The Big Camping Trip - Idyllwild, California

5/29-6/1

 

April

Dave says: Life in late March and April changed a lot with the Coronavirus. First events started cancelling, then all the non-essential stuff. Group rides became solo training sessions or occasionally an outing with a friend. ASU let out for spring break and then everything went online after that. I haven't been into my office since then. Instead, it has been a lot of time in the home office with Zoom meetings. 

However, we have very little to complain about overall. The weather has been fantastic and this has been a great opportunity to do stuff with the kids and to spend some time outdoors. The pool is still pretty cold but that hasn't stopped the kids from getting in a few times. When they start shivering, they head to the hot tub. Skye saved up $20 doing chores to earn a mermaid tail. It isn't so good to walk in but it has been fun for her in the pool. 

Skye has also turned into a good bike rider. She doesn't ride her own bike but she has had a lot of fun on the tag along. She likes to go out to ride over the canals and see the neighborhood waterfalls. Snacks along the way are key. 

Skye and Jade have also gotten really good at their scooters. For a long time Skye would only ride her scooter with three wheels and didn't like her "twisty" scooter. Finally she got the hang of the new one and then Jade picked up the three wheeler really quickly. We do laps around the front circle and race like it is Mario Kart. Jade is the big monkey, Skye is the princess, and daddy is Mario. Jade's skills are really impressive for being so little!

For Easter they did the usual egg hunt and some fun craft projects. They got a push mower that blows bubbles and a little doll stroller. The bubble mower turned out to be a big hit. Another exciting event was getting a caterpillar that eventually turned into a butterfly. In addition to all of this, there have been lots of arts and crafts and other fun indoor projects. Skye is getting good at learning her letters and Jade is potty training and making really great progress. It's not the April we expected but it has turned out to be fine for the most part.

March

Dave says: March was the start of all the corona craziness. Fortunately, Jade has been at a very fun stage of life in terms of lifting our spirits. She is just getting good at communicating and is very cute as a result. She is really good at reading along with stories right now. She likes Wild Things and Bears in the Night. She reads along with her favorite parts and sometimes tries to turn the pages. She still doesn't like getting her teeth brushed though. She has gotten better at playing games on the tablet and has a lot of patience to sit and figure them out. Some favorites here are Toca (feeding people), Monsters Socks (a story), Nighty Night (turning off the lights for animals), and Baby Unicorn (taking care of this little pet). 

She still often gets up once a night which is not one of her best qualities. She stands in her crib holding her mermaid pillow and says "milky." She is really into playdough and likes to dress up little figurines with it. She has also gotten good building with Magnatiles and likes to create structures to put toy cars in. She really likes small toys and has very good attention to detail. As expected, she wants to do all of the same things that Skye does.

Skye is very into arts and crafts right now. We went through a stage making lots of things out of pipe cleaners. We made bracelets, necklaces, animals, and more. She loves drawing and painting a lot. She can churn out 10 or more drawings in a few minutes. She has also figured out how to make deals with her parents and to say "deal?" to try and get us to agree with things. She still likes a lot of attention from mom and dad. She gets very excited about things in the future and asks about them a lot. She misses her preschool friends and is always looking forward to seeing other people. Kids can change fast at these ages so we're glad to put down a few of these memories from early 2020.

Alisha says: The corona virus has really begun to spread throughout the United States. It shouldn't have come as a surprise but it kind of did. All the school had their regularly scheduled spring breaks and then they decided it wasn't safe for everyone to go back to school so it has been put on hold while we figure out the virus. Even Dave has been asked not to come into campus and has been trying to get his work done from home. Our routine has changed from being out and about to trying to stay home and safe.

One last trip to the zoo with friend before things got crazy

My dad finally retired from his job of 35+ years. He's worked in the drilling/mining industry since before I was born. We've been so lucky that he's been working in Arizona so we have got to see them on a regular basis since we moved here 5 years ago. My  mom has been around Skye since she was born and has spent a lot of time with her so they have developed a close relationship. We are really going to miss regular visits from Grandma and all of the amazing babysitting she helped us out with so that we could get out on some great bike adventures.

Enjoying the outdoors