Day 56

Yesterday we did hike #3 on our hiking challenge.  We went to Knox Farm.  I love Knox and we figured yesterday would be a great time to go because the weather was going to be a little cold so it wouldn't be as busy.

So we bundled up and headed out! 

 None of us realized that there was going to be a full on blizzard though!!!!

Oliver was pretty pumped when he found the lending library that his librarian at school talked about!

 Then it started to hail!

 The weather literally changed every 10 minutes.  At this point it was lightly snowing.

 Here the snow let up but the wind was out of control!  We all walked backwards for a bit to try to shield the wind.

 Then we thought we found the pond for our landmark.  Turns out this wasn't the right pond but at least the sun was shining and the winds stopped!

 I love these guys.

After much mud, snow, hail, using our phone to GPS stuff, a few tears, some falls, and some carrying we made it to the right pond!!!  Although we all agreed the first pond was much prettier.  

 No matter how rough our hikes can get we are all pretty proud of ourselves when we make it to our landmark!

 Then of course, it is time for our post hike snacks!

 Then we came home and warmed up.  After a bit of warming up and watching Schitt's Creek I made dinner.  While I waited for our dinner I had a glass of wine and worked on my blog. 

After dinner Mark had some errands to run so I brought my wine and we had a little car date (no wine for Mark of course).  After our errands we drove around and looked at houses and chatted about the future. It was a pretty nice date.  Yesterday was a good day.  Yesterday I forgot (a little) about the madness around us and just enjoyed the day with my family.  

Day 55

 Yesterday we helped to deliver some flowers and treats to some amazing women who belong to the West Seneca Senior center.  

It was so great to bring a smile to all of their faces!  Even Mark got emotional when he saw how happy they are were.  I am go glad that we were able to help out!!!

Day 54

I didn't get any pictures yesterday.  I spent the day making my "teaching" videos for next week.  Believe it or not, this takes forever!  I enjoy it though.  I like making the posters and "teaching" in front of the camera.  It is the closest that I can get to teaching to these days.  I really miss it.  I miss that interaction with the kids and being in front of them seeing their little minds work.  I can't believe how much they learned in one day!  You get so used to the routine that you forget how much learning really goes on in one day. It all just happened so naturally. These videos are the closest that I can get to it these days.

We have been pretty obsessed with the Masked Singer over here!We have been watching it most nights and we get really into guessing who the masked singer really is.  I look forward to it all day.  I look forward to us snuggling up and eating our popcorn and bickering and laughing over who we think the masked singers are.  It is the perfect way to end each day.

Day 53

Yesterday we all went and got new bikes!  We are so excited to start bike riding together!  Other than the new bikes we didn't do too much else.  We are on to season 2 of The Masked Singer and we are loving that lol.  Other than that it was just a regular day of school and sunshine!  

I will say, yesterday was my first time in a store since this all started.  It is so strange to see what the "new normal" is.  Everyone in masks, no one getting too close, and not touching anything.  But I do feel like people smile much more and I do like that!

Day 52

 Friends of ours gave Claire this awesome punching bag and she is so excited to use it!  She really misses boxing, it was something she really made a connection with and I am so sad that she hasn't been able to do it.  But now that she has her bag she is out there boxing away.

Last night after dinner Claire and Mark stayed at the table chatting away.  As I listened to them chat away I was reminded once again that would not have been time for this in the "real world". We would have been rushing through dinner to finish schoolwork or head to the next activity.  So this made me smile. 

Day 51

One of the best parts about this whole thing is having the time to make fun dinners!  Tonight's dinner... MEATBALL BOMBERS!!! 

They were delicious!

Day 50

Yesterday the weather was amazing so we decided to keep on working on our hiking challenge. We wanted to try a trail that we thought we be less congested due to the beautiful weather.  So I chose the Erie County Bureau of Forestry and I nailed it!  It was super empty!  

 We started our hike on the complete wrong trail!

 But that was ok because we saw some really cool stuff!  Like these tadpole eggs!

And this cute little snake.  But, after two miles we realized something was wrong because we still hadn't found our bridge (our assigned landmark).  

So we referred to good old technology and typed in our coordinates and realized that we had gone the complete wrong way!  So we back tracked.

 This trail as soooo much smoother and much more enjoyable!

 Claire even reached out and held Mark's hand!!!!  It was so sweet and I am so glad that I was able to sneak a pic!

 Then it happened...WE FOUND THE BRIDGE!!!!!!!!!!

 It took us forever but we made it!

 And the kids ended up playing in the creek for a while.

 I love when they play together and still have fun!!!

 Then it was time for our favorite part, the post hike snacks at the car!

Then we had the grandparents stop over for a "safe fire".  If you look closely you can see where Claire marked off each person's spot (all more than 6 feet apart).  

It was a beautiful day filled some amazing memories.  

Day 49

 Yesterday we started the WNY Hiking Challenge.  We are given a list of trails and have to complete 20 hikes before December 2020.  This is the perfect thing for us to do and keep us moving.  Yesterday we started with ArtPark State Park!

Before we got on the road we needed gas (this the second time since the beginning of March) and we got a screamin' deal at Tops!!! It only cost us .02 cents to fill up the whole tank!!!

Then we got to the park and started our hike!

 There were so many beautiful places to stop!

 We have to take a picture at a certain landmark on each trail.  The Lewiston Queenston Bridge was our landmark for this hike.

 It was beautiful!  There were so many little beautiful waterfalls throughout the hike.

 Oliver still loves to hole our hands sometimes.  I will take it for as long as he wants!

 Then we enjoyed a nice packed lunch after all that work!  It was super fun and a great way to get out and  have some fun. And this is definitely something that we would not have had time for in "the real world" so I am grateful for this time together!

 Then we had a fun bingo night with some friends of ours!  The kids had a blast and then eventually they went off to have their own "chat" and the parents hung out.

We have been trying to get our families together since our trip to Jamaica last year and we literally can never get everyone together!  So even though it was through the computer we finally had time.  It is the small things like this that I have to keep focusing on during this time.  I have to keep thinking of the things that we CAN do instead of all of things that we cannot do.  And today was a great day.  

Day 48

 Yesterday we all wrapped up our work week.  Oliver and played some area math games for his school and I finished up my week.  It was also announced that the schools will stay closed for the remainder of the year.  I knew it was coming but it was still crushing when they announced it.  I absolutely love my class this year and my heart is broken that I won't get to finish the year with them.  

After dinner we met up with some friends for a drink!  We have been trying to get together for months but with our schedules we could never seem to meet up.  But now we have all the time in the world!  

Day 47

Yesterday I spent the day doing school work and making my videos for my students.  Not too much to report around here other than our usual school work routine. Believe it or not the days seem to be going by surprisingly quickly!  

Claire has continued on with her baking.  Yesterday she made chocolate covered peanut butter balls.  They were DELICIOUS!   I love that she is becoming such a great baker but if this keeps up they are going to have to roll me out of this quarantine!!!