Brevard Zoo & Pictures from the Past...

It was another mostly quiet week. We are all pretty settled into our summer routine. It is funny that we are now 4 weeks into summer break, which means in 6 weeks the kids could theoretically return to school. We expect to hear in the coming days what the plan is. The Governor is encouraging school districts to have a return to normal (or, as close to it as possible). He wants the students on campus. However, those lofty pronouncements were made before the numbers in Florida began to skyrocket. I remember when I would get a sinking feeling when the new cases exceeded 1000. Today, they were right around 9000. We are definitely going in the wrong direction!

We have continued to try and find things that will allow us to maintain our distance. Today (Friday) we decided to take a few hours off work and try the Brevard Zoo. Thomas and I are comfortable doing outdoor activities, particularly if masks are required. The zoo was fun, although a lot of people had their masks around their necks and were not maintaining distance. I wish people would just follow the rules and wear the masks (especially if they are going to walk right up to me!). I have ranted about that in previous blogs, so I won't waste any more space on my thoughts. Anyway, the zoo was about 45 minutes away, it was an easy drive. It is a loop and we saw lots of fun animals. Kara's favorite was the black bear. She was rescued after somebody kept feeding her and she lost her fear of humans. Because of that, she can never be returned to the wild. They had teenage volunteers in front of some of the exhibits and that was one, which was nice for Kara as she was able to learn more about her favorite animal. Thomas' favorite is still the giraffe. We were able to feed them. It was a little bit of a ripoff, at $2 for one piece of romaine lettuce.  But, the money is for conservation, so we paid without complaint. They don't have pandas (my favorite), but I loved a funny little bird called a Seriema. The monkeys are always entertaining and Jack's favorite was the spider monkey. Anna liked the turtles and Luke can't choose.

This sloth was really relaxed. We thought he was pretty funny!

This is the bird that I liked. 

I had no idea there was such a thing as giant otters, but there they were.

Relaxing and following rules

They had a kangaroo walk through area, the kangaroos were not bothered by our presence (also Emus)

Sweet baby giraffes

This might be my favorite picture of the day.

The zoo also had kayak tours. They were not busy, so we had a tour time all to ourselves. It lasted about 30 minutes and it was so hot! The heat index was 105! We were all pouring in sweat, but it was fun to do the "African Loop" and see the animals from a different angle. Thomas, Luke, Kara and I enjoyed it. Anna and Jack had a little trouble navigating their kayak, but are willing to give it another try.

Zoos have a lot of meaning for our family. When we lived in Norfolk, we were members of the local zoo and went regularly. Anna and Jack took some of their first steps at that zoo. There isn't a lot you can do with 2 18-months old and a newborn, but everyone was always happy to be outside and at the zoo. When we lived in Tennessee we went to the Memphis Zoo almost every weekend. The kids were still toddlers and again, it was a place where everyone was happy. I remember Thomas' dad would call on Saturdays and found it funny that when he asked what we were up to, it was always the zoo. We didn't go to the zoo in DC as often (it was not an easy drive) but we still went a few times a year, and we lived in Maryland for almost 10 years, so it added up. I always feel a little sentimental at the zoo. The older kids may not love it the same way they did when they were 3 and 4, but we still had a good time and it brings back lots of happy memories. Here are some pictures from the Norfolk Zoo:

These are from Dec 2008. I was 7 months pregnant with Kara

Such a happy fellow!

They loved to walk around the zoo.

I couldn't find much from Memphis. Very weird I know, considering how often we went. But here is one of Kara walking around and the three older kids in their matching Memphis Zoo t-shirts:

After the zoo, we went through the Dairy Queen drive through and headed home. Thomas and I were beat and wanted to take a nap, but the kids jumped in the pool, and since that is right outside our window, the nap was not meant to be. All in all, it was a really fun day. We are going to try and come up with more safe activities and take some time off every few Fridays more often.

There isn't much else weekly news. The kids finally went night swimming. Anna, Kara and Luke stayed up late and enjoyed swimming in the dark (well, by the light of the pool light). We had books delivered from our library, so everyone has new reading material again. Oh! There is a house in our neighborhood that everyone thought would be a dream home--whenever we drive by someone would remark on how they wished we could buy it. It has been vacant for a long time and it finally went up for sale. We called our realtor, who lives in our neighborhood, and she was able to get us in right away. Since it was empty and right around the corner from our house, we walked over to check it out. It is significantly bigger than our house and the kids would get upgrades with larger bedrooms and more bathrooms. But, the downstairs had issues. The kitchen was small and the master bedroom was seriously lacking in closet space. And, the shower had a weird window with plantation shutters. So, it was not a dream home after all. I was a bit relieved. The thought of moving again is daunting!

Parenting Woes

When I go back and read my blogs from years past, my favorite are the stories that took place in every day life. The funny things that happened on the way to the playground or the silly interactions at home. The stories we have today usually aren't very cute. Sometimes they are funny and entertaining. But, it is harder for me to write about what is really going on in our lives because while the kids like hearing about what they did when they were 4 or 5, they aren't so excited for me to write about what they consider embarrassing moments now. For example, this week one of my older children, we shall call this child Kiddo, basically went on a hunger strike to teach me a lesson. Kiddo came downstairs grouchy one morning and was being mean to Luke. We gave Kiddo a warning and the behavior continued. So, we told Kiddo to go up to their room for 10 minutes to calm down. It took awhile for Kiddo to listen and when Kiddo finally did, it was with a pronouncement that Kiddo was going to stay there all day! Then, Kiddo did. I made Kiddo lunch, Kiddo stated he/she was not hungry and stayed upstairs. We ran a quick errand, Kiddo did not want to join. I made Kiddo sit at the dinner table with us, but Kiddo refused to eat (again saying he/she was not hungry) and went back to their room immediately after. Kiddo had told one of their siblings that he/she was teaching us a lesson. I'm not sure what the lesson was, because the day was actually pretty peaceful. One of Kiddo's siblings even announced that Kiddo should teach us more lessons (a bit mean, but again, the day was pretty peaceful, likely not entirely attributable to Kiddo's strike). Personally, I admired Kiddo's determination. Kiddo said he/she was going to stay in his/her room all day and not eat and then did it. Most of us would have gotten hungry and given in, but not Kiddo! Kiddo ended up fasting for about 37 hours and was not feeling great the next morning, but he/she did it! Hopefully, a lesson was learned by someone!

Our parenting challenges are also different. One of the kids got caught lying to us this week (doing electronics when it wasn't time). Then, that child tried to cover the lie with more deception. I imagine it is only going to get harder, but the struggles we have now can be frustrating. The rude, snarky, sarcastic attitudes that I assume go with the preteen territory seem to be more frequent. Although, I also expect some of that is frustration and boredom with our present situation? I really just want them to be honest. I expect them to make mistakes and break rules, even though I wish they didn't, but I just want them to be nice and to be honest. That's not asking too much, is it? In fairness, I will say that overall I think they are really great kids and I don't think our struggles are anything unusual.

Reports cards came out this week. Jack had all As for the year, except Spanish. He really struggled in Spanish, but he did not like it or put forth the effort to do well. Anna's grades came up this quarter, but it took a lot of effort on our part, which was frustrating. Kara had all As and one B. Luke had Os and Ss. :) I would call it a successful school year, there are lessons to be learned, but we are definitely proud of all of them.

Luke is still fun and little. I often look at him and think of Jack at his age. Luke is so happy and chatty. I remember Jack being that way too. Anna was also very talkative and friendly, although I actually think Luke has outlasted that stage for them. I remember Anna and Jack getting more reserved when kindergarten started. Kara was never very friendly, although she was pretty chatty with her family, she has always been a bit more shy (although, oddly enough, she is the least timid, so maybe shy is the wrong word, maybe saying she was always more introverted makes more sense?). Anyway, it is easy for me to look at Luke and remember how quickly this stage of life passes. They are only little for the tiniest slip of time. And, I know they are all still "little," and I try to keep that in mind. I don't want to mourn the years that have past and not enjoy the years we are in. But, looking at Luke is like a mini time machine and sometimes it just hits me.

In other parenting news, Kara has been begging for a hamster. She watches videos about them, reads books and has been super vocal about her desire to own one. I am not really interested in another pet. In fact, I feel like our family should be banned from further pet ownership. But, we have decided to leverage her deep desire for a hamster with our deep desire that she learn better coping skills. So, once she has 30 successful days (they don't have to be consecutive) in our set criteria, we will buy her the hamster and a nice fancy habitat. It would be a win for us all! We have told the other kids that we can set up something similar for them to work through their personal challenges if they'd like. We all definitely have them!

And, as mentioned, I really do think this pandemic has exacerbated many of those challenges. We are home, but Thomas and I are working for most of the day so it is completely different for the kids. We take breaks to do things with them; lately Thomas, Luke and Jack have been playing "tennis" in the street as a lunch break and I generally will jump in the pool with Luke and the girls, but it is still not the same. I struggle with reconciling the summer I wanted with the summer we are going to get. I wish we could at least send them to camp, but with the numbers rising so rapidly, I think everyone is better off at home, at least for now.

So, that is all for the this edition of Parenting Woes. Hopefully, I have been cryptic enough so as not to embarrass anyone while providing enough details for an accurate portrayal.

Graduation, Aquatica and Leu Gardens

Last Sunday, the Mottas came over and we celebrated JD's graduation. The kids swam and the parents played Scattergories and Aggravation. Kim won both games. She also won last time when we played the train game. I need to find something I can beat her at! I came in a dismal third at Scattergories and I used to be unbeatable at that game. But, Thomas and I kept cancelling each other out. We apparently think alike. It was still fun, I hadn't played in years and enjoyed opening the box and seeing the old score cards with writing on them from friends and family in times past. We all ate good food, including a Publix graduation cake (I am so happy to be back in the land of Publix) and enjoyed being together. We gave JD his gift. I am sorry we didn't get to attend any of his end-of-year events, but at least we got to see them.

I finally made them all gather for a picture!

The week went by in a blur. I can't think of anything that stands out until Friday when we went to Aquatica. They opened up the Sea World parks on Thursday and we decided Aquatica would be fun. I have been following the opening of Universal and the crowds have been really light. We had some friends who went to Legoland the Friday before and they said there were only about 150 people in the entire park. We wanted to take advantage! Thomas and I got up early and worked about 3 hours. Then, we headed out. The first disappointing sign was the line at parking. It was very, very long. Getting into the park required masks and a temperature check. That part went really quickly--I think the bottleneck at parking helped keep it short. We headed to our favorite ride--Ray Rush, which all six of us can ride together. The park opened at 10 and it was about 1015. We only waited about 15 minutes. However, by the time we got on, the line was at least twice as long as it was when we got in it. We decided to do Roa Rapids before it got too crowded. Roa Rapids is a not-lazy river and is amazing. It was relatively empty and we went around 3 times. Then we did the regular lazy river, which was packed. I went with Luke on a double float, which was really nice. I laid back and relaxed and he navigated us through the water. After that we got lunch. Finally, I took Luke to the wave pool while the older 3 kids alternated between the wave pool and body slides. The other slides all had crazy lines, much, much longer than what we were hoping for. I would say the crowd was similar to when we went last year in this time frame. The parking lot was full and even though we heard it would be restricted to 30% attendance, it felt normal crowded. There were a few things that were closed, so that may have impacted the ability for the crowd to spread out more? We still had lots of fun.

Around 6pm I got a text asking me if I had reviewed some documents that "needed" to go out that day. I had not, as I thought I was taking the day off. I had told my clients that I could look over stuff if needed that afternoon, but I had misunderstood and thought anything else coming in could wait until Monday. So, I had to log back into the computer. It only took about 45 minutes, but I am getting tired of the expectation of being available at all times. It is no ones fault and I like my coworkers, I think it is just another side effect of this weird work environment. Once I finished, we all went out for ice cream to end our fun day.

Saturday we went to Leu Gardens. We brought our masks, but mostly kept them off as we walked around. I would only put mine on if other people with masks passed on the pathways. I get irritated at the people not wearing masks. All the latest research recommends them and shows that if two people are wearing masks the odds of catching/spreading COVID drop dramatically. But, they are mainly to prevent asymptomatic people from passing it to others. So, if someone else is not wearing their mask, why should I protect them by wearing mine? I know that is a childish attitude, but, I was feeling annoyed. I feel like our society is so worried about protecting their individual rights that we no longer care about doing what is best for everyone. It is a hot topic of debate and the commentary on my Facebook groups has been full of vitriol. I mainly feel bad for workers who have to wear them and are not being protected by the general public. Of course, I spent a day at Aquatica, so I guess I am picking and choosing where to pass judgement. Regardless, we really enjoyed walking around Leu Gardens and seeing all beautiful plants. Anna's favorite area is the arid garden. I like the rose and butterfly gardens. Kara also loves the rose garden. The boys don't have favorite areas, but they all enjoy visiting.

In front of one of the many live oaks.

Rose garden in the background

Time to stop and smell the roses. We disagreed as to which color smelled best. Luke said the white ones smell like peppermint.

I was taking a picture of the turtles, but then the shadows looked kind of cool

We spent a while watching this owl while he sized us up.

One of Thomas' awesome photos

While all of this was happening, the cases in Florida rose exponentially. We had record setting days for new cases. However, hospitalizations and deaths don't seem to be rising at the same rate, so that is good news. Although, I expect that could change soon. Today was another record setting day of almost 2800 new cases. A few weeks ago the state was averaging around 650. I received an e-mail this morning from the base CO who said to expect another year of limited travel. I really hope that's not the case. We have a cruise planned in March and I already feel like it has been too long since we took a vacation. I find myself feeling more irritable and frustrated than usual and I am really tired of all that is happening. There is so much bad news every. single. day. Not just COVID, but the BLM movement, which has been a long time coming. I hope this time there are actually systemic changes. Although, I feel bad for the good cops. But, between that, the COVID crisis, reelection news, record high temperatures (and accompanying articles about global warming) and just all the general uncertainty--I am feeling worn down. I am trying to find the positives, but honestly, I am getting sick of telling myself how much worse it could be.

And, to try and end on a happy note, a final picture. Luke really likes marble runs. Thomas built this one afternoon. I love the kerplunk noise the marbles make, especially when we send dozens down at a time:

This and That

We made our first family outing on Friday. We decided to take a trip to Ollie's. It was the first time the kids had been to a store since March 15th. Everyone wore a mask and chose a book. I was thinking maybe it was time that we could start venturing out a little more, but the cases in Florida have been rising again. There is still so much conflicting information that things are really hard to figure out. Regardless, we will continue to take it slow.

The first week of no-school went okay. We gave the kids a list of tasks to do each day. It is similar to what they had to do when school was in session: an hour of physical activity, an hour outside, time with Luke (or if you are Luke, time with each of his siblings), some math, reading and writing (not a lot, just enough to avoid summer slide). They didn't do everything we asked everyday, but it is a work in progress. The time with Luke is basically forcing the older kids to babysit, but they haven't complained about that one. We did give them the opportunity to write their own schedule and warned them that whatever they came up with would likely be preferable to what we came up with, but only Kara took us up on it. They have all said they would rather be at camp, even Jack, which I feel bad about. But, hopefully, we can make it up to them once Covid is behind us.

Work is still busy for Thomas and me. I sometimes feel like our days are busier now than they were before this began. It is definitely harder finding balance, but we both still prefer teleworking to physically going to the office. It is so nice not having to make the commute and having more time at home, even if it does feel busier. And, of course, wearing comfy clothes all day is a nice benefit. We had thought that we were going to have the opportunity for significant telework when this ended, but now it is looking like maybe one day a week. That wouldn't even be worth the hassle. We will wait and see what happens.

Kim and her family came over a couple of weeks ago. We played games and the kids swam and it was nice. Then, the following weekend we went to Marta's house. Her pool is huge and we had a ton of fun playing in it. They even stuck a kayak in. Jack has been begging us to get one, but we haven't figured out the logistics. Today, Kim and her family are coming up again and we are going to celebrate JD's graduation. It is really nice spending all this time with family. Hopefully, today I will think to get a picture with the Mottas. 

Jack was really smart and combined his outdoor, exercise and Luke time into one pool session.

Kara put time to practice contortion in her daily schedule.

Luke lost his first tooth!!! He was so excited for the tooth fairy to visit.

Kayaking in the Tilley's massive pool

And, the final picture requires a little bit of explanation. Somehow, Anna and Kara convinced Thomas to let them dye their hair. I wanted nothing do with it, so they went on a bike ride to CVS and Thomas let them pick out their colors. Only, when they came home, Anna had picked out a permanent silver color. Kara had chosen a semi-permanent purple. I explained to Anna that the permanent meant that the color would not come out until her hair grew out. Fortunately, she made the decision to use some of Kara's leftover color to put in purple highlights. Kara's purple came out really nice. However, it mostly came out after her first pool swim. She enjoyed it for the day it lasted. It is still a little purple, but nothing like this picture. Anna's is harder to see, especially in pictures, but it looks nice.