Half Marathon, Rocketing into Space and Beach Time.... What a Day!

Many months ago, Dave signed up for the Annapolis Half Marathon, which should have been yesterday.  It of course got canceled.  Dave was bummed because he had already put forth so much effort and training into it.  So..... he woke up yesterday morning and decided to do it anyway!  All by himself!  So, the kids and I quickly volunteered to be his pit stops and cheering squad along the way.

I think this is about Mile 9.  Gatorade break!

Making his way across the finish line!

Way to go, Dave!  We're proud of you!

Then we came home and watched the rocket launch.... the first time the US has sent astronauts into space from US soil in nearly a decade.  Riley and Tanner were pretending to be the astronauts. 

So exciting!

God Speed Bob and Doug!!  🚀

As of Friday night, we advanced further into Phase 1.  So, we are still in Phase 1, but have some additional freedoms.  We are now allowed to gather in groups outside.  Some friends who live in Round Bay, have access to this awesome beach/park/dock area and invited us and a couple other families to have a BBQ.  The weather was perfect and it was such a great way to end the day!

Talk about a swing with a view!

Ella floating by the dock, talking to a friend, living her best life!

Riley posing for a 7-up commercial, or so it seems!

Lacey and her buddies.

Tanner swimming out to the pier.....

And then flipping off the end!

BUT STILL REMINDERS THAT LIFE IS NOT "NORMAL".....

Watching Riley doing her dance class via zoom practicing her little heart out for a dance recital/performance that will never take place.  And I don't have the heart to tell her....

And also, as much fun as we had yesterday at the dock hanging out with some friends - the first time we had seen some of them in months - people called the police on us.  It was just a few families from church.  Everyone was spaced out.  Everyone was friendly.  No drinking, no music, nothing obnoxious.  People are just so nervous about seeing groups of people and are so trigger happy to call the police.  Fortunately, when the police came out, they affirmed that we were doing nothing wrong and that our spaced out group of about 30ish people including children in this huge park area was totally fine.  So the police were firmly on our side validating that we were law abiding citizens having an outdoor BBQ that is well within the law in the phase in which we are in.  Even so, it cast a shadow on the day.

Making the Most of Memorial Day

Memorial Day weekend typically marks the beginning of summer.  The pool opens (and we had perfect weather for it!!),  there are parades, BBQ's, parties, etc.  There are usually Scout activities to put flags on graves, memorial tributes and more.

This year, there was.....well, none of that.

In addition, Naval Academy graduation should have taken place this week.  Our favorite part of living in Annapolis is that every May the Blue Angels put on an INCREDIBLE show.  I pull the kids out of school (and so do all our friends) and then we all head down to Annapolis where we spread out blankets and chairs and food and watch the fastest planes in the world fly in formation and do the most amazing tricks.  It is SO awesome!  That show would have been today.  But of course, like everything else, it was canceled. 😒

BUT, we still managed to make the most of Memorial Day and took full advantage of being in Phase One and taking any allowances and freedoms we could muster.

On Friday, I took Lacey and a friend (Katie) on an 11 mile bike ride.  Look at the friend we found along the way!

Our destination (at the 5.5 mile mark) was Rita's Italian Ice. Yum!  Perfect reward at the end of a hot workout!

Cheers!

After our bike ride, we hopped in the car and headed to Sandy Point because the State Parks are now open!  We met up with another family, the Petersons, there.

Lacey and Audrey.

Tanner playing with heir boys Blake and Max with the Bay Bridge in the background.

Ella boo

Riley J

After we got home from Sandy Point, our neighbors across the street invited us over to hang out on their deck.  And they ordered crabs for dinner!  

Tanner's first crab of the season!

While we ate crabs, Lacey went to another neighbor's house that just got an outdoor movie set up.  She recently read the Hunger Games trilogy with her book club and three of them gathered to watch the movies together.

Then to wrap up the weekend, Tanner grabbed his side kick Ella, dressed them both in fatigues from head to toe and went on an exploration.

When they got home from their Memorial Day exploration, Tanner made this card for his favorite Vet (Grandpa) and had all his siblings sign it.  He then went over to Nana and Grandpa's house and watched "Grant" with Grandpa and had a sleepover with him.

And then last, but not least, Tanner "performed" via zoom with his Pirates of Penzance cast members. It still breaks my heart that they were never able to perform this musical after working on it so hard! But nice that the Directors did what they could to still try and give the kids a chance to perform the play in whatever limited way they could.

Way to go Pirate Tanner and the rest of the Pirates SPMS cast!

Every Memorial Day, I reflect on all of my freedoms and all of those who made those freedoms possible.  This year, during a time where so many of those freedoms have been halted for a time, it has taken on special meaning.  I am more mindful of all that I so often take for granted.

This Memorial Day, I miss the pools, the parades the BBQ's, being "allowed" to gather (in groups bigger than 10), the soccer games, the lax tournaments and baseball.

But, I am grateful for family, for friends, for bike rides, for State Parks that are open, for food, for beautiful weather.

God Bless America.

Three Quarters of a Century

Tomorrow marks the 10 week mark of quarantine and we've all had enough!  Dave's mom's 75th birthday was yesterday and we wanted to celebrate!  Of course all the restaurants are closed and gatherings still need to be less than 10 people, so within those guidelines we decided to do the best we could!  We went over to Nana's house and sat on the back deck and grilled steaks and ate cake and ice cream.  Dave's sister and her daughter came over too which made exactly 10 people. We made her a card with her favorite treats and made her favorite (German chocolate) cake.

Nana with 6 of her nine grandkids.

Now one with her hubby and two of her three kids added.

Happy Birthday to the most energetic, hardest working 75 year old I know!

In sadder news, these are the CDC guidelines that just came out as to what their recommendations are to reopen schools. Are you KIDDING me?  This is the most ridiculous thing I've ever read!

Sweden never closed anything for kids.  Their kids have continued to go to school, play sports.... be kids!  And they have had a grand total of ONE person under the age of 25 die of COVID.  Kids, as a general rule of thumb, are NOT getting sick of this.  In fact, I just read that individuals under the age of 25 have a 17x higher chance of dying of the flu than of Coronavirus.  So, why are sucking all the joy out of childhood and the educational experience for these kids?  Makes me so sad and frustrated.  I just look at these guidelines and I can't imagine what this will look like. No cafeteria time, no recess, no concerts, no performances, no field trips, no assemblies, not being able to sit next to each other on the bus. School will be MISERABLE!!!! I really, REALLY hope the CDC (who clearly has no parents of young children or teachers on staff!) reconsiders this before September and/or that the School Board doesn't feel like they have to put all of this in place because it's just flat out crazy.

In other sad news, we just found out that Fireworks have been canceled for the 4th and we also just found out that a nearby pool just announced they won't be opening at all this summer.  Our neighborhood pool (where we spend most of our summer days!) will not be opening on Saturday (like it otherwise would be).  They haven't announced whether/when they will be opening but I have been holding out hope that they will open soon.  But with that news, it makes me nervous that other pools, including ours, will follow suit. So, so sad!

Ocean City!

While "everyone else" (or so it seems) has been able to work from home during the past 9 weeks since this pandemic started, I have had to continue go in.  And not just "go in", but also be "re-deployed" to sit at the entrances to the hospital to take temperatures and do screenings. I detest it, but I do it because, even though Dave is the primary "breadwinner", we still depend on my income. And during these uncertain times, it just is what it is.  And over the course of the last several weeks, I've consciously tried to have a much better attitude and outlook than I had initially when this whole thing started.  Anyway, I didn't get home until Midnight Wednesday night from doing the COVID screenings/temp shifts and when I walked in the door, this is what was waiting for me.  How sweet is that?! Brought a big smile to my face!  Lacey and Tanner are the artists responsible for this card and I thought it was the cutest thing!

We got a tiny piece of good news on Wednesday night!  Our Governor (Hogan) announced that on Friday (today), we could enter Phase One of reopening.  We have officially been quarantined for NINE WEEKS, so this was very exciting to hear!  Nothing is of course back to normal, but we're starting to take baby steps and so it's nice to see that ray of light at the end of the tunnel.

I liked what Governor Hogan said on his IG page.  This....

And this.

So, to celebrate entering Phase One (and just to have an excuse to leave the house after nine straight weeks of very limited ventures AND to take advantage of the 80 degree weather after a long and mostly miserably cold and wet Spring), we decided to head three hours east to the Atlantic Ocean!  We left our house ~9:30 this morning and hit the coastline by lunch time!

Welcome to Ocean City, MD!

And really..... what better way to social distance that to find a spot on this wide open beach with plenty of space!

We've been here  many, many times before.  But this time was very unique.  Park benches were roped off like this.  Playgrounds were boarded up.  Sand structures meant to crawl on had temporary gates around them.  All the miniature golf places, amusement rides, etc were closed.

Along the boardwalk, most of the shops were closed, but most of the places that sold food were open.

We wore our masks whenever we were close to people or buying food.

But pulled them off whenever we were "by ourselves", which was most of the day.

Walking the boardwalk.

We started at the very beginning of the boardwalk and I would have loved to walk the entire thing, which Dave thinks goes until 33rd street.  But alas, Ella (as usual) pooped out and wanted to stop by Block 7. She also wanted to take her picture by the "7" since that matches her age.

Also note the social distancing sign, which were posted all over.

Once we got to "7", we found a place to eat lunch and then headed back to our car to get our stuff and head out to the beach.

This is how our teenager spent the afternoon.

Tanner got busy building sand castles and digging holes.

And Riley and Ella played in the water.

And had some fun in the sand as well.

We wrapped up the day by getting some soft serve ice cream and Thrashers fries (with malt vinegar - yum!) before heading home.

And Ella lost her tooth!  Her second in the past week!

Nothing like a little sunshine, a little road trip, a little ocean, ice cream and seabreeze to warm my soul!