I already covered Clare's birthday and the end of the school year, but we have done one or two other things over the past few months. We've mostly been at home, but we've been able to have some outings to parks, social distance get-togethers with friends, and visits with family.
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Mother's Day and Father's Day happened. Ben made me homemade cinnamon rolls, which were delicious. I dragged the kids on a hike at Battle Creek park, which they complained about. So nothing new there. Then we had Bloody Mary's.
On Father's Day Ben's parents came over for a socially distanced lunch. We had Bloody Mary's that day, too.
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The kids and I have gone to Minnehaha Falls and Lake Nokomis. We also went to an event at the big zoo, where we drove through part of the zoo. Clare enjoyed it. Christopher was disappointed that he didn't see any animals he could "roar" at. I also took them to the Como Conservatory, which has reopened with restrictions. Clare enjoyed it. Christopher hated having to wear his mask.
Our drive home from the conservatory turned into a Tour of Disappointment. We passed Como Town, several playgrounds, and the State Fair grounds. I am trying to get the kids out of the house, but sometimes it seems easier just to stay home.
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We turned up our dials (as the governor says) a bit in the past month. We have gotten together with my sister and her family, as well as my parents. We spent a week with my parents at their home in Wisconsin over the 4th of July. It was wonderful to be somewhere else for awhile. I love my house, but we all needed a change of scenery.
On our way to my parents' house, we stopped in La Crosse for a social distance visit with my grandmother and aunt. My grandma will be 97 in August. It was a brief visit, but I know she liked seeing the kids, even with masks on.
We spent the week in Wisconsin taking walks, talking, eating good food, and swimming. We celebrated Ben's 41st birthday with margaritas, Mexican food and s'mores. My Aunt Karen came over for a social distance dinner, and our friend Ruth came over as well.
We usually spend the 4th with my parents, but this year all of the usual small town activities were cancelled. We made our own fun, though. Ben participated in a virtual run (he actually ran the 10k, but instead of running with a group of people at the festival grounds he ran by himself at 4:30 in the morning). Instead of fireworks, we watched fireflies and lit sparklers. And instead of the parade, well, we had our own. I wish we had captured it on video. My mom led the way on her John Deere riding lawn mower, followed by me on a bike. Then came Christopher, who was riding in a wagon being pulled by Ben. Christopher was throwing candy at no one. Then my dad, marching while holding two flags. Clare brought up the rear on her pogo stick. Every thing was decorated with crepe paper and pinwheels, and we all wore silly 4th of July themed headbands. We even had an audience - our British family watched it all via the Facebook portal.
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Gem from Clare:
I was hemming and hawing about what to do about Ben's birthday gift, worrying it wouldn't arrive in time for our trip to Wisconsin. Clare suggested shipping it directly to my parents' house.
"I was waiting to see if you would figure that out for yourself," she said. I didn't.
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