Lockdown 2.0, Day 43

 I realised last night that we have completed 6 weeks of lockdown- if we’d stayed on the original Stage 3 plan, today’s the day that restrictions would have eased. Although we have all had our crazy moments this week in particular, I’m impressed that we have got this far and on the whole are pretty happy and mainly getting along. There’s still about 4 weeks left of Stage 4 and who knows what after that, but I’m feeling hopeful and positive about the future.

It was a good day today. Chats with Liam in the morning, a game of Othello with Amelie, work on my photos, number puzzles, watching The Dragon Prince with the girls, sorting out the piles of fabric that have been taking over our lounge room. Liam went for a bike ride, the girls and I went for a long (slow) walk - I’m still sore from my strength training and Caitlin from Cheer training last night. 

At 4.30 we video called with 2 other families for our hot chocolate festival. Liam and 2 of his friends made their hot chocolates and then chatted while they drank them. (We had ordered lots from the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie, they came with melts to put in hot milk, couverture choc to melt and pour in, a flavoured marshmallow and a treat of some sort to make it super special. Liam had a wagon wheel slurp, Caitlin a ginger one, mine was Gatytime themed and Amelie’s chicken shaped marshmallows with a sprinkle covered egg. The girls and I made ours and we FaceTimed with the adults.. After a while one of them had to go, and I kept talking to my other friend while we had a glass of wine together.  The hot chocs were a great experience and the conversation was really fun. 

We had a pork ragù for dinner - made by the chef at de Bortoli - it was amazingly good! We kept watching the Dragon Pronce and I started making something with my t-shirt yarn, then did some of my creativity course and have ended the day feeling very happy and content.

Lockdown 2.0, Day 33

 Number of new cases going down, number of deaths going up. There's a whole confusion of emotions every time that happens. It's heartbreaking to think of the families of those people who have died, and I hope that the upward trend o deaths starts to change very soon.

Today I had energy all day, I didn't have to sit down and rest at all (although I made sure I stopped to eat and drink and chat rather than just be on the go all day). Liam and I played cards (Burn) in the morning - we were going to sit outside while I had my cup of tea because it was a beautiful sunny morning, but by the time my tea was ready it was foggy so we stayed inside. The fog didn't stop Amelie though, she was out on the trampoline in fog and sunshine. I got quite a bit done in the yard, the kitchen and my bedroom, catching up on some tidying up that I haven't felt up to for a while. I talked to Mum on the phone and reassured her that we can help with Dad's care if needed - taking him to appointments, picking up medication, talking on the phone, whatever will help. It's really hard for her to be caring for him without any practical support, I wish I could do more but it's a tricky, difficult time to be sick.

I had a lot of fun mounting one of my photos on mat board for a friend, and put together the rest of a care package for her, and a birthday present for my niece. Physically working with my photos for the first time in many many years was enjoyable and easier than I thought it would, and it brought back a lot of memories. I chatted with a friend on the phone and then went to Yarra Glen to post the gifts. I popped in to the the chemist and IGA while I was there - it was busier than I expected it to be, maybe I hit the coming home from work crowd (it wasn't crowded, but it felt more like a regular Monday afternoon (4.30pm ish) than I thought it would. Caitlin and I went for a walk once I was home - we got back after sunset, and there were some gorgeous views on a very clear evening as the sun went down.

I cooked a gnocchi vegetable bake for dinner then we all watched the Grand Final of Ninja Warrior (while Facetiming some friends who were also watching). There was lots of screaming at the TV and lots of nerves - one of our favourite ninjas (Ben Polson) completed the course and won the series - very very cool 

Lockdown 2.0, Day 1

When we went into self-isolation in mid-March, and then when the whole state locked down, and we were home all the time along with most people we knew around the world, I kept thinking that it would be useful and interesting to blog about the experience. I thought about it nearly every day, and just never got around to writing a post. When restrictions started to ease I thought about writing a summary of our lockdown time - but kept finding other things to do. Now that we are back in lockdown, my aim is to stop thinking about writing about it, and just turn up at the keyboard each day and write something.

So. Here we are again, with only 4 reasons to leave the house. Which means the kids will basically stay home nearly all the time, I'll go out once or twice a week to do the shopping and get the mail, and there might be some Zoom meetings or classes from time to time. In a lot of ways things won't change too much. We were very slow in coming out of restrictions, mainly only seeing local friends and only 1 or 2 at a time. We weren't going to public places much - I'd only ventured to Chirnside Park shops a couple of times. None of our regular activities had started up again. So we were still self-isolating in a lot of ways. We had started to have friends over a few times a week and the number of different people we were seeing one-on-one had increased - so I guess that will be different. But the kids are good at chatting to their friends on their phones or computers and I can easily keep in touch with people so it won't be too bad.

I do like having few demands on my time, so another 6 weeks of that is not a bad thing. I had visions of getting heaps of things done around the house last time - and in the end I did do a lot, just in little bits and pieces of time rather than spending days working on projects. I have some higher aims this time (some house stuff, also some creative ideas with my writing and photography, and maybe looking at ways of earning an income) but I also want to hang on to the things I learnt the first time - that I'm happier and more productive if I listen to myself and do what feels right in the moment, rather than pushing myself to achieve a pre-set goal for the day. (Earlier this week I was telling Tony that I was frustrated because I hadn't been able to get much done that day because other things kept happening. I was recounting my day and only up to about 2pm and he said 'That's a really busy day already, you actually did heaps!' ).

The kids seem OK with the idea of lockdown again, although sad that they won't see their friends for a while. Caitlin was about to go back into the gym for Cheer - Zoom trainings are not as fun or motivating as training with the team, so she was looking forward to that. We had plans for Liam to spend a day or two a week with one of his friends, and Amelie had just met some girls that she was hoping to see regularly. I was thinking about starting our Ninja classes up again. So all of that is on hold and we're readjusting to spending our time entertaining ourselves again. Caitlin had just bought a bunch of fabric (we got 2 trips to the op shop in this week, our first time back that, so that was exciting) and she's busy making clothes. Amelie is drawing and listening to audio books and playing cards with me. Liam will continue playing his computer games and working on his fitness. There's plenty to do and we're comfortable and happy at home.

Easter Weekend

Tony has had all 4 days of the Easter long weekend off work, it has been so wonderful (and also a bit weird) having home, in the mornings, in the evenings, through the day. He seems much more relaxed now too.

On Friday we had a quiet morning at home then LiAM and I went to a friend's place in the afternoon, and I took my friend H for a driving lesson, then stayed for a cuppa while LiAM played with the boys. On Friday night Caitlin's friend S came for a sleepover. The girls watched a couple of Hillary Duff movies and everyone played their iPads until they went to bed.

Saturday the girls worked on a slide show of photos from S's birthday party last month. She went home about 11.30 then we all went to Donnelly's Weir to meet Mum and Dad for an Easter picnic, after stopping at Coles on the way for supplies. It was a lovely lunch, and the kids played and explored around the top of the weir and in the edge of the (very cold) water. We had an impromptu easter egg hunt, then once the eggs were found, the kids and Grandad took it in turns to hide them again for the other 3 to find. LiAM found a big fallen tree to climb along, and with his brown and green clothes was well camouflaged into the bush by the time he got to the other end.

LiAM is at the other end of that tree somewhere...

Easter Egg hunt with Grandad

After lunch Tony, Caitlin and Dad walked to Maroondah Dam, while Mum and I drove the 2 cars over, with LiAM and Millie. The main carpark was VERY busy, but we parked further around, near the end of the Donnellys Weir track. The kids briefly explored the edge of the river, and I ran into a friend who I see quite regularly in random places, then Mum set off along the walking track to meet the others on their way. LiAM & Millie and I headed back to the playground, playing with some of the very cool bark from the gum trees on the way. LiAM had a bit of play then had had enough, and my back was hurting, so we lay on the picnic mat and played cards for a while. The others arrived shortly afterwards and Caitlin played with Millie for a while on the playground.

Back home for a quiet evening, with Tony watching the football, then at 9.20 we went outside and got comfortable on the trampoline to watch the lunar eclipse. We stayed out there until the full eclipse (the Blood Moon - very exciting as a Blood Moon happens occasionally in Terraria) at 11pm. It was a little chilly but we had blankets and lots of great conversation and laughs. It was incredible to watch the shadow pass across the moon and at different stages it reminded us all of different objects which sparked a lot of connections and conversation.

Once the eclipse had happened I went in and went to bed, the kids were fired up though so stayed up for a while in their room, making loom band creations from a new book Caitlin had borrowed from the library.

Everyone slept until after 7 on Easter morning, and the kids all waited very patiently until everyone was up and dressed and ready before they went out to the kitchen to see what the Easter Bunny had delivered. Everyone was happy and excited with their gifts - they each received a chocolate bunny, Caitlin got an egg in a Barbie cup, LiAM 2 eggs in an Avengers cup, Millie an egg with a My Little Pony snack box and drink bottle - which (unknown to the Easter Bunny) was EXACTLY what she'd wanted. Outside then for the Easter Egg hunt, lots of fun finding little eggs all over our very large yard. Once again everyone was happy with what they found, and after all were collected they happily traded with each other so no one had any flavours or types they didn't like. Chocolate for breakfast, and Millie had her drink bottle and snack box filled up, then everyone wandered off to play or loom or watch tv. Caitlin and I started cleaning up the dining room later in the morning, and we managed to clear the table and the floor so that we could eat dinner in there that night. Millie spent most of the day playing with Lego. LiAM watched tv and chatted to us.

Millie very excited about the Easter Bunny's offerings

Caitlin and her presents from the Easter Bunny

Easter Egg Hunt

LiAM after having sorted his eggs after the hunt

In the afternoon we had friends come over for Easter dinner (the same friends we saw on Friday). It was a relaxed evening, the kids all played well, the boys made a car and a cat out of bottles, boxes, sticky tape and foam, Millie and J played Lego and dress ups, O played with the dinosaurs, Caitlin made more loom band bracelet/ring hand pieces, the adults chatted and sampled wine and Tony cooked a magnificent baked dinner which everyone ate quite a bit of, and a tasty pudding for dessert.

Rest day

We've had a lot of time at home lately and it's been lovely. Exactly what we all needed after a very crazy Term 3 and the first half of Term 4.

Yesterday we had nothing planned except resting at home and we had a varied and interesting and overall restful day. Some of the things we did

- Jigsaw puzzles
- dominoes
- lego
- watching and caring for the chickens, collecting eggs, observing the evolving pecking order now that we have so many new chickens
- gardening - watering, weeding, mulching
- planning a cubby house, drawing up plans using a drawing app on the iPad, and starting work on clearing the area
- drawing pictures on the iPad
- playing on the trampoline and swings
- Millie pretending to be a kitten and eating and playing like one
- packing picnic lunches and eating outside
- reading books (the bear books by Nick Bland, and others)
- playing games on ABC3 website - the 5th Boy, and Huebrix (this is a great puzzle game, Liam and Caitlin and I all had a go and between us were able to solve a lot of the puzzles. Liam really grasped the concept and quickly solved some that I struggled with)
- maths games on the computer
- playing Red Fish/Poisson Rouge on the computer - this is the best kids website I've come across and Millie can spend hours exploring it, while the older kids and I still enjoy it as well
- playing with MAB blocks
- Movies - The Incredibles, Cats & Dogs - the Revenge of Kitty Galore, Winx
- lots of discussions about all of the above as they were happening

It was interesting too, when I said on Monday night that we'd be having a rest day on Tuesday, the kids all said 'cool, we can watch movies all day!' I wouldn't have minded if they did, but they were so busy playing games and exploring other things that the movies didn't get put on until 5.30. And while there was a fair bit of computer and iPad use, it was all collaborative and very social

Halloween

For weeks the kids have been talking about Halloween and wanting to go trick or treating, and wanting to dress up. We've had lots of Halloween based discussions - what it means, why there are scary TV shows all day on Halloween, lots of talk about witches (interesting too that even though we are reading Harry Potter, when Caitlin thinks of witches and dressing up as one, its as the cackling, scary type witch), lots of thought about what types of lollies they'd like to get on Halloween.... But we hadn't really firmed up any plan about what to do on the night. I was feeling a bit unsure about the whole thing as I'd never celebrated Halloween myself (although when I was in Canada I did go on a Ghost Tour of Victoria, BC, on Halloween and that was very cool). Then yesterday morning I read Pam Larrichia's newsletter and she she suggested embracing Halloween in whatever way the children wanted to, and that sounded like a joyful way to approach it!

So then I started gearing myself up for letting the kids go into town and knocking on doors, and when they woke up I asked them what they wanted to do - their idea was to dress up in their costumes and knock on our doors (we have 5 external doors to our house) and Trick or Treat at home. Which was perfect, didn't seem too challenging to me, and I was very glad that I had let them tell me what they wanted rather than me offering what I thought they wanted.

We went into town later to take Millie to the doctor and then take Caitlin to Girl Guides, and stopped at the shops in between to get lollies. We went into the Discount Store first (its only new to town so still very exciting) and Caitlin bought some fake fingers with long red nails to add to her costume, then we popped into the IGA and bought a variety of packets of lollies. Caitlin wanted a lantern as well (because she wanted to do the Trick or Treating after dark) and I meant to go back and grab one on the way out but I forgot. Then I remembered they had the lanterns they made for the Into The Light Festival at the start of spring, and she was happy with the idea of using them.

I dropped her at Guides then went home and kind of forgot about Halloween as I was quite tired and just wanted to relax a bit. When she came home she reminded me I had said I'd look for her broom and her witches hat - I managed to find the broom but not the hat. Also found her wig which has the same gold tinsel as her broom. I offered to make a witches hat out of black cardboard which turned out ok, I was even able to find some white netting to put over it so it looked more like the bought one that I couldn't find (we bought it for Halloween last year and I'm not sure when it was last used). I found an old white sheet for Millie who wanted to be a ghost, and cut some eye holes out of it and she was very pleased. In the meantime Liam had put his dragon costume on and was knocking on the doors - he didn't want to wait until dark, so we gave him a few lollies and then convinced him to wait a bit for more, because Caitlin really wanted to do it together after sunset. 

After a late tea it was finally dark enough and all costumes were ready. For about an hour the kids were outside, knocking on our different doors, we'd open the door and Caitlin would cackle, they all shouted 'Trick or Treating' and Caitlin would cackle 'This house is haunted!!!!' and we'd give them the lolly basket to choose from (then there'd be a quick negotiation about whether they could eat this one now or save it - Caitlin likes it to be even so they tried to reach agreement each time). Millie joined in for a while then came inside. It was fun for everyone, and a very easy way to celebrate Halloween. They didn't eat all the lollies - they actually called an end to it when they felt like they had enough (probably about half the stash) and came inside very happy.