Pandemic - Month Four

Another pandemic month, another photo dump.

Jack finished school for the year.  

One of his final projects was to present his research paper to his class via Zoom.

The topic he chose was Native American spears.

Here he is showing the model he made which was a big hit.

Part of his teacher's end-of-year gift.

We were able to go to the school and meet his teacher outside to pick up 

any remaining belongings Jack had in the school.

There have been almost daily bike rides around the neighborhood.

Millennium Falcon ice cream sandwich.

Fun at the beach.

"Jack made this."

Ground was broken on the panda clubhouse.

(More on this later.)

And of course lots of sillies.

Jack was able to attend a half-day camp last week at Tastebuds Kitchen where he got to bake every day.  Further details on that in a separate post.  

- S.

Pandemic - Month Three

Here is a photo dump of how Jack spent some of month three of quarantine.

Street hockey air guitar in the driveway.

First s'mores of the season.

Walk in the neighborhood collecting "puffs" then blowing them all over everyones

yards, therefore guaranteeing there will be more next year.

Too much iPad time.

Mulch bag opener extraordinaire.

Nana showed Jack how to whittle.  We now have a lot of smooth sticks around the house.

He also used this skill to make his spear for a school project.  (More on that later.)

Huge box = lots of fun for both Jack and Cleo.

Interesting lunch vehicle.

One of many in the series, "Jack on rocks."  This one is from Lynn Woods.

On a hike near the house.

Jack has figured out he is now big enough to manage a standard-size veggie burger.

Testing out the new water blasters on a hot day.

- S.

Bike Riding Update

Update on the bike riding - first crash.  Thankfully, just some scrapes.

Immediately after the crash, Jack swore off bike riding for a week.  That lasted until the next day.  We encouraged him to take a day off, and so he was back on his bike today.  

Practice, practice, practice!

- S.

Bike Rider

Last weekend Jack became an independent bike rider.  In typical Jack fashion, it was to the point where we wondered if he would ever learn to ride, and then after minimal practice, he just took off. 

The next day Jack was eager to go out and practice again, where he quickly learned how to start pedaling on his own from a stop.  Here is another video and a post-ride interview.

We are very proud of him and glad that now we can go on family bike rides.

- S.

Pandemic - Month Two

I think we are going on about two months of being at home at this point.  Schools throughout the state have been canceled through June.  No word on when Derrick or I will be returning to an office for work, but likely not anytime soon.  Here is a bit more of what has happened since we've all been home.

Easter happened.  There were treats.

And an in-house egg hunt.

And also an actual net for street hockey appeared.

Jack has been learning about the water cycle in science, so there have been lots of

experiments happening.

We've also discovered that Jack is good at digging holes, so we took advantage

of this and planted a few arborvitaes.  

 Jack wanted to go food shopping with me one day.  

After having to wait in line outside for a while, 

he probably won't make that mistake again.

Jack has been taking apart old computers with Nana for fun.

I showed him how to use the wire stripper and he was pretty impressed.

I'll be back at some point with another exciting quarantine update!

- S.

Pandemic

We are into week four of Jack and Derrick working from home, and week three for me.  We're all healthy so far, save some sniffles from the allergy-sufferers, and still trying to get into the swing of all being home together, each with our own schedules we need to adhere to.  

We didn't manage to get Jack to the barber before everything shut down, 

so it was back to a home haircut.  Didn't come out too bad.

Jack's school has been great from the get-go.  He has a daily schedule, his teacher sends videos to accompany each subject, and he has a daily video call with his teacher and classmates.

We try to get outside for walks or bike rides when it isn't raining.

Derrick brought up the old Wii from the basement and Jack has been enjoying that, 

and it gives him a fun way to get some energy out on rainy days.

There are definitely some crazy times, and stressful times, but we're doing our best!

- S.

7.5

About two weeks ago was Jack's half birthday.

 New book about building with cardboard.

New K'nex blaster since Jack still loves to build.

End result.

Oh, and just an inch growth spurt since January (!)

- S.