Going Viral

 Hello!

So we have just come through what is a very interesting and weird time in our history. On or around March 14, 2020, virtually everything shut down to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus in the US and beyond.  

We were in Park City for Spring Break and enjoying an apres ski beer when I got a text saying that all ski resorts were shut down effective the following day and basically that all restaurants and hotels were also shutting down. I immediately booked tickets for our group back to KC for the next day. Once we got home, we decided to drive our RV to Colorado and join my parents for a week at their house in Cascade, Colorado before setting off in our RV.

Part of what happens next is a blur, and I wasn't documenting a lot of it, but thankfully, Olivia is our resident photographer and she provided some interesting material to share 😊.

1. In Colorado, we cooked a lot and also did a lot of puzzles. After we finished one that was especially hard, we all signed it and my mom had it framed for display in the house as our COVID-19 quarantine puzzle. Grandma taught the kids a lot of card games. We dug deeper into the bucket of things to do and apparently some of us figured out how to do whatever this is to pictures.. LOL!

2. Next, we drove to Texas and found this tiny RV park right on the beach. The owner, Tim, was particularly fond of Murphy and would let him basically have free roam of the place, though most of the time, there was only one other couple at the entire place which had 7 camper spots. Also on this trip, Jason and I discovered that you can 'take out' gallon jugs of margaritas! Game changer. Here is Murphy playing a game of "run around the Camper".

We actually went to the same place in TX two separate times during quarantine because we liked it so much and the internet service was excellent. Each morning I would walk Murphy along the beach and watch the sunrise. It was magical especially with what sometimes felt like the world crashing down all around. And we took our bikes for rides up and down the coast and we also went riding in a TX state park known for its huge alligators. We saw lots of them! You definitely don't want to veer off the trail in that park. 😊

3. We did make it back home to KC a few times and also back to Colorado to quarantine in the mountains. Jason was working on a car wash build in the Springs so it was convenient for him to have us work and do e-Learning from Colorado when possible. Here's a pic from one of our trips back and forth from KC to Colorado Springs in "Mom's Taxi" aka the Grocery Getter.

Right before shutdown, we had just finished a long remodel project on our kitchen. We love the end result and the new kitchen appliances were really fun to play with especially with all of the baking and cooking that went on during quarantine. Olivia and Quinn learned how to master a few different dishes and I experimented with things like lasagna and other new recipes. 

3. e-Learning was an interesting road and I will say it was extremely challenging for all parents, and especially for parents who were working remotely full-time, to try to supervise this stuff. Our teachers at St. Paul's did their best, I am sure, but it ended up feeling like a scavenger hunt to find the correct zoom link, password, date and time. Though I hate to admit it, there were times when I just said, "forget it" and we just had to pass on some of the stuff.  

I found these pictures that Olivia took and I think they reflect perfectly the gamut of emotions we all had... from anger and frustration, then moving on to intense snacking and finally to smug resignation and acceptance.

We were blessed to be all together during quarantine and making some really incredible family memories. The freedom to sleep until you wake up and not needing an alarm was amazing. We created our own campfire sing along nights with S'mores and joke-telling. Olivia got inspired to work with her guitar, writing songs and performing them for us. 

Though I was really happy when things started opening back up, I can hardly complain about how we fared during the shutdown. I know how lucky we are and I thank God that we were in a place of protection during this uncertain time.

Love Always, Claire & Family