A Penny for My Thoughts: The Best of Quarantine

You know what? All things considered, it was a pretty good week. There was a lot of down time, and yet that time was employed so enjoyably, that each day went by quickly and its rather shocking that another whole week of staying home has passed. Everyday I think, we will probably never have a time like this again. I mean, Abe is still working and we are still doing our homeschool schedule, but with absolutely no obligations to go anywhere else, that still leaves a lot of time to spend however the heck we want to-- as long as we stay away from other people.
This post is a little look at some of what we've been up to during this historic time of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Greta is quite the performer-- mostly for her own entertainment-- but as the youngest of eight siblings, she usually has quite an audience of adoring fans. Even so, I frequently hear her singing alone in a room. She loves to strum on the ukelele and sing and dance.

A little over a year ago Faith stopped taking gymnastics classes to switch to swim and water polo. Well, in the absence of swim and polo these days, she returned to her roots and has been practicing her gymnastics again. She said it's a pretty good workout. I wouldn't know:)

George and Cannon working on their parkuor. We have had some really lovely weather this and I am so grateful. I can't even imagine if this pandemic struck in November and we couldn't get outdoors to feel the sunshine and relax.

I don't recall what Peter did to deserve the punishment of being tied up with a jump-rope, but I feel certain the punishment probably fit the crime. May I just say, Peter might be having the roughest go of this new reality. He has been quite out of sorts lately and is very quick to complain and protest. Give me strength.

This grouping was thoroughly entertained with Just Dance a few nights back.

Greta, Peter, and George brought me little vases of flowers from the backyard-- the prettiest flowers our yard has to offer.

I mentioned our "Magic House" before. How this house magically becomes whatever we need it to become. Nowadays, add "dance studio" to its list of credentials. The boys are doing live Zoom ballet classes online now. The last few weeks they've just done classes live streamed on YouTube. But these are better because now the teacher can (and does) individually call out students to fix things. Cannon said he was terrified of the teacher and consequently worked even harder than he would have in class. Ha ha! That's what I'm talking about!

George had a drum lesson with his band teacher online. He loved it and learned some new stuff he's been practicing. The drums are in the basement and every time he starts the playing, the first couple hits make me thing there is an earthquake or something is wrong. Of course I immediately realize it's just George practicing and I love it.

That's Cannon down in the corner doing his guitar lesson. Dang, technology is amazing! And I am really impressed to see how everyone is hustling to make their gig still work-- dance studios, restaurants, music teachers, delivery services. It's impressive to see everyone get creative with their solutions to this dilemma we're all in. "Necessity is the mother of invention".

Perhaps the highlight of the week was going to two different missionaries' drive by homecomings. This picture is of Bethany's friend (really, we all consider him a friend) Connor. He had a rather harrowing experience getting home from Peru. It was wonderful to see him safely home.

Then later in the week we paid a visit-- Corona style-- to Tanner who returned from the Adriatic North mission. It made our hearts happy!

But seriously--- WALKING is the name of the game all day, every day. We live for our walks. Multiple times a day someone announces, "I'm going on a walk- does anyone want to come?" And different combinations of Foxes head out for a walk. Sometimes they are shorter 15 minute walks. Sometimes they are hour and a half walks. But we LOVE them. The girls are easily clocking 10 miles some days. We often plan our day around our walks. Cannon and George often ride their scooters and Peter rides his bike. We push Greta in the stroller. It's so healthy and feels so good.

Elinor and Faith and I took a long walk along the canal road last evening. I think technically we were trespassing and we aren't supposed to walk along the canal road. But seriously, we're in a pandemic. I think the authorities have bigger fish to fry.

Elinor and and Faith are impressive speedwalkers. For the record, Elinor won this race.
And now, to combine two things I dearly love-- walking and Jane Austen.