South Padre Island

View from our balcony at sunrise 

We just got back from a wonderful beach vacation! This time we headed to South Padre Island, about 5 hours away. 

World's most ginormous vehicle, and we still need additional space

THURS

Ryan worked Thursday morning, and we left about 12 noon. We stopped in Port Isabel and ate at this fun pirate restaurant on the bay. We ate outside where it was super humid and windy, but I thought the view made it worth it. 

Dinner at Pirate's Landing, Port Isabel

We checked into our condo, hauled all our stuff upstairs and put the kids to bed. Ryan and I went for a walk on the beach at sunset.

OVERVIEW

Each day we headed to the beach either in the morning until lunch time or in the afternoon until dinner time. We played in the sand, boogie boarded, skim boarded, body surfed, flew kites, wave jumped and read in the camping chairs.

Ethan the Octopus

Kate the Sea Turtle

Our last day, a world of seaweed washed ashore, and Ethan had to make himself some more hair

Collin kite-flying

Usually about halfway through our time each day at the beach, either Ryan or I would take the kids to the condo's pool while the other enjoyed some alone time. Then the kids would all come back for some more salt and sand before quitting for the day with a second trip to the pool. It was the perfect schedule for us! 

Beach Life for Me - Reading & boogie boarding

The other half of each day that wasn't at the beach & pool we did a special activity. Here's the rundown:

FRI

View from above the bay 

Our big event on our first day was an Eco Boat Tour. We saw lots of dolphins and touched some sea animals as well. The kids all wanted to go again, so I'd say that was a success! 

Ethan with a butterfly ray

Katelyn with a star fish

We also went to my favorite restaurant this night (LongBoard). It was on the island-side of the bay, and later in the evening they have live music and fireworks, which Ryan and I want to head to another year. 

SAT

Our main activity on Saturday was heading to Sea Turtle, Inc. It is both a sea turtle hospital and museum. We were able to hear a 30-minute presentation about sea turtles and their rescue efforts too. I loved this place! 

For dinner, we picked up Gabriella's pizza, which was wood-fired and delicious, and watched Pirates of the Caribbean I. 

SUN

Sunday morning we thought it'd be nice to go for a little beach walk down to the jetty. (Last fall we visited the jetty on the north end of Padre Island, so we wanted to see the south one too.) Unfortunately, the parking lot nearest the jetty was closed, so the closest we could get was about 1-1/2 miles. We hadn't prepared the kids for a "hike," and it was insanely hot. Playing at the jetty was fun, since Ryan had brought the kite and drone, but the walk was all whining. 

When we started heading back towards the car, Ryan suggested he run ahead, and I get the kids to the nearest open road. As soon as we left the safety of the ocean, though, we were attacked by "fliders," some kind of creepy mosquito that resembled a spider. They came at us in packs, and we still have the itchy welts to prove it! All in all, the kids and I still had to walk a mile, and we probably would have been better off sticking to the beach and going all the way to the parked car that way. This day was a rough one with lots of quarreling and crying from all the kids. The hit of the day was grilling hamburgers for lunch by the pool while the kids swam. Dinner was leftover pizza and Pirates of the Caribbean II.

MON

First, we headed to a souvenir shop. The kids each got $10 to spend. Collin got a pirate t-shirt and shark tooth hemp bracelet, Brennan got a stuffed sea turtle, Ethan got a sea turtle hatch-able egg and Paw Patrol stuffed dog, and Katelyn got a seashell necklace and stuffed fish. They really enjoyed the chance to pick something out and stay within their budget. 

Then, we headed to the Nature and Birding Museum to see the alligators and tortoises. It was also a museum and gator rehabilitation facility. There are a bunch of boardwalks out into the bay, but it's next door to the water treatment plant and the stench was unbearable. The "fliders" were at us again, and it was swelteringly hot too. I'd go earlier in the day next time, but we waited until later because there was supposed to be an 11 am Gator Talk, but it got canceled because other visitors weren't social distancing. Sometimes our best laid plans just fall flat.

As we came inside to see the museum portion, an employee asked if we had jumper cables because another employee's car wouldn't start. Ryan volunteered, to which Brennan said, "Dad is helping someone, like always." (I've decided there is no better compliment!) Anyway, we did the air-conditioned museum portion while Ryan jumped her car. As a thank-you, they gave him tortoise and alligator food. So we headed back outside to feed the tortoises (Bubbles was Katelyn's favorite) and the baby alligators (which far too much resembled dinosaurs for my taste). 

After a taco dinner at the condo and a Rook game with Collin & Brennan, Ryan and I took a 3-mile walk along the beach at sunset on our last night. I sure do love the ocean and waves. We got to talk to the builders of this castle compound, who had hired a sand-castle maker to teach them (Dennis). I had thought about doing this activity, and it is now definitely on our list for next time! 

TUES

We basically just cleaned up and loaded the car. When we got home, I immediately started looking at condos to book for the first weekend in August next year. I like the idea of hitting the beach for a few days before the start of each school year, with one activity per day and plenty of pool and ocean time. Until next year... 

And now we have one week until school starts! 

Summer of the Plague

END OF THE YEAR
I surely never thought I'd live through a plague, but yet here we are: COVID-19. Our summer has been strange, to say the least. The kids never went back to school, so their last regular day was March 6th.

Collin graduated from elementary school, with a drive-thru parade on June 11th. Ethan graduated from kindergarten with a drive-thru parade in May. Katelyn graduated from preschool, with a virtual class party on Zoom. Brennan moved from 3rd to 4th grade with absolutely no closure. I can't say I'm sad that we missed all the May-cember events, but it did make the whole end-of-the-school-year anti-climatic.

SUMMER WEEKENDS
Our summer Saturdays were spent mostly at the lake. We've found our preference is Canyon Lake. We LOVED our one trip to Inks Lake, but it's hard to get reservations and it's 2 hours away. Canyon Lake is inexpensive ($10), close (45 mins) and works for both paddle boarding and the jet ski. We've had a ton of fun! We met friends there twice too.

We paid for a year membership to Six Flags before all this started, so as soon as we were able to we went there. Masks are required except for in the water park. We've only done the amusement park portion twice (once with the few rides that are open, and once for 40 minutes to see the 4th of July fireworks).

Wearing a mask when it is almost 100 degrees with 80% humidity is out-of-this-world awful. We had even more reservations to go to the water park, but honestly, I don't feel safe being around so many potential contagions without a mask, so we stopped going after 3 times.

For the 4th of July, we went to Six Flags and did the water park in the afternoon. Then we picked up pizza, came home and watched Hamilton and went back for the fireworks. It was perfect! It's awesome that we only live 10 minutes away.

 

On our way home from the Six Flags' fireworks, we stopped in the field near our home. It is between three firework stands and all fireworks are legal in our area. It was like a war-zone! The kids loved it and said many times how much better it was than the Six Flags show.  Haha.

One Friday evening in June, after the kids were already in bed, we learned that even though we had Six Flags reservations for the next day, we weren't going to be allowed to use the water park - just the amusement park. All of the sudden, Ryan said, "Let's go to the beach!" So we packed up the car, and when the kids got up the next morning, we got in the car and drove to Port Aransas (3 hours). We stopped at their Walmart for boogie boards and sand shovels, and it was a perfect, though LONG, day.

SUMMER DAYS
Week-days we did "Mom's school work" each morning (grade-level workbooks) and went to the pool just before lunch. I didn't want them eating in the pool area, so we came home at lunch time and ate and I read aloud the Chronicles of Narnia series. The kids listened/read their own books each afternoon. I love the routine I've gotten them into with workbooks, pool, read aloud and independent reading. I plan to do that again next summer.

Collin has been reading the Artemis Fowl series, and Brennan has been reading the Theodore Boone series. Ethan has listened to both of the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory books, as well as all the Mouse and the Motorcycle series. He's working on the Andrew Clements' books now. Katelyn has been listening to the Whatever After series.

Usually in the summer, we spend at least one morning a week at the library for some kind of activity related to the Summer Reading Program. This year, you could sign up for a bag for each of your children filled with goodies and a free book, as well as a schedule of activities to do at home. The theme for this summer was traveling around the world (it was also supposed to be the Summer Olympics), so one morning each week I canceled our workbook time and we did one of the countries from the packet. I would mark the new country on a world map with a sticker, and then we'd watch 2 or 3 YouTube videos about the country. Sometimes we would even video chat with someone who had visited the country of the week: Jared & Charlotte (Switzerland & New Zealand), Rob (Kenya) and Grandma & Grandpa (Israel).

After learning a bit together, each of the kids then picked something they wanted to learn more in-depth about, with Ethan and Kate teaming up with Collin, Brennan or I. After 45 mins to an hour, each group or individual presented what they had learned. Here is Kate with the Great Wall of China.

Collin and Ethan showed us a golf ball that could float in water the same salinity as the Dead Sea (Israel). Brennan drew pictures and wrote facts about cow fighting (New Zealand) and Dome of the Rock (Israel). Collin made the Kenyan flag another week. We also made masks (Kenya) and cow bells (New Zealand).  Collin taught us the haka dance (New Zealand). Brennan and Kate set up an obstacle course in the backyard to represent the Olympic Games (Greece). Kate taught us yoga poses (India). It was great fun and helped to break up our weeks.

Our neighborhood pool is closed every Wednesday for cleaning, and since it's so hot here, there isn't much you can do unless you stay home or get wet. So one Wednesday I took the kids to the creek near their soccer fields. It's called Cibolo Nature Preserve. Brennan didn't like how dirty (mud and bugs) it was, so we didn't go back, but everyone else had a great time.

END OF THE SUMMER
We did have a slight reprieve in cases of illness at the beginning and middle of June. The Texas governor started opening restaurants and nonessential businesses (like shopping, movie theaters and salons), but there was a huge spike in cases by the beginning of July, and things had to start closing again. Masks were made mandatory everywhere by the middle of July, and that's supposed to keep our hospitals from overflowing and needless lives from being lost. Fingers crossed.

We are now wrapping up our summer "vacation," and we are making the big School Decision. Every mother is in full-sleepless turmoil. The choices here in Texas are: to send to full in-person learning with a mask all the time, to do full e-learning on a computer all day, or to withdraw and home school. After A LOT of angst, Ryan and I have to decided to enroll the kids in in-person school. I'll assure you I looked into each options for many hours, and this one gave me the most peace.

After we decided to send them, our county declared that all schools must do e-learning through Labor Day. Oddly, most of our school district is not in our county, therefore Collin will be able to attend his middle school right away on Aug 12th, but the "Littles" will all do computer learning at least for three weeks. CRAZY!

* UPDATE: We just received word from the District that their request to exempt our two elementary schools from mandatory e-learning through Labor Day was accepted, so all my kids will go to school on the 12th... right now. *

We are headed to South Padre Island for a beach vacation next week. I booked our oceanfront condo  almost a year ago, but of course, everything has changed since then. All county beaches are closed, but thankfully, our condo sits on the city-owned beach. No shade structures are allowed except umbrellas, so we bought an umbrella. We were going to do a bunch of museums and touristy things, but they are all closed, so I'm glad we can at least use the beach. The condo complex is enforcing mask-wearing, so we'll see what that means at their pool.

I am grateful for our health, and I'm grateful for our huge house. We have plenty of space to spread out when we get on each other's nerves. I am thankful Ryan has been working from home this whole time. About once per week, he sometimes takes the kids to the pool during his lunch break so I can get an hour of quiet. It's been life-saving. There's been a lot of Minecraft and arguing, and I'm ready for a reprieve.

And now on to more uncertainty...

COVID-19

I haven't posted in a long time. I missed two birthdays and Christmas, as well as a trip Katelyn and I took to San Diego in February. I'll have to catch up another time. Unfortunately, if I wait any longer to blog about the Coronavirus quarantine, I might forget something.

This last month has been unprecedented... really. Through all of January and February, we had been hearing on the news about the rapid spread overseas of a highly contagious upper respiratory disease which humans have no immunity to. When Kate and I went to California in February, some travelers were wearing masks, and I used hand sanitizer rather obsessively.

On March 9, the kids started Spring Break. We fully intended to return to classrooms after the week, but as the week progressed things started to change. By Friday, the schools had announced that school would be canceled the following week as well. That next Wednesday, the district put out a packet to be printed at home for "continuity of instruction," and was to be used for the rest of that week and the following one. At some point, the governor of Texas closed schools through May 4. And that's where we are right now. Many states have already canceled school for the rest of the school year, but Texas - and Boerne - have not done so... yet. I fully expect the kids to be home the rest of the year.

So, about school. So at the beginning, they had these packets and we were supposed to turn in our work "when the schools opened again." When they realized that wasn't going to happen, they created online assignments and submission. Basically, the boys would do 30 minutes per subject per day (lang arts, math, sci & soc stu). Then this week, the Specials teachers (computers, library, art, music & pe) wanted in on the action and the parents complained it was too much work, so they do math & lang arts on MWF and sci & soc stu on TuTh, with one special per day per week. Basically, my kids don't have nearly enough to do now, and I have to come up with ways to entertain them.

Life is so strange. The first week home, Ryan went to work each day, and Collin had taekwondo at the facility. By the end of that week though, all exercise facilities had been closed, so Collin started training via Zoom (video conferencing software). The following week all non-essential employees were instructed to work from home, and Ryan said he'd "give it a try." After a day of that, we were placed on "shelter in place" orders, and we were not permitted to leave our homes/neighborhoods except for groceries, doctor appointments or medication refills. All non-emergency surgeries, hair appointments, shopping, etc are canceled/closed. 

Before the "shelter in place" order, the boys were taking tennis lessons twice a week at the tennis courts in the neighborhood. A boy in Ryan's Sunday School class is on the high school team, and he offered to teach them for $20/hour. After the "shelter in place" order, I let the boys go play on the courts - since they could walk - but without their coach. Then, last week, the courts were suddenly chained and padlocked, as well as the basketball courts and playground. To be honest, my kids weren't allowed to play on the playground from the very beginning, before they wrapped it in yellow caution tape, but many kids still were.

Anyway, basically, every day or so we lose another activity or pleasure. Ryan says they are gradually taking away anything that causes any joy. For instance, at the beginning, everyone was saying that we should go to all the national and state parks, because nature is a great place to social distance. Then, they said we could go to the public parks, but all the bathrooms, amenities and workers would not be there. You would have to purchase all your permits and passes in advance. Then, this week they closed all national and state parks because they were overcrowded and dangerous to the spread of the disease.

Ok, why all the concern about the spread? Because there is no immunity, the disease is caught by everyone exposed to it. It lives on surfaces for up to 14 days, and a person can be contagious with no symptoms for 14 days. Older people and those with other health problems get deathly ill. In fact, most people have to be hospitalized and placed on a ventilator in order to survive. Unfortunately, most hospitals usually run at about 98% capacity and only have about 2 ventilators. So... this whole social distancing thing is all about "flattening the curve." Basically, we will probably all get the disease, with varying severity, but we can't all get it at once or the death rate will be astronomical. So, we sit hunkered down at home, day after day, waiting to get sick at a slower rate so the doctors can keep up. I guess it all started when an infected bat was sold and eaten at a live-animal, fresh-air market in Wuhan China. I know, it's insane!?

Ok, on to the grocery situation. Back over Spring Break, there was a run on the stores. The shelves were empty, the lines were long, and the crowds were insane. The store CEOs told us there was no need to panic and that there would always be stocked shelves, so we just ate what we had on hand. After a week or two of that, I need to get essentials, and I was able to schedule a grocery curbside pickup for a few days out. Not to bad. The next time we needed some essentials, I tried to order online, but the next pickup time was 2 weeks away. I placed the order, but knew I'd need stuff sooner. At some point, the rules changed so that shopping was only allowed to be one adult per family per time, and absolutely no children ever. I'm glad my kids are old enough to watch themselves so I can go while Ryan works! One morning, I got up early, put on a mask, and headed to HEB thirty minutes before opening. All the grocery carts were lined up in front of the building, and announcements were running on the PA system about social distancing, washing your hands, and not touching anything that you didn't plan to purchase. I waited in a long line outside until the store opened, and then they slowly let in the first 50 people. If you aren't at the front of the line, you don't get eggs, milk, bread or toilet paper, meat. And then there's the stuff you can't ever buy no matter what time of the day it is: yeast, Lysol wipes, bleach, hand soap and hand sanitizer. Once I got inside, it was like the apocalypse - everyone was in masks walking stiffly from item to item. No idle chatter or head nods. No polite "excuse me" or "thank you." Just getting business done, and getting out. Oh, and the sneeze guards! They have installed these tall, long plexiglass walls between the cashier/bagger and the shoppers. They slide your receipt through this precut hole in the wall. It left me on edge and anxious. I haven't been back since that day. But we do need milk, so I know I have to go sometime...

Church! Ok, so we went to Church the last time the first Sunday of Spring Break. It was weird that week because so many people were out of town. By the end of Spring Break, Church had been canceled world-wide, WORLD WIDE! Almost right away, our Bishop approved the weekly administration of the sacrament. So, each week we get dressed in church clothes and Ryan conducts. We have a song and prayer and then a sacrament hymn while Ryan breaks the bread. We have a white towel to cover the coffee table. Collin - who was ordained in January - passes us the bread and water. We use medicine dosing cups for the water. After the sacrament, we have some talks. Ryan assigns who and the topics. After the talks, we have a snack, then we start Sunday School/Primary. This is when we do our Come Follow Me lesson we would have ordinarily done in addition to church. The big boys did the lesson for Easter last week, but I usually do it.

General Conference was obviously different this year too. Last Fall, President Nelson said it was going to be a unique Conference as we celebrated the 200th anniversary of the First Vision. Little did we know how unique it would be! They held the meeting in a small side room at the Conference Center. The only people in the room was the First Presidency, sitting in chairs spread across the front. Speakers must have sat outside the room in some kind of waiting area. All the music was either prerecorded (some in January/February before the quarantine when there were suspicions and some reused from old Conferences.) Obviously, everyone watched from their homes. Sunday morning's session was a solemn assembly where we celebrated Palm Sunday with the "hosanna shout" and waving of handkerchiefs. The Choir sang the Hosanna song, replayed from Oct 2000, when the Conference Center was dedicated. It was good, but oh so weird. 

Ethan and Katelyn were supposed to play spring-season soccer, which was supposed to start the week after Spring Break. The league is trying to do a Summer League instead, but I just submitted our request to withdrawal yesterday. It is too blasted hot in Texas in the summer. Another loss.

At this point, I'm planning for the kids not to return to school this year. I'm hoping they can all start Aug 12 in their new grades (C- 6th in middle school, B - 4th, E - 1st & K - Kinder). We have a camping trip scheduled for Memorial Day weekend, which if the state parks don't open back up, will be canceled. We also have a VRBO condo scheduled for the last week of July at South Padre Island. Right now all the beaches are closed, so I'll want to try to get a refund if that continues. We have another camping trip scheduled at a state park for Labor Day, and I sure hope that one happens. There are some murmurs from government about a slow-track return to normalcy that could begin as early as May 1st, but when China started their return this week, they had an uptick in cases and some people even contracted it for the second time! We'll see.

Whew. I wanted to record all of this for my future self, so there it all is. If you read this soon, I know it's the same where you are, but it's so weird and different from the usual, I wanted to have a record.