Third week of "quarantine school"

The weirdest thing about this whole stay-at-home order is the fact that the children have rolled with the changes so well.  At times, it seems that they think this is normal.  As if suddenly shutting down school and every other activity is completely normal. As if using the word "quarantine school" is normal.  As if we are going to do this on a regular basis.  It's odd but useful that they aren't fighting this temporary new normal.

James is fascinated by the red-tailed hawks who have nested behind our house.  The beautiful Magnolia tree is in the neighbor's front yard.

 Our bulbs have bloomed early so I've been cutting big bouquets of daffodils for the dining room table each week.

 We celebrated Auntie Amy's birthday with cookies, ice cream, and a Zoom meeting.  It was cute how Alma and James knew some of the other attendees. "Dad, is that the guy you climbed Mt Rainier with?"  "Dad, is that the lady who gave Auntie Amy macadamia nuts when you realized that you were allergic to them?"

James and Alma had more Zoom meetings with teachers this week, including calls for Spanish and violin.  There are times throughout the day when we are all on separate online conference calls.  It is a lot for Joshua to manage, but I'm so grateful that we have one parent who is (relatively) available to help coordinate the children's schooling.

We have continued to start every school day morning with a family meeting during breakfast followed by a half-hour family walk.  We realized that at the end of this week, we will have spent over seven hours walking together thus-far.  We all look forward to these moments of fresh air and checking in with each other.  I'm so blessed to be able to go through this with my lovely little family.