Week 9 - celebrations

Lily is now 11.  Our self motivated Lil' made her birthday requests known well in advance (we're talking pre COVID-19 times) and even though she had to pivot hard to adjust to the current social distancing rules, she had a fantastic day.  We all did.  She revels in her birthday. She came up with the creative idea to decorate her bike and do a family bike-by ride past her friends' houses.  She also planned a birthday Kahoot on Zoom with friends, requested a scavenger hunt, cardboard sword duels, and family movie.  Food requests were detailed for every meal whether it was mango juice with french toast casserole for breakfast or Little Big Burger, Dr. Pepper, and Oma's German Potato salad for dinner. She knows what she wants and voices it clearly....respect. Her giddy excitement turning 11 makes me so happy with bittersweet tears in my eye, even as I type this.  These 9 weeks of isolation have shown me even more just how quick her brain is, how thoughtful and mannered she is (except with her siblings), and how quickly my already independent Lily is growing up.

Nate and I also celebrated 14 years of marriage.  We got take out from the restaurant that Nate and I went to the night of our proposal.  14 years ago, I was standing at the cake display and he just looked over at me in silence and handed me a note that would start an incredibly romantic proposal.  Literally everything changed for us after that single moment.

In COVID-19 news this past week, Phase 1 reopening began in almost all Oregon counties except  ours and 2 neighboring counties. A last minute rule, though, allowed retail to open in our county as long as the store isn't in a mall.  Yet, our county is still supposed to stay home unless it's for essential needs....a touch confusing on the messaging.  Sounds like our county will reopen in June.  Overnight camps for the summer are not allowed in Oregon and day camps are ok as long as all the rules are adhered to.  Some camps have already canceled regardless so we don't know if our kids will be part of any camps this year at this point.  Nationwide, news was all about reopening the economy and the debate on whether it's too soon or not.  Time will tell.  Oregon continues to flatten the curve.

Week 10 recap video