Only four days left of school!

This post is going to be a bit all over the place but I feel like that reflects our reality right now, a lot all over the place!

On Sunday we tested to make sure we were all negative and yes, we all managed to make it to the other side with very little issues.  And with testing negative, the boys were able to get some much needed haircuts and their boosters.  Nice to get that done!  

We then enjoyed a quiet Memorial day.  Nice to have a quiet day where we could just enjoy being home.  On Tuesday when we all got home we had the kids hurry to do the stuff they would normally do after school and then we headed out.  The boys knew why but Anna didn't!  We didn't tell her ahead of time because we were worried something would come up and we wouldn't be able to go but we got lucky, everyone was healthy so we went to her award ceremony!  And she got two awards, from her band and PE teachers.  

On Thursday morning Anna and I were not feeling well for a reason we still haven't been able to figure.  It was scary how much it impacted the two of us and no one else and we weren't able to figure out anything that might have caused it.  

On Saturday night we went to the top of a local hill to watch the fireworks after a local baseball game.  It was a beautiful evening and we were lucky to have Anna's dear friend and her mom join us!  It was fun to share our enjoyment of the show with them!

And in a bit of catching up, I finally got the photos Olivier took during their science camp trip to Santa Cruz at the beginning of April.  I won't post them all but here are some of our favorites.  And yes, there is a theme of banana slugs!  

Negative so far thankfully but a week of heavy hearts

Thankfully this week everyone was back to their normal routines but having to be extra careful with mask wearing.  So far it is negative tests all around but tomorrow we will know for sure if we were able to keep it to just one positive case in the house.  Fingers and toes crossed!  

One of our cats (Star) we joke is a bit of a blob.  She just kind of tolerates just about anything.  When we were tucking Anna into bed one night Star jumped on her bed and Matt picked her up to get her off.  And she seemed totally fine. 

Today at the barn Anna was super lucky and one of the new ponies let her pet them.  They were super curious about her and the mama was keeping close tabs!   

And after her ride we went and visited with them some more and although the pony was trying to bit Anna, it looks like she was about to get a big kiss!  

Now the reason for the heavy hearts.  On Tuesday there was a shooting at a school in Uvalde Texas. It is a school of second to fourth graders.  Tragically nineteen students had their lives taken and two teachers.  There are varying stories about how this tragic event unfolded but it is yet another tragic reminder of the lack of safety our kids have with regard to gun violence in our country.  As we look at a future were a women's right to chose to have a child will be taken from her, there are shortage of supplies needed for mother's to care for their children (currently there is a massive shortage of baby formula), mother's should not also face the fear that their children will be murdered.  I have no word.  The pain is real.  In dropping off Anna on Thursday I saw two sherif vehicles fly past me and sadly the first thing that comes to mind is fear that they are headed to a school in our area.  On Friday a high school in the county was closed because of a threat.  This is no way to raise our children.  Reaching out to let our representatives know that change must happen.  And please pray for the families of Uvalde, any change is too late for their sweet loved ones.  

Whale of an adventure!

Well this week has been a whale of an adventure...  Thankfully we were able to make the most of it but it was still much harder than we would have liked.  Early in the week COVID arrived in our house.  Unfortunately that meant missing out on some of the fun activities that the schools have crammed into the end of the school year.  It was a hard blow but thankfully as of now only one person has tested positive and had very minor symptoms and those symptoms only lasted a couple of days.  

Thankfully we were able to meet the guidelines for the fun activity we had planned, and that activity was outside.  We went whale watching!  Thank you very much to Mom and Dad Arnold for the Christmas gift.  We had originally planned to go two weeks ago but the weather was very rough and we decided we didn't want to turn green so we delayed.  And for some reason I pushed it out two weeks instead of just one.  Good thing I did!  The weekend I skipped it turns out they didn't see any whales either day (very rare!).  We got super lucky though, we got to see two females and a juvenile!  It was a wonderful trip!

I will start with videos.  Sorry the image isn't steady but it is super tricky to do on the deck of a boat!  And it is tricky to time taking the photos because as big as they are they sure move quick!  

And now for some photos!  And in some, okay most, cases my attempt at photos!  This was taken as we were headed out.  It was a beautiful, clear day with calm seas and cool temperatures but not cold.  

We had a whole section to ourselves!  

And one item to note about these photos, there was no zoom used!  Yes, they were that close at times which made the boat scramble to ensure we respected the space of the whales.

"Thar she blows!"

The great crew of the boat had an interesting proposal for us as we headed back to shore.  They said they could provide photos that we would never forget.  It confused us at first but can you tell our amazement by what we are seeing?  

Wow, look at that whale!  Ha ha!  

It was a great treat after a hard week!  And now we hope for a whole lot of negative tests in the week ahead!

Lunar eclipse!

Tonight we enjoyed the lunar eclipse!  Not as cool as a solar eclipse but we will take it!

 

Windy week!

This week was very windy!  It is hard to describe how windy it has been but I thought these photos of a tree near us gives a good depiction.  It was growing straight up before this week.  Now it is going to need a little help.  

The kids had a busy week with standardized testing which takes a lot of their energy but thankfully might be done next week.  Olivier and Mason had a school band performance on Friday and we get to hear them play again on Tuesday night at the district concert for all the schools in our city.  We are excited to hear all the kids show off their hard work!  On Friday Olivier had the last soccer game of the season and they finished the season undefeated.  It has been a great season!  

On Friday and Saturday we had a warm up that thankfully didn't last.  On Saturday afternoon Cotton wanted some attention from Matt and he just wasn't getting it, so he decided to pout and stare at me instead.

On Saturday when Anna arrived at the barn for her lesson with Matt, she went to get the horse out of her stall and noticed she had a very large cut on her nose.  Late in the day we got the good news that she is all stitched up and will heal.  Whew!  That is one nasty cut!  Do horse girls dig horse scars??

We are approaching the lunar eclipse tonight and I wanted to share a couple photos of the moon from last night.  Spoiled to live where we have such stunning views!  

And, just so we have it documented, Mason is officially taller than me now, by about half an inch!  Crazy to think that he has already passed me up!  

Happy Mother's Day!

This week Anna had an orthodontist appointment and we are hoping that her next appointment in late June she will hear those magic words - it is time to take them off!  Fingers crossed!

The boys had a field trip this week were they hiked a local mountain.  In that one day Mason got over 22,000 steps!  Those teachers were keeping the kids moving and they had a great time!

On Thursday I took a day off to just try and unplug a bit because it has been really crazy at work, the kids school work, and well just life!  One of the things I did was to go for a walk where we got engaged because it is such a peaceful place.  The water was rough and the winds were already getting strong, a sign of what was coming our way this weekend.  

On Friday Olivier had a soccer game with his school team and it was a close one but they came ahead with the win.  One game left in the season and they are really enjoying the games so it will be hard to see it end.

It has been a relaxing weekend, and we have been able to see our parents and wish our moms happy Mother's Day which is always nice.  And today Matt made us a very yummy breakfast, I have been spoiled, and we watched a funny movie with lunch.  The wind has been crazy outside so we have decided to stay in and avoid the pollen!  Very enjoyable Mother's Day weekend!

Busy week!

First off, yes, I skipped a week.  We didn't have a lot going on so I didn't have much of an update.  But this week has been busy!  

This photo of Taz is from Monday night when he decided to sleep in a very odd position, and almost all off of his pillow.  Such a rough life! 

On Tuesday night Matt took Anna to an introduction to high school band event where he learned what a crazy busy year band will be and Anna got a chance to socialize with some of the high school band kids.  On Thursday night I took Anna to the middle school open house night.  The boys had gone on a field trip during the day to see the campus and that night Anna had two performances with the band and got a chance to show me around to her different classes.  It was wonderful to see what she has been up to since this was basically the first time they have been able to host a "regular" event.  I didn't take any videos of the band because they will be showing that off on May 17th and I don't want to spoil what they have in store!

On Friday after school we watched Olivier play soccer as part of the school team.  He was on defense in the first quarter and keeper in the final quarter.  It was nice to see him participating in the game with his classmates.  

And Friday night started a very busy band weekend for Anna!  She was selected for the County Honors Band and they had practice Friday from 6 - 9 p.m. and again on Saturday from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.  And today, she had dress rehearsal from Noon - 1 p.m.  It was supposed to be a much more spread out practice schedule but with the weirdness of COVID this year, they had to do a few adjustments and this was basically the only option they had in order to get it squeezed in this year.  And we are so thankful they did!  It was great to see the efforts of their hard work and motivate Olivier and Mason to audition next year, and Anna for the Senior Honors Band since she will be in high school!

Here is song #1

And song #2.

And song #3.

Very proud of all that hard work!

And now we get ready for another busy week!