Quarantine Week 11 - It's the end of the world as we know it

Another week and....the last of QUARANTINE!!! Yes, we finally got the order from Inslee that the "Stay Home, Stay Healthy" order will end May 31st. Which means June 1st....absolutely nothing will change for Yakima. Head slap.

Yeah, so we have like 2 billion cases per 100,000 or something like that so we don't get to move ahead to Phase 2 with the state. When will we? I dunno. August. December. 2024. It's anyone's guess. But we are happy the order is no longer in place and that other counties can now begin to open up. Progress, right?

Other world news: there are racial charged riots exploding all over the US right now. One huge one was just a few blocks down from Mom and Dad in SLC so they got a lockdown order and today cannot leave the house for any reason. People were setting fires to cars and beating the crap out of each other with bows and arrows and skateboards. Between this and the major storm that blew into Moxee (more on that later) we are feeling a little "end of days" over here.

Back to the good stuff - the cute kids!

Monday was memorial day so we took a huge drive up to Wenatchee to hike some very neat trails. The kids did great and tried out their new wireless headphones. Big hit!

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And we may have accidentally left Char's poopy diaper in the parking lot. After I ran over it. Not wrapped in anything. Yeah, we did that. And realized it 30 minutes later and felt like total jerks. Sorry park ranger or bear, whoever finds it first!

We came home and Dana promptly took a nap in his comfy hammock and everyone else got baths!

 
Clark drew this funny pig for homework one day. I love kindergarten homework:)

We got very daring on the swingset one hot morning and Clark tried on one of his new Uncle Matt t-shirts.

And Clark learned how to make a Charlotte slave. Push me, small human! 

When it went from 70 degrees to 95 in the span of 1 day, I decided it was time to bust out the sprinkler. We don't have a fun water toy or anything but we do have a spray attachment and that was all Clark needed to get wet and wild.

Miss Char was not so enthused but maybe she was just wondering where her clothes were:) She refused to run through the sprinkler but did dip her toe in once and of course would scream murder if Clark came near her...so he did that every 5 seconds. Brothers. 

Then I broke out the water guns and it was a whole new ballgame. Charlotte shot the moon, me, some plants, me again, her own face and finally figured out she could chase Clark around and get him to scream murder. So she did just that. Sisters. 

Saturday I did a butt kicker workout on Zoom with Aunt Kristen (it was her birthday!) and now I can barely walk.

We did a walk, ran some errands. Let me see...what else? Oh yes, got hit with a hurricane!!! Apparently, every other Moxee citizen got notified that 70 mph winds and a sandstorm were headed out way. But not the Gailans. Dana went out for a run while I started dinner and just as me and the kids were sitting down to eat we got whaloped by winds like I've never seen before. I ran outside to put the plants in the shed, noticed the grill had slammed into the fence and toppled over and then of course our wind sail ripped free with part of the shed attached and clipped me in the side of the head. Thankfully no blood but it was pretty scary for a second.

Dana made it home ok but said it was dicey up on the pass. We lost power from 5PM until 1AM so we spent a restless night with our flashlights, trying to coax Mr. Clark to sleep with his window open. He finally did - at 11PM. Oh child. Miss Char passed out like clockwork and didn't even wake up when we snuck in to open (and later shut) her window and blinds. Bless that girl. One of our curb lights broke off in the melee so I brought it inside and used it as an improvised torch, which was kinda fun. 

Today we are cleaning up the aftermath. Dana is scrubbing the grill and we have to figure out how to put our shed back together but all in all we are feeling mighty lucky. Moxee lost a bunch of a trees but thankfully none of our members had any fall on their houses. 

 Whew! Can 2020 be over yet?

Quarantine Week 10: Rainy Days, Grandma Plays

This week of quarantine is brought to you by our sponsors at "What the heck, weather?!!" We enjoyed a very emotional rollercoaster from the skies with sunny Mondays, torrential downpoar Tuesday, Windy Wednesday and Thursday and then perfect Saturdays. The kids actually loved the lightning and thunder. Our hanging flower basket, however, almost didn't survive the wind and is now recovering after some intensive TLC. 

We spent the week making blanket forts and pretending to sleep.

Running around with buckets on our heads. This was started by Charlotte and was a suuuuper good idea...not. 

 We struggled with writing homework but crushed music time.

And the most interesting day of the week was actually Wednesday and I have no pictures:) Grandma Tina and Aunt Lori came in for the day on their way to Montana. I went with Lori to an appointment with Ben at Leonard Rickey and it was the weirdest reunion ever. We all looked like bank robbers in our masks and there is now a 10 foot high plexiglass partition in front of Molly's desk. Still, it was good to see the office. Mom babysat the kiddos on our blustery Wednesday and Charlotte warmed right up to Gma Tina.

After the appointment, we drove back home and I got right back in the car to take Mr. Clark to get his cavities filled at Dr. Bauer. Now THAT was an experience. There was the usual coronavirus nonesense (a questionnaire we filled out, temperatures taken, masks on) but the rest was just hilarious. To get the sedative into him, he wore this funny orange elephant nose looking thing with tubes the whole appointment. It kept falling off because his nose is so small. Then once it kicked in the Dr. came in and the actual fillings were no big thang. The assistant told me some kids get sleepy...and some get chatty. And our Clark got chatty! He would randomly belt out "Elsa" or "Kristoff" and at one point declared out of the blue "I LOOOOOVE dentists. So much." It was pretty funny. I wasn't allowed to have my phone out so sadly no proof but he was a trooper. The rest of the day we hung out and it felt so nice to have other people in the house!

Coronavirus update: We are still here. In lockdown. Dentists and non emergency surgeries opened back up but otherwise nothing is open. Same old, getting very old. Utah did open up all their pools, playgrounds and restaurants at reduced capacity. It's good to see some areas of the country being reasonable about all this.

Quarantine: Week 9 - Mother all flowers remind me of you!

This week started out with Mother's Day and it may have been the perfect weekend. Beautiful weather (sorry Nikki in Ohio who got snow), silly kids, and lots of outdoors. Man I love this family of mine!

We tried Cowiche canyon from the opposite end and it proved just as fun. Clark hefty this big rock a quarter mile so he could launch it into the water. 

Charlotte tried her best to out flank Dana but that Dana is quick.

We found every speck of water in the area and when Charlotte got lazy and refused to walk we would just yell "water!" and point down the path and yup she'd take off running. Guillible.

The rest of the week was lots of homework and walks. Clark and Charlotte found a hilarious online book called Pete the Cat and the White Shoes which has an autotune voice. 

Friday, we stumbled upon a park that had no caution tape or signs so I decided that meant it was open for business. The kids were in heaven, running around like they've never seen a slide before. Dana was mostly bemused at my flaunting of social rules. Whatever dude.

Then we came home and lazed on the couch with Miss Char in her fancy day shoes:)

The Shark Turns 6

Suddenly...he was 6! It's impossible until I look at him and realize of course this sarcastic, intelligent, grown up dude is 6. Friday we made it all about him. No homework. Donuts. And dinner at King's Row (where Dad fended off a rabid kitty to save the day and Clark's hamburger). Since he'd already sucked down a milkshake we decided a teeny tiny donut was the maximum sugar this 6 year old could handle. Luckily, the candle fit. 

 For presents he got: stencils and a maze book and a cool air rocket that launches super higher!

It wasn't quite the birthday we pictured with the big party and cupcakes proudly taken into school but that's what's great about Mr. Clark - he rolls with life. Happy birthday, big guy! Now Mom has to go bawl her eyes out and pull out photos of you being itty bitty and squishy.

(And of course, Dad couldn't let his baby girl miss out on the fun so somehow an Elsa barbie doll found it's way into the mix. Look at that face. Pure elation.)

The next Saturday (Memorial Weekend) we finally did the big party with the Gailan clan. We picked up this awesome motorcycle pinata for some fun times and of course Mr. Clark picked green frosting for his gluten free cake so everyone had green teeth:)

Clark showed off his awesome pump rocket to the cousins before the settled down for a delicious pizza and fruit lunch.

 Charlotte woke up from her nap very grumpy but finally warmed up enough to come say hi to the fam.

 The swingset was a huge hit and I love that the Gailan kiddos are all the perfect size to play.

The swingset was also the perfect location for our pinata activities. Every kid got a turn (or 7) and finally we just had to put it on the ground and let Clark and Stella beat the crap out of it. Out fell candy and a few race cars!

Then...cake and presents! He got cash from Grandma and Grandpa which he used to buy the loudest monster truck that has ever existed, cash from Grandma Tina (yet to be spent) and Uncle Matt went overboard on the cutest joggers, t-shirts, shoes and a sweet nerf gun that can shoot all the way to the fence (and over!)

 Best. Birthday. Ever.