A few more fun things I have been doing by Aidan

Hi y'all, we heard on Friday that all the schools are closed for the rest of the year. I’m a little sad but it will give me more time to do these things.

Bake and decorate cookies.  Yes, we actually did that!

Watch the snowman melt.  Yeah, we have some extra time.

More cookies.  It is getting crazy here.

Even Finn came outside to jump on on the trampoline with me in a crazy, rainy windstorm.

And hanging out with Doops.  I did not actually go on this walk.  Mum did.  But I still really like hanging around with Doops all day.

Coronacation Day #11 by Olaf

Coronacation Day #11

Yesterday was a SNOW DAY!  We awoke to almost 6 inches of snow on the ground...always a reminder that Vermont never gives up winter that easily.

 

Aidan took the opportunity to get a few last shredding sled runs in...

And Pop got some fresh tracks up at Bolton...enjoying the uphill exercise and the lack of crowds!

Aidan and Pop decided to make a snowman to see how long he’ll last into spring...creative use of the hockey pucks that we are not using due to the Coronacation shut down of all local ice rinks.

After Aidan and Pop did all the hard work of making Frosty...Finn came outside and added a scarf to claim some artistic ownership!

All in all a great day!

For a short time we were all able to forget about the current situation...

A beautiful sunny Vermont spring day with a blanket of fresh snow was the reminder we needed that there are always things we can count on and know that things will be OK.

Stay safe and take care of each other.

The “Stay at Home” Order

Just a few minutes ago, the governor issued a “Stay at Home” order:

While this could mean an adjustment for some people, it really won’t change anything for us.  While we have left the house regularly to walk the dog (I hope that is still ok!), we have pretty much been home for about 2 weeks.  I think we have taken three trips.  And two of those trips have been for curb-side pick up.  We have not even been going inside the store!

While some of us are busier than others, we all seem to have at least a bit more free time.  Finn spent a ton of time on Sunday and Monday on a really cool art project that included using a blow torch to melt wax (which, by the way, is now totally melted on the front step).

Reading with the dog is pretty popular!

Aidan spent one morning trying to get Siri to talk to Alexa and Siri to talk to Siri.  He also spent a good amount of time incrementally moving Doops and his bed to make sure there was full sun exposure:

At Least We Have the Internet by Aidan

Here are some of my favorite memes and videos:

I really like having the internet so I can talk with my friends through FaceTime. I also like playing crazy 8’s online with them.  I have also been hanging out with my friends son my Xbox.  We just discovered that Netflix has a “party” option so that we can all watch a movie together!

Today’s entertainment by Finn

Today, Becky has tasked me with entertaining the masses. I’ve instead opted to tell you about what happened today. In no particular order (especially not chronologically) I have:

1. Made cornbread. Very popular amongst the rest of the family. Olaf said it was perfect, and I couldn’t have agreed more.

2. Cleaned my room. This really only meant removing the carpet of flattened clothing and jamming them into the meager drawers of my dresser. I was quickly distracted by the (unfortunately cancelled, you guess why) Eurovision Song Contest 2020

3. Listened to the contestants for the (unfortunately cancelled, you guess why) Eurovision Song Contest 2020. For the unenlightened few, the EVSC is an international, The Voice-style song competition. Each European country—plus Australia because??—votes for an artist and song to represent them in the international festival. Through a series of judged and tele-voting rounds, songs are slowly eliminated until there is a winner. Last year, the Netherlands won (yay the Dutch!) so the competition would have been held in Rotterdam if not for a certain Mrs. C. Virus. Regardless, the songs are always quirky and fun and even genuinely jammable on occasion. (A good example would be 2018’s winner, Netta and her song “Toy.” Quite strange, but quite fun!)

4. Played four square. I was certainly not the best, but I still had a good time laughing at my own lack of skills in any sport involving a ball.

5. Been told multiple times by Becky “How mature I am,” and “How I’ve been being very nice lately,” and “How I’m just a joy to have around.” No extra comment needed.

TL;DR, Finn did some things and people gave him a rather large ego boost in more ways than one.

And with that, arrivederci! See you next week when Becky makes me do this again.

(Ed. Note: They also built a wooden train.  Also, Finn is always nice.  He has just been extra nice in adjusting to our new reality.  Actually, I think we have all been great except for a Doops who barks a lot when he is left out)

Cancellations, Part II

One of the hardest cancellations for us was Finn's Vermont Youth Dancers show.   He was The Beast in VYD's Production of The Beauty and The Beast.  We really believe that this is just a postponement, not a cancellation. 

The Cancellations, Part I

The cancellations started one at a time, with an email here and there.  And there was a cascade of cancellations, and subsequent disappointment, until every single activity was cancelled.  Every single one.   Which was strange, because these are kids that were very busy, and suddenly everything came to a screeching halt.  What I truly appreciate, though, was how the adults in my kids' lives supported them through all of this.

Finn's school play actually was not cancelled.  In fact, the students and directors, in an amazing feat of focus and community, were able to pull together a show for the school community.  I can't wait to see it!

I really appreciate what Steve and Katherine said about the students and the performance, so I copied it below the picture.

From the Directors - Shakespeare in Hollywood

"Weirdest. Tech Week. Ever.

On Thursday the 12th, at 3:40pm, we sat down with our cast and crew to let them know that our original performance plans would need to be cancelled. And, if we wanted a guarantee that the show would go on at all, our last option was to perform Shakespeare in Hollywood at noon on the 13th, just over 20 hours away. We had no lights. Our 20' x 10' mural was incomplete. Our costumes were incomplete. We'd only rehearsed one full run of the show, and were unequipped with the mental psych-up normally provided by five straight days of tech.

But these are VCS players we're talking about.

Immediately after our meeting adjourned, they got to work. Cast and crew members stayed late on Thursday -- some until 8pm, when we had to send them home. More appeared as early as 7am on Friday. Study halls, lunches, and sleep were sacrificed, voluntarily, en masse (seriously, there was no discussion, they just did it). And at noon on Friday, our actors put on an incredible show for the students' and faculty's last afternoon on campus.

We've never seen anything like it. The resilience, camaraderie, good cheer and seamless cooperation your kids showed in this trying time was something we will never forget (I know I'm using too many italics; trust me, they're necessary).

To our students: we could not possibly be more proud. What you did here for yourselves and for each other goes beyond anything we could ever expect of you, and even though nothing went according to plan (what ever does in theatre?), we hope you look back on this season with fondness, remembering just how much you were able to do with so little time, when you all came together.

To our community: yes, we do have the performance on tape. We'll be holding onto it for a bit just in case we return to school with enough time to put on the full production for you. If and when it appears that will not be possible, we will share it with all of you digitally.

Either way and in any form, we know you'll love it when you see it.

All the best,
Steve & Katherine"

Turning 13 during a global pandemic

Aidan’s birthday is March 12.  This year was a biggie: He turned 13.  We had planned all along to do a family dinner at Koto’s on the 10th.  Going out to dinner was starting to feel a little risky to me, but I think I was still an outlier at this point.  No one else seemed concerned about going out.  So we went, without kissing or hugging the grandparents.  I secretly wiped off my seat:

Part B of our original plan was to have a bigger party with friends after Finn’s big dance show and Aidan’s hockey tournaments.  On the 10th, though, the future seemed pretty clear to me.  Although I think I remained an outlier at this point, I predicted that people would not and should not want to gather.  So at the last minute, I threw together a surprise party for Aidan.  I even found a piñata on Amazon!  I reached out to our friends at the very last minute, and people came!!  (It has always been a fantasy of mine to pull off a surprise party).  While I still definitely need some work on knowing how and when to jump out and yell "surprise," our good friends were awesome and Aidan was thrilled:

One of us is truly loving this!

Doops is delighted to have his people home all day.  He is not yet very skilled in the art of staying quiet during the video conference calls, but he is very skilled in the art of snuggling next to us while we are doing our work.

How careful should we be?

The news reports were getting more and more serious about social distancing, flattening the curve, and generally doing my favorite thing: staying home.  While we were awaiting a COVID 19 Test from a student Finn’s school, we weren’t sure if he was infected.  The test came back negative.  Until we knew, though, Finn stayed isolated in his room.  He wrote thank you notes, and we even put those in quarantine:

And this text.  Looking back on it now, it seems pretty sad.  Poor guy:

How to stay active...At least we can still go outside!

Do I need to resort to this?

I prefer this, and it seems like going outside is still ok:

It will definitely take some adjusting!

Hmmm...This circulated around social media.  Are people really doing this?

My reality: This is my text from day one about all of us living and working at home.