Week 5 - A memorable parade

Sometimes sunny and warm spring weather doesn't translate similarly to the mood inside our home.  It wasn't an easy week, definitely tougher than I expected.  Witnessing my kids fight, scream, and cry over the logistics and fairness of an Easter egg hunt took me down and I couldn't shake it off quickly...but I eventually did and we moved on.  A bit more fighting than the usual amount, a bit more resistance from Paul and Elise to do school work, and a bit more back talk from Lily didn't make the week go smoothly but overall, we are healthy and continue to feel blessed that we are all together at home.   Oma is enjoying gardening and spoiling the kids.  Opa is staying well informed on everything there is to know about COVID-19, making us Saturday breakfasts, and getting out to the front porch to enjoy the sun.  

Getting a ping pong table this past week has been a great addition to the playroom; it almost feels like a little bit of tennis is back in our lives.  The highlight of our week was a parade of our school's staff driving by. We made signs, cheered, waved, and even got surprisingly a little teary eyed seeing the teachers and support staff drive by with smiles on their faces. 

More articles are popping up now on the topic of when restrictions will be lifted so the economy can reopen.  The consensus is lacking and it's getting a bit messy to the point of some protests across the country.  About 40K deaths from COVID-19 in the US, 160K deaths worldwide, and 72 people have died in Oregon.  There are still so many unknowns but a 3 phase plan has been communicated to slowly reopen....timing is unknown....sounds like maybe mid May.  Masks continue to be highly recommended.

Week 5 Recap Video 

Week 4 - Holy Week in Pajamas

Treasuring the good moments, enjoying the simple moments, and losing my mind over the infuriating moments (there are plenty). All the unknowns of what life will look like in the not so distant future worry me.  The constant changes to models and recommendations unnerves me.  The >100K worldwide death count to COVID-19 saddens me and somewhat numbs me.  The renewed hope Easter, Passover, and the springtime blooms typically bring is not shining brightly for me this week.  Too soon. 

Week 4 Isolation Video

Week 3 Isolation - Winging it and Masks

While my kid's teachers finish training for online teaching, I did my 3rd week of winging it homeschooling.   Paul telling me through tears at one point "You're my mom. You're not my teacher" tells you that it hasn't gone smoothly but overall, we're making it work.  Schedules are our friend....so are lots of breaks.

My kids seek more cuddle time these days, especially after I say good night.  They sneak down to chill in bed with me.  I don't mind.

My kids call themselves 3Kids Theater when they get in creative performance mode.  Here is a PSA Kids "Go Noodle" style video they made to teach kids to stay away from germs while exercising and washing hands.



This past week was a lot of talk about wearing masks, NYC continues to hurt, "the worst is yet to come," unemployment numbers, supporting restaurants, best safe grocery shopping practices, and what will it take for us to truly feel like it's safe again?

Inside our home, the focus continues to be on feeling safe, being healthy, and showing the love.  We continue to follow some kind of a schedule, continue to learn and create, mourn the things we miss so much, remind ourselves what we are grateful for......then sleep it off , wake up the next day, ready to go at it again trying to be helpers and not be a waste of space.

Es ist was es ist.

Week 2 of Isolation - A Lot

A lot more indoor time due to weather.  A lot more screen time.  A lot more moments of sadness.  A lot more googling of symptoms because someone felt icky.  A lot more taking temperatures just in case.  A lot more anxiety around a trip to the grocery store.  A lot more thought given to how else we can help our community besides staying home.  A lot more closeness.  A lot more connections to friends and family virtually.  A lot of fighting.  A lot of silliness. A lot of frustrating moments.  A lot of laughing.   A lot of pajama time.  A lot. 

Not the Happiest Place on Earth

My last blog post was titled "Happiest Place On Earth".......uhhhh.....that was just 3 weeks ago.  Are we no longer on Earth?

The state of the world is nerve wracking and surreal; it's a mix of fact and nightmare.  Portland is on a "stay home stay safe" mandate.  We are to leave the house only for essential reasons which does include exercise conveniently.  6' of social distancing is the new norm.  It's hard to imagine handshakes will ever make a comeback.  I'm steering closer to becoming a germaphobe.

Our family isolation began Friday, March 13...of course it began on Friday the 13th.  Oma and Opa are here too.  We are not isolated from them.

Week 1 had amazing spring weather every single day which definitely helped us ease into our new reality.  Making a schedule works for us.  It always has.  Nate is working from home moving around to various rooms to keep away from all our noise and disappear into his parallel work world.  I am very aware of the luxury I have of being a hands on parent all day long.  It doesn't feel like a luxury much of the time but I know it is.

Right now, the news is about equipping healthcare staff because they don't have enough, the surge in cases around the world especially in Italy right now.

One of my favorite quotes is "If you want to change the world, go home and love your family."  It's a bit cheezy I know.  At this time, the quote should really just be "If you want to change the world, go home."

We'll see if I keep this weekly summary up but I sure enjoyed the distraction making this.

I pray for our healthcare workers.  I pray for all the sick patients.  I pray for everyone because every single person is impacted by this and no one has it easy.  I do not say "I pray" out loud often.  It makes me so uncomfortable when I think it's not genuine so I abstain.  I am praying hard.

Happiest Place on Earth

We just came back from a whirlwind trip to Disneyland and California Adventure.  We surprised the kids with the news and less than a day later, we touched down at the John Wayne Airport.

The last time I felt such bliss and pure joy of truly being in the moment of an experience was witnessing the total solar eclipse for 2 minutes of totality. I was overcome with emotion and felt unexpected tears of joy on my cheeks at moments in the park. Incredibly over the top cheesy sounding but so true. I couldn't stop smiling and laughing whether it was bonding with my family, taking all the sights in, or while on a ride.  They are all so good!  I was simply in awe of this man-made "happiest place on Earth."  What does this say about me having had a similar reaction to a man-made wonder as to a natural wonder?

 I had been such a skeptic of the park and didn't give it much thought throughout my life besides thinking about the crazy crowds, high prices, and long lines.   I regret not planning better and taking my Disney-loving sister and brother in law along.  I thought I was doing them a favor by not schlepping them along with our family tornado but we had such a memorable and fun family trip;  we missed not having them there too.  

The new Star Wars ride "Rise of the Resistance" in Disneyland is the best ride I've ever been on.  It's a 20 minute ride, interactive elements, fast ride through various scenes, simulations, holograms, and special effects.  Blew me away. I know Nate would say the same. Kids loved it but they were a touch scared at moments. Thinking about all the rides we took, there wasn't one ride we didn't like.  The other rides that stood out for us were Space Mountain, Autopia, Thunder Mountain, Astro Blasters, Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean, It's A Small World, Radiator Springs, Toy Story Mania, and Incredicoaster. Finishing off our whirlwind trip with the World of Color water show was some damn good icing on a delicious cake.

The level of commitment to creating the different settings inside the parks is top notch.  Every single detail as well as the customer service was mind blowing.  The fast pass technology was a smart decision by Disney - it's engineered so wisely with getting to do the rides you want with minimal wait yet making sure they are spaced out enough that you have to decide whether to wait in a longish line to take a ride you can't get a fast pass for.  Genius.

So, yes based on my blog post, it's quite possible that I had more fun than my kids.  We had to sugar them up with churros to keep their energy going late into the night.  Nate and I were not done. 

Hi, my name is Nicole, and I'm a Disney convert and a newly minted Disneyland fan.  

Iconic family shot

Elise's favorite ride was Thunder Mountain Railroad.  She rode it twice.

Goofy Sky School.  Paul was all about the rollercoasters until motion sickness kicked in towards the end of our trip.  Good thing there are plenty of non-rollercoaster rides too.

 Walking into Cars Land on our way to the Radiator Springs Racing ride.  Crazy cool. 

 Space Mountain.  Can you find our kids in this pic?  Yes, they were a little scared.

Autopia was a blast for my kids getting to drive cars with what Nate thinks were lawnmower engines.

Star Wars Galaxy's Edge area.  I had no idea that every detail of the area would look like you are in the Star Wars movie.  Even the vendors selling coke - coke was spelled differently as well as the shape of the bottles

More Star Wars

Sugaring them up with Churros to keep it going into the night.

Very happy and giggly Elise driving horribly on purpose to knock our car around.

 Pixar Pier

Toy Story Mania Ride - Lily's favorite

 While waiting in line, a ladybug came to say hi to Lily

Nate was really the only one to get wet on the Grizzly River Run splash ride

 Lily had her moments of freaking herself out before rides but she still went for it and always raved about them afterwards

 Learned how to draw Pluto at the animation academy

 After a great dinner at Lamplight Lounge, we got close up seats to watch the incredibly creative water and light show "World of Color." Just thinking about all the hours the engineers worked on this in the middle of the night to test it out.

2020 Start

I'm grateful for the pictures to help remember some really fun moments since 2020 began. It hasn't been the smoothest of starts to the year but no complaints. We've had a lot of fun moments and the kids are learning and laughing.  Besides soccer and tennis, Paul is spending a good amount of time trying out sarcasm and air quotes these days. I heard Paul tell Lily that Micky Mouse called and he wants his robe back.....it made zero sense but good effort.  He works hard for a laugh.  Elise treasures any time she gets using the Storyboard and Monument Valley apps, time with her friends, and eating sweets.  Lily is very focused on school, tennis, volleyball, and piano; she is having a rough go of it battling nasty lingering viruses. Feel for her. 

We have fit quite a bit in recently...gosh especially Elise looking at all the pictures.


Fondue family night is a tradition to mark the end of a year and the start of a new one.

STEM Like a Girl workshop at PSU was impressive.  Highly recommend. They had to design a moving sculpture out of the supplies provided.

 Girl Scout Cookie season is no joke.  Marked improvement for Elise's selling skills since last year .  Not so shy this year.

Lily and her friend Izzy co-hosted the school talent show.  They were quite the comedic hams up there with several wardrobe changes.

 Date with Elise getting a behind the scenes tour at the zoo.  Thanks Girl Scouts.

 It has now been a year since Lily and I started our weekly 6am tennis date mornings.  Love that time with her.  Love the sunrise on our way home from the courts.

 Oma and Opa despise the squirrels.  Don't mess with Oma and her bird food.  A couple shopping clicks later and now Paul and Opa enjoy squirting squirrels off the bird feeders with a water gun.  

 Super fun night with friends trying out the sport of Curling.  Definitely recommend.

 One of the most beautiful sunrises I've ever seen

  Nate has been busy taking the kids to the mountain when schedule allows.  Elise is really taking to snowboarding. 

 Presidents Day weekend in Seattle for Lily's 3 day volleyball tournament.  The trip was a total bust due to a nasty virus but Nate, Paul, and Elise managed to escape for a day to downtown Seattle.  

 Drove Paul up to Tacoma to take home a 1st place trophy in a tennis tournament.  Wait - Paul said he would never play this tournament again because he didn't actually get a trophy.  Getting 1st place didn't suffice.  I can't say it enough - playing tennis with any of my kids brings me such joy.

 Elise got to take a friend with Dad to a Blazers game for a belated Christmas present

Moxie has definitely landed quite comfortably into the hearts and laps of Oma and Opa.

Elise has been living it up with Girl Scouts lately.  First Aid lesson with a doctor, tour of an animal hospital, behind the scenes zoo tour, upcoming overnight troop trip at a horse stable, and here powering the water hose at the local fire station.  Elise is living it up and learning lots.