One Roll, One Day March

Please follow the blog circle and see the next POST by Cami!

All of the photos are taken with a Nikon F6 and Kodak Tri-X 400 film, self developed and scanned.

My kids have been counting down the days until the ‘quarantine” ends. The oldest two changed our letter board message on the first day our school was canceled. We had our last day on March 16 and were told our first day back would be April 27. Today, the president has lengthen his recommendation for social distancing until the end of April. I am not sure what effect that will have on our countdown.

So much has happened since the sign went up, our plans have changed and there has been disappointment, tears, laughing and lots of time spent trying not to bug each other too much.

The following is a visual journal of our days and what we have been doing to keep busy and keep our sanity.

Having all 6 of us home 24/7 made it hard to keep up on the dishes. We are using paper plates to help ease the dishwashing.

At the beginning of the quarantine, Henry (out of the blue) said he was going to use the extra time to work on his abs. That lasted an entire day and now he is trying his hand at clapping push-ups.

Stephen is working form home, so we get to have lunch together as a family. He is really good at making breakfast and lunch. I keep telling him cereal was invented so we don’t have to cook three times a day but he keeps cooking most (all) of the meals.

We had a surprise package come from my friend at Kodak, disposable cameras for the kids. It was so much fun listening to the questions they had about the cameras. Henry declared that he was going to take the photos very slowly, so he would never have to throw away such a cool camera! It was such a great distraction and I am very excited to see how their photos turn out!

After lunch, we headed to the park to try out the cameras. Henry liked to stop and look at things through the viewfinder.

Ballet class is being held online the next two months. Tessa loves the break during her day and gets into her leotard (with a little help) every afternoon for class.

The day ended with a light shower and everyone having a little fun, locking me out of the house when I went out to take a picture of the blossoms in the rain.

Homework for Henry and “Spring Break” for Evelyn.

Stephen is teaching a class at WSU. The guinea pigs in the playroom (his first office) were too noisy. Tessa offered to let him use her desk, so she cleaned it off (hiding her gel pens) and set it up for Stephen to use. I snuck upstairs to see how he was doing with ZOOM.

Ballet with pointe shoes in the living room!

The kids spent the afternoon making polymer clay animals.

Henry attending his Boy Scout meeting on the computer.

I have enjoyed the down time that kids get to relax and work on hobbies. Henry is researching how to build a laser and has the plans almost done. I am actively searching for a new, less dangerous, project for him to complete!

I can’t count how many times I have heard people tell me that Tessa is quiet. We just don’t see that side of her at home. She has quite the personality and keeps us laughing everyday!

Lillian is trying to convince Stephen that we need a barre in the living room.

We are playing lots of board games in the evenings. Henry has his favorite- RISK

Stamp collections have been re-discovered. Tessa and Henry spent hours trading and gluing together.

Social distancing has been hard on the students missing school. We are lucky to have FaceTime to help them keep connected.

We heard that rumors that a “Stay at Home” order was coming, so we took a drive to the Gorge to go hiking. It was bittersweet being outdoors and enjoying the sunshine and nature, not knowing when it is going to be safe to travel again.

The days are getting long, the novelty of staying at home is wearing off quickly, especially for the youngest.

Before the CoronaVirus, it was very rare for the whole family to sit down together to have dinner. Now it is a regular occurrence.

After a day of online classes and meetings, we took a drive to local trail to get out of the house.

After being outside and relaxing a little bit, I took this photo and thought to myself, “there- I see the light at the end of tunnel.” It is crazy how this whole experience plays with your emotions. One moment, I feel like I can handle the task of staying at home and the next moment, I am wondering if I am really strong enough to handle what is coming next. I feel like every time I think things can’t get worse, something else happens.

Today was such a difficult day. Yesterday, we got word that UW was not doing back to in person classes this quarter or next. Stephen, Evelyn and I woke up early and drove to Seattle to quickly pack her dorm room up to move Evelyn back home. This was not how her first year of college was supposed to end. There has been so much disappointment the past week. It is really hard watching things we had planned change so quickly and it is even harder watching the younger generation have so many of their milestones taken away from them.

It was such a long and emotionally draining day. Seeing Evelyn so disappointed but trying to put on a brave face was extremely difficult for me as her mother to watch. Looking at this photo, gives me a rush of emotions.

Her unexpected move meant that she had over $350 of her food allowance left that would not be reimbursed. We hit up the University store and stocked up on the essentials like junk food!

Henry was so happy to have Evelyn home again!

The last thing we unpacked was her emergency backpack provided to her at the beginning of the year from UW. At the bottom of the pack was this little respirator. Being in Seattle was so strange, it was very somber, quiet and everyone was wearing masks.

The view form under the couch. This was the only place I could sneak a photo without disrupting the ballet class. I love the angle and the reflection of Tessa in the fireplace glass.

It’s only the second morning without school and I find Henry in his closet watching YouTube videos on magnet fishing. He has a plan that includes a very powerful magnet and borrowing a boat. I am going to have to very hard to keep him occupied during the next 6 weeks!

Stephen is now working from home and sharing an office space with the kids’ toys and the guinea pigs.

We decided to go on a local hike this evening. It sure felt good to get out of the house and stretch our legs. I really enjoyed the hike but I am not super excited about all of the sand we took home with us!

The first Zoom ballet class and Abby made herself useful by trying to block Lillian’s view from the computer the entire time!

It is finals week for Evelyn. UW is doing distance learning for the next two weeks until the Corona Virus is under control. It is so good to have her home, safe and sound! She is looking forward to getting back to UW and starting her final quarter. (I think she is mostly looking forward to not having to eat my cooking!) I am so proud of everything she has accomplished!