A Return to the Outside World

 Going to church Sunday!  There are still social distancing guidelines but we were able to go to meet in our church for worship.  There were two services and you were instructing which to attend alphabetically.  We went to the early service at 9:15. The deacons were wearing masks and escorted you to your seats.  Every other row was blocked off.  Some older people were wearing masks.  There was no Sunday School, nursery, communion, bulletins, or passing the offering plate.  We were dismissed one row at a time so there wouldn't be congestion in the aisles and were asked to do our visiting in the parking lot.

 NASCAR racing without fans started at Darlington.  Ben was prepared watching on three screens: the race on TV, a live leaderboard on my laptop, and in car cameras on his Chromebook.

 Mollie Grace did a great job cantering at horse riding lessons.

 Our first strawberries were ready to pic Monday.

Wednesday we decided we needed a change of scenery.  The library is open for online holds and curbside pickup so we placed an order for new books, returned the pile we've had since March, and picked up Chick-fil-a for lunch.

 Mollie Grace and Annie put on a circus.  Mollie Grace did the tricks and Annie was a clown and a monkey.

Shelter at Home Week 5

 Final touches!

 Several of Annie's big eye stuffed animals had birthdays in May so the girls had a birthday party for them.  The girls set the party up before lunch but then I called them to eat and rest.  When they returned to the party Marcie had eaten all but three of the mini muffins!

John has been reading the Narnia books before bed since the beginning of the year.  We completed The Magician's Nephew and are on the The Last Battle. 

The most exciting event of the week is not pictured.  On Thursday our neighbor Erika texted that they were releasing their kids from Coronavirus lockdown.  They were ready to play by 10 a.m.  They had been meeting in the woods between our houses for weeks "social distancing" but they were all happy to be able to play freely together again.

Shelter at Home Week 4

Annie built this cardboard box dog and took it out to potty when I took Marcie out for several days.

 She also wrote and illustrated several books about the adventures of Ribbit Ribbit.  She is reading the first book to Mollie Grace.

 Doing her schoolwork dressed as one of the characters from Ribbit Ribbit: the fairy frog princess.

Her dance class got to meet via Zoom for a lesson.

 I felt like I needed to document how cheap gas currently is.

 On Saturday afternoon we started putting together the swing set that we ordered for the kids.  It was a two person job and I didn't take any other pictures.  By 7 p.m. we were 99% done and the last two bolts would not tighten.  After reading some reviews, I went to Home Depot Sunday afternoon and bought two bolts 1/2 inch longer to complete the project.

May Begins

 By the end of April John's hair and beard had reached extreme lengths!  He curled the ends of his mustache in this picture just to show how crazy long it was.

 Salons were still closed so we decided it was time for a home hair cut with the dog clippers.

 After I cut his hair before he trimmed his beard.

 So much hair!  I also cut Ben's but didn't take any pictures.

 Annie and Mollie Grace spent weeks working on this shelter.

 Taking her panda for a ride.

Comfort food for supper.  Everything is fried!