Another week has passed, and today is our official one month anniversary of no public places/being in close quarters with people besides our little family. This is all really really hard. I miss the Zoo, taking Grayson to preschool, visiting grandparents, playdates, date nights, heck I even miss those kid play places. This week I’ve found myself feeling happier in general (I’m less on edge) but feeling saddened by how life is completely changing. I think I catch myself thinking this all has an expiration date. Like, at some point a couple months from now someone is going to say “you can leave your house now!” and everything will be normal. But the truth is, it won’t be. At what point will we go to the grocery store as a family, come home & putt everything away without sanitizing it? When will we feel comfortable going to Disneyland again? Or getting on a plane & traveling? One of my favorite things in LIFE is going to concerts & being surrounded by thousands of people all singing along. These things seem so far away. I worry about my kids… my youngest is 1 and needs socialization with family and friends so she’s not scared when we leave her with the grandparents or a babysitter. My 3 year old was flourishing in preschool, and I’m now afraid he’s not going to be ready for kindergarten on time. Small potatoes compared to the REAL issues in the world that people on the frontlines of this virus are dealing with, let alone people who have lost loved ones, so I try not to complain. But I’m definitely sad about it all.

I think my goal for this next week is to be more positive. To truly appreciate the gift we’ve been given with this. As someone who is privileged enough to not be panicking (yet) about money, I’m so so lucky to have this time with my little family.

Week of April 9-16:

We baked. A lot. Probably too much. Grayson & I made a classic birthday cake with sprinkles just for funsies. I’m not great at cakes, but I figure now might be a good time to learn!
Maddie learned she LOVES the little slide/treehouse thing in our backyard. She’ll slide down over & over & over again. She was slow to walk, but she’s an expert climber. We’ve found her on the coffee table multiple times, after looking away for just a minute. She can climb onto the couch with zero effort. She’s a firecracker, I think.
We dyed Easter eggs with the whipped cream method & it was a hit again this year! It’s SO easy; one scoop of cool whip in each cup of a muffin tin. Add 6-7 drops of food coloring in whatever color combination, swirl it around a bit with a toothpick, and roll the egg around in it until it’s covered. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes & then rinse off with cool water. The only issue now is Grayson gets really sad when I want to crack one to eat. So, there’s that.
The new Trolls World Tour movie came out for rental on Amazon Prime! If you know me, you know I’m a huge Justin Timberlake fan. So we’ve been rocking out to the soundtrack here for a month already, and it was really fun to already know all the music in the movie. We had another special movie night, complete with yummy snacks, total darkness, and cuddling. Grayson was enamored with the movie the entire time. The hard part comes now, where we have to teach him what a “rental” is and break it to him that he can’t watch this movie over and over and over and over like he does with his others (yet). It’s interesting how much things have changed since I was a kid. These kids know nothing about rentals!
We had 2 days straight of nonstop rain, which is unheard of here. The kids were soaking wet the entire time because they both loved playing in it. We had a “waterfall” by the avocado trees (the neighbor’s patio flooded & it all poured into our yard). Grayson spent a good hour floating his fish & frog toys down the waterfall & trying to catch them with his fishing rod. He was really sad when we refused to turn the hose on to replicate it the next day.
The Easter Bunny visited our house on Easter! He left a trail of clues to the baskets, and Grayson “helped” Maddie find hers first (it was in the bathtub). Grayson’s basket was in his closet. He’s been loving “scavenger hunts” lately, so it was fun! After breakfast, we Zoomed the grandparents for the egg hunt. Grayson was a great hunter! Maddie preferred to open each egg & eat her yogurt melts before moving onto the next. We are so lucky for technology that can keep us connected to our loved ones during all of this.
My mommy group pitched in for an Easter Bunny suit for Ian to wear to our Easter party last year, so he decided to wear it this year & surprise the kids. It was pretty funny to see the Easter Bunny just casually walking around the yard. When Grayson spotted him, he ran out & the bunny gave him a golden egg! Unfortunately, the Easter Bunny hopped a little too hard & his ear fell off. Grayson was unphased, and pointed at it on the ground so the bunny could pick it back up. It’s so funny how perceptive 3 year olds can be at one moment, and how utterly clueless they are at the next! He says it fell off because the bunny shook his head too much, but that it didn’t hurt because he’s protected by all of his fuzz.
We set up a grocery store in our house & played with that for an afternoon. Grayson has excellent customer service skills. I wonder when he’ll visit an actual store again? He loves the chocolate chip cookie he gets for free from the Ralph’s bakery, and the stickers he gets from Trader Joe’s. He’s a great grocery partner.
Grayson got a bug catching kit for Easter & has been catching snails, worms, and beetles. They even joined us for lunch one day. He feeds them lettuce & berries. We’re learning to be gentle with the bugs & not shake the carrier around. We may have learned that the hard way. He loves all his “bug friends” so much!
Sidewalk chalk has been a big hit here. We all love to draw with it. We got a big box from Nanny for Easter & it came just in time! Both kids end their days covered in chalk dust.
We pulled out the sprinkler toys & splash pad yesterday, as the weather is finally starting to warm up. Maddie wasn’t sure about it all (which is funny because she LOVES baths) but Grayson is finally getting into it! He spent the first 3 years of his life hating getting wet in any way, shape, or form, so it’s SO exciting for me to see him run through the sprinklers & slide into the water! I’m hoping parks are open again this summer so he can actually enjoy a splash pad for the first time!