As normal as this summer is going to get

We knew it wasn't going to be a normal summer- we were still working on lesson plans, we couldn't go see live music... but it really wasn't too bad. We realized that we quite enjoy just being in our house with nowhere to go. Here is what we got up to- as normal as we could get!

Baseball game. A bit smaller but still a fun fun day. Sherlock even got dressed for action!

We had one driveway movie. Sandlot... again. It never gets old.

Jim trained his camp robber Elvis, to take food out of your hand or off your head. Even knowing this, Wilder seems less than comfortable.

Hiked down to Gilman to look about.

I worked on my trampoline action shots. They are getting clearer I think.

It snowed... not strange- totally normal actually

My family bought axes for father's day! I proved quite adept. Wilder may be the family archer but I am the axe man.

*disclaimer- I bought the axes, I couldn't help it.

We did have some sad news: Our wedding toaster bit the dust. Lisa mourned.

This is still our normal morning: drink coffee and stare at homestake. Today was unique as the airplane was making acute angles!

Didn't catch anything (I never do) but had an enjoyable evening fishing with Mort.

Not to be deterred by a little sprinkle, Lisa enjoys her chiminea.

So glad this part of our summer stayed normal. Getting to go to lake powell and watch the cousins hang out is awesome. This year didn't disappoint.

"Who's your hair stylist?" "Who's yours?"

Luca and I absolutely crushed Hawaiian night this year.

A few other things that were normal:

-older sisters telling younger brothers things: "headphones work in your nose too"

(and then brothers trying it)

-Dad telling Luca he would buy him a jacket at a yard sale if he wore the cone of shame. (I didn't think he would)

-Bob. The ladies still love him

-thrift shopping. And what a find this year! Ryan Zastrow's #25 bball jersey.

-I made some art... and drank some beer

-and some more art

Wilder still reads a bunch. Here she is in the hammock in the tree house.

Lovely sunsets are still normal

Lisa and I have known for a while that we really like to hang out together. This summer cemented this knowledge but also brought in the kids too. These two are fun to be with! They must get that from their mother.

 

One strange quarantine

It was good to be back but it was strange to be back too. 

We were still working, we couldn't go out and see people, we had to figure out finding wifi for 3am meetings! It all came together, from my dad bringing food to staying in a 1.5 room cabin for the first few weeks. We just kinda rolled with it and adapted and made the strange seem like that was how we always did things.

We returned to warm days that became snowy days that became snowy days that... you get it.

Coming up with interesting online lessons was a challenge. Here I am discussing phase change while making ice cream. At least it was tasty.

One bonus of our cabin is we could still go for walks and not see anyone. Here we are at Vances.

Eventually the cabin was too small so we rented a place in Leadville. We could spread out a little more and it was easier to access internet to make lesson plans. Here is Luca and I before one of Lisa's PE lessons.

and here we are after.

Having paved roads was definitely new for us and the kids made use with their skateboards. 

A highlight for Luca and I was the day we climbed homestake peak and skied / snowboarded down. I hadn't done that since adventure club- what a fine day. 

The summit:

The ride down

I also had a chance to work on my hairstyling. Lisa is always so trusting...

I may or may not have spent time online shopping

 

Had many nice walks with my mom. The strange part was not hugging.

By the end of summer we were ready to safely break the no hug rule. Thanks for bringing the poncho mom!

The quarantine ended up being just fine. The frustrations have been forgotten, replaced by memories of playing cards with Wilder, walks with Lisa, and skiing with Luca. I would still prefer to just hug people though!

Stupid covid

Covid, you big dummy head.

I'm usually pretty good at seeing the positives in situations... but this one is making it tough. Covid-19 is just sucking the joy out of things. I know this sounds trite to say in the face of something that is taking lives- so no sleight is meant here.

Our school decided (as many did) to go virtual in March. It planned to announce May 4th whether or not to return to classes or stay online for the year. At the time returning seemed like a viable option. As things played out it became clear that school was not going to return. Additionally flights out of the country started to cancel quickly. The U.S. embassy made a recommendation to take the last flight (that they were offering) and we did! Figuring we could teach online from Colorado we boarded a plane on the 6th of April.

It became a 48 hour marathon with an 8 hour delay in Okinawa, a beauty of a sunset in Alaska, a brief stop in SF, an amazing cup of coffee in LA, and then finally getting picked up by Wilder in Denver (she arrived 2 weeks prior from Newcastle). We offered to help drive home then promptly serenaded her with our loud mouth breathing all the way home.

Being all together was a relief but so much more wasn't right. I couldn't hug my mom and dad, I couldn't make connections with my students (zoom just doesn't cut it), and I couldn't share time with friends as I used to. (I know- boo hoo- at least I'm alive and working. I realize things could be worse and are for millions)

What I'm slowly getting to is that its different now, I don't like it, and I'm ready for my ability to start to see positives return.

and spoiler: it will.

Here I am waiting on plane #1

Here we are on the first plane to Okinawa. I had to take 2 photos as Lisa and Luca didn't smile in the first one

This is the company that flew us home. They do troop transport and secret type stuff... but they also have their own napkins.

I've never been to Alaska. Just seeing these peaks on the way in to refuel in Anchorage made me really really want to go.

The process of arriving was interesting. I wondered what stern warnings we would get about quarantining ourselves. Would we have to text our temps to the CDC each morning? Prove we were self-isolating via selfies? We had heard from friends in other countries these were options. The reality: The very nice customs lady looked at our passports, asked "how are you feeling?", stamped them and called out "next".

In any case I still was suspect that the last two signs were feet from each other- both from the same room! I'm not falling for that trick!