially distance ourselves from others at least 6 feet apart.  Restaurants, the mall, businesses and the movies all closed.  Bryce started working from home and I had to facilitate my classes and help the kids maneuver their online school with limited devices.  We requested another device from the school and were approved so we had 2 laptops instead of 1 plus R used her Kindle.  The older 3 kids were pretty independent, so I just had to work with E everyday.  We finished the school year out online on June 4.   Since everything had "shut down" and become remote, we decided to take our family vacation early and we flew to NC for 10 days.  J/K Gillam sold their house in Raleigh and bought a house in Oak Island, NC.  We stayed with them and basically went to the beach everyday after school was done.  We were in NC from May 22-June 2.  It was the best (and cheapest) vacation. 



So fast forward and it's summer now (2020).  B is still working from home and the only summer activity is E's gymnastic class. There's no VBS, no pine cove, no Civitan Camp, and no swim team.  i9 Sports cancelled their spring/summer seasons too.  CG just went back outside after doing virtual only for 8-10 weeks but they still have a virtual program.  I've been doing outside camps 90% of the time but occasionally I'll hop on a virtual workout.  It's just crazy to me how things have changed.  We don't see P/V as much anymore trying to keep them safe/healthy since they are high risk.  I've been doing V's grocery shopping for her and dropping them off.  They don't come over for dinner anymore either. 

It's just a weird time and we are so over it, but we have to comply with the rules.  We have to wear masks when we go in a store or business and we have to stay 6 feet apart from others too.  I don't know if things will ever go back to the way they were, but we still only get our food to go from restaurants. 

group picture before looking for crabs

Bree's favorite donut place

Our flight to NC

Cheapest tickets EVER! 

Our daily set up

One afternoon we went kayaking

tie-dye t-shirts

Ice Cream

Vacation!