April 19th, 37th Day of Quarantine

Today, the high is expected to be 57F.  If it's sunny with no wind, it might be pleasant enough to be outside!

We watched the 9am service, in which Pastor Jared started a new series.

Afterward, I had everyone get dressed and we went for a "hike" on some of the trails in Grand Ledge.  We went last summer and it was so pretty and fun, I was excited to go back.  Though, my children moaned having to get ready to go out.

But everyone had a super fun time!  There were lots of people in the park, it was actually kind of hard at times to stay away from other walkers.

We found a very clean animal bone!

Emily and a mossy rock.

Alice looking for the best place to cross the tribuatry.

Some one made an elaborate stick structure!

One area had at least 3 snakes when we walked by!  This guy posed for me. = )

We grabbed Taco Bell for dinner on our way home (thanks Kim Possible and Bueno Nacho.)  Then it was bath day, and early bedtime for the babies. The were "not tired" but fell asleep within 15 minutes of going to bed. = )  Emily and William were put down but didn't stay there.

At 8pm I had a meeting with the Busy Moms group, and one of them dropped off a gift by the front door. = )

I went to bed physically tired and emotionally refreshed.  It was a good day.

later days

Home Wine "Tour" #4

Tonight Billy set us up in William's room, so we had a great view of the backyard from upstairs.

We drank one of our favorites, Prophecy Cabernet Sauvignon.

After it got dark, we did open a second bottle.  A Pinot Noir by Erath.  It was okay, but substantially lighter than the Prophecy, so we weren't the biggest fans.  It wasn't awful and we'd drink it again, just not seek it out.

The kids continued to check on us, to make sure that we were okay, in our lovely upstairs venue.  = )

We took the time at the end of our date to stuff 100 Easter eggs for Sunday's backyard hunt.

I think these dates are my favorite part of quarantine!  I keep thinking that it will get warm enough for an outside date, but it hasn't happened yet.  Hopefully soon!

later days

Wine Tour 1
Wine Tour 2
Wine Tour 3

Home Wine "Tour" #2

This week it was Billy's turn to pick the wine.  The porch furniture at the venue looked exceptionally familiar, they must have ordered the same online kit as our last tour. ; )

A picture from a generic vineyard (not this particular California vineyard) made for a pretty vista while we still had some natural light coming in.

It was late in the evening, so eventually the electric candles filled our tiny little laundry room with flickering light.

Augment was on the menu, and a few pretzels to enjoy as well.

Both of us enjoyed this wine, would definitely buy it again.  Next week is my turn again, depending on the weather, the venue might look familiar, again. = )

later days

Check out last week here!

Home Wine "Tour"

The wine that I picked for our "tour" was Head to Head. It comes from Italy, so I planned a low-tech Italian wine tour, um, from Michigan.

 I made a flyer

 and set up a vineyard "view"

This is a picture from the winery's website:

I even found a nice soundtrack to put on in the background!

It may not look like much, but it was the most pleasant way to spend a few hours.  Our children were a little confused as to why were hanging out in the tiny laundry room with fake candles and 'hidden' music. lol

The wine itself is nothing special, earning a 'poor' rating from Billy, and was much to dry for my taste. But this will be a nice recollection as the years pass.

later days

March 19th, "Sworn an Oath of Solitude until the Blight is Purged from These Lands" Day 6, Day 4 of School at Home

The expected high today is 53F.  It's currently very foggy, but I anticipate outside recess none-the-less.

My new year's resolution of not scrolling on facebook is not going well.  I'm trying to curtail it, but the memes are on fire!  Also, I have more time at home (now that I'm not picking up and dropping off children.)

Some of the memes that have affected our daily life are the frequent mentions of Cheryl,

 a new plan to "wine tour" this weekend,

and Emily calling toilet paper the new currency.

And, today's special project is filling a time capsule!  William wants to do 10 years from now, I wanted to wait until 2050.  I think we might end up in a compromise at 2040.

A printed version of our favorite video meme is totally going in there!

For lunch we had leftovers and mac and cheese cups.  I personally had some of the leftover wine chicken and noodles from earlier in the week.

Everyone worked very hard today and lessons (even William) were finished before 4pm!

They play really well together, sometimes...

Sarah went to Meijer today and brought by* a few things that Sam's is currently out of for my Monday order. = )

For dinner we had hamburger helper and corn.  Grace and Juliet were in charge of stirring. = )

After dinner they went out to play in the rain, and Alice (and her crew) took the trash out to the curb!

I think were are all finally finding a groove, and today felt very productive.  I even went and checked the mail!

I watched a little of the Cincinnati zoo home safari by myself. = (  Today's animal was a sloth named Moe! = )

Tomorrow is Friday, and I am most definitely ready for the weekend (and our wine tour.) lol.

later days

*She handed me the groceries at the door, not even coming in. We are trying our best to maintain the quarantine.