Escape to the Zoo

Without anywhere to go or much to do right now, we're getting a little desperate to get out of the house and do something other than stare at screens or even swim in the pool.  When it's 90 every day, even that loses it's excitement a bit.  It doesn't look like a true vacation is in the cards this year, and this week a heat wave is making it almost impossible to do anything except swim or sit in the A/C.  Even still, this is my second to last week of furlough (though I'm working next week), so we've been trying to think of things to do.  Our zoo opened a little over a week ago now, and while the kids are definitely not impressed by the zoo these days, we felt like it still might be a nice little diversion.

We scheduled our entry for between 10-11am, in order to try to beat as much of the extreme heat as we could.  It was still really hot when we got there a little before 11 (because getting everyone moving right now is a challenge, and Craig had a little work to do, as well).  The heat was made even more challenging by a mandatory mask policy.  Despite being mostly outside, masks are required throughout the property.  I definitely feel more comfortable that way, but I'll admit I couldn't wait for chances to take it off, like when I took a drink of water.  

It was our first time to the zoo as a family in over a year and a half.  In that time, the zoo demolished their original main building and replaced it with a play area that will remain until they build an entirely new building that will allow them to bring in a bunch of primates, among other things.  It's still a couple years out, though.  It was so odd to see that huge space cleared and changed to the point of being almost unrecognizable.  It took me a few minutes to get my bearings.  The original building housed a bunch of birds, some reptiles, the beloved orangutans, meerkats, a few other monkeys(maybe spider monkeys and golden lion tamarins?), and a few random other things including vultures and a sloth.  You can see my documenting of our last trip while the building was still open in March 2018 here.  It was sad to see it go, but it was a very old building that wasn't up to current zoo standards, so it was time.  

The new play area is huge and I'm sure kids are loving it.  I think we would have spent a lot more time there were it not so hot and totally not shaded!

Carter trying to climb a rope

Jacob trying to cross a rope bridge.  I tried it and only got maybe halfway.  It was hard!

A different type of bridge...also challenging!

Of course there was hand sanitizing after that activity!  Besides masking and reminders of distancing, the zoo also had a one way path throughout the property.  It wasn't bad aside from making it harder to check out certain animals both on your way in and out.  But all things considered, it wasn't that different of an experience.  

Because it was so hot, we ran into a lot of lazy, sleepy, or hiding animals.  The red panda escaped into its enclosure before I could take a picture, and the snow leopards were just visible inside their indoor space, napping away.  The racoons were pretty representative of the general mood, though. 

The penguins were mostly hiding in the shade, continuing to illustrate their dislike of their pool, but this one guy ventured out and went into one of the little caves instead.

Gotta love a big bird--the crane is a cool one!

The sea lions were swimming a lot, probably to stay cool, so it was hard to get a picture, but I liked this one where the tongue was sticking out!

The lions were snoozing as well, and I caught this shot through the fence while the boys were getting slushies.  Had to keep them cool and happy somehow! 

This was the up-close view by the viewing window.

A lioness was awake but sitting in the shade on the bus.  So regal, isn't she?

On the other end of the spectrum was the always interesting baboons, who pretty much never have any shame.  One was intimately grooming another.

This one had a nice little lookout spot...

And this one had a precarious view from above!

How do you balance like that?

The elephants were eating hay from on high...

Bill the Rhino will be leaving in the fall (I believe to be replaced by a different rhino--he needs to go make babies elsewhere, I think), so I made sure to take a picture just in case.  Though nothing will beat the rhino photo I got many years ago near closing time, when one had a tranquilizer dart in its butt, presumably for upcoming medical treatment after hours.  Hilarious.  Clearly on this day the heat was enough of a tranquilizer!

In the new African Savanna building I had to take a couple pics of the pretty birds.  It's not the same variety as what the old main building had, but they're cool anyway.

The giraffes were mostly hanging out inside, too, but this one finally headed out.  This picture cracked me up a bit because of the giraffe snout sticking out from the door.  It almost looks like they're having a conversation if you look at the half-open mouth of the other one.  It actually reminds me a bit of the old cartoon (per Google, The Ant and the Aardvark) where the aardvark (who I always thought was an anteater) talked out of a mouth at the end of his nose.

The zebras are just so cool.  Their patterns fascinate me.  God really had fun with that one.

On the way back through I did catch a better shot of the giraffe from the front.  I love that we have them here now.  Normally I could watch them for hours, but the heat was just a little too much to do more than a couple minutes.

When we walked past the lions again, the lioness was sleeping on the rocks.  She's so pretty.

We only caught a glimpse of the polar bear from inside the underwater viewing area, pacing around in the shade.  I'm shocked she wasn't swimming to keep cool.  The photo op polar bear, however, was sporting a mask! 

We caught a quick glimpse of a training session with one of the sea lions.  Sorry for the quality--the glass is hard to see through.  He dropped his fish in the water right after and had to go chasing after it.

As we walked back toward the otters, I couldn't help but take a picture of the lovely flowers.

Sadly, the otters were sleeping but at least it was better than some trips where they're nowhere to be found.  While we'd prefer playful otters, sleeping ones are pretty cute, too.

I was rather amused by this lizard who didn't seem to mind that his tail didn't stick to the wall like the rest of his apendages...

The geckos were plastered up against the glass, which looked pretty funny from our vantage point.

Poison dart frogs are one of my favorites, just because their colors are so vivid.  They had yellow ones and blue ones, but I personally liked this green one with blue legs.

We were rather entertained by this ghosted image on the frogs' glass aquarium.  Craig said it looked like the frog lost his grip and slid down.  You can almost hear the, "Noooooo!"

We probably would have stayed a little longer were the heat not overbearing in the masks and were lunch not on the horizon.  As a result, I think everyone had enough by the time we left.  As fun as it is, our zoo is definitely lacking a bit right now without the monkeys, tortoises, meerkats, and other things that had to go until the new building is built.  I won't pass up the chance to go to the Buffalo Zoo or any decent zoo in towns we may travel to, but I know the boys are definitely less impressed by them right now.  I love that the animals are always doing something different (unlike a museum or other static attraction), so I feel like I never tire of zoos, but it looks like the boys will take more convincing for the foreseeable future.  Still, I'm glad we went and got a little time out of the house.  I can't get enough of that right now, that's for sure.

The Fourth That Fizzled (A Little, Anyway)

We didn't do much on the Fourth of July.  We could have gone to a family party in Buffalo, but I didn't feel quite ready for that.  Even with distancing and masks, it just seemed...unwise?  There have been a handful of stories lately about families who spread the virus to a couple dozen people through parties, and even though this one was outside, it was concerning.  Probably harmless, but still concerning.  So we stuck close to home.  Because it was pretty hot, we spent much of the day in the A/C.  It was a Saturday, our usual take-out dinner night, so we finally ventured out to grab dinner--this time all of our individual choices (DiBella's sub for Craig, pizza from Uno for Jacob, and Popeye's for me and Carter).  Afterward, we got in a nice evening swim, though it was slightly awkward in full view of the next-door neighbors' party.  The neighbors moved in last fall, and while we haven't chatted at length with them, we haven't had any issue with them, either.  They've actually done a great job fixing up the yard considering it's a rental property, upgrading almost all of the flower beds.  They have four dogs living in a little house, and aside from them running into our yard periodically and barking at us when we walk in the yard, you'd otherwise almost never know they're there.  So overall not bad.

After our swim, we settled in outside for some tabletop s'mores.  We got to enjoy the neighbors' fun with fireworks!

The neighbors won a few more cool points when someone walked over to offer up some of their excess fun!  They gave the boys a couple boxes of those little snapper things that you throw on the ground to pop!  I remember doing them when I was about Carter's age or a little younger when at my grandma's house on the 4th.  We'd go over there for pool time and a picnic and then head down the road to the park by the river to watch the fireworks.  Such good memories!  These left a little bit of a mess, but they've never done them so they had fun finding out what they were all about!

The remains of the fun!

We continued to watch their display while we ate our s'mores...

Jacob likes his a little done...

My last one was a nice, toasty one!

The neighbors also offered up some "jumping jacks", which we set off in the driveway, and some sparklers!

Not sure what Jacob was doing, but it looks like some sort of interpretive dance!

Not a bad shot for a crappy cell phone camera!

All in all, it was a pretty decent evening to finish off a rather quiet and unexciting day!  Since we couldn't go to fireworks with everything canceled, we decided to torture the kids a bit and watch our honeymoon video.  I dug out the camcorder a while back and had been meaning to watch whatever randomness we had on tape from our honeymoon and beyond (basically for the three years until digital cameras and phone cameras became available), but when I remembered that we had footage of the 4th of July fireworks in Las Vegas from 2003, I put it on our to-do list for the day!  

The honeymoon footage was mildly entertaining (to us, not the kids--although there were moments they found intriguing).  It was weird to see 17-years-younger versions of ourselves.  I forgot just how much younger I looked.  It was crazy, actually.  We were young and in love and goofy.  I forget that I hadn't been on a plane for 15 years prior to that, so traveling to San Diego and Vegas was pretty special, and we were definitely taking it all in.  As a reminder, this was us back then: 

The first bit of the video was from our drive over to Coronado Island for dinner and sightseeing.  The next part was a tour around our hotel room:

I also showed off the view from our balcony, which was fantastic.

We didn't have footage from the zoo, but how cool was this?

We also went to Knott's Berry Farm on that leg of the trip.  Also no footage of that, but we had a really fun day, much of which was spent waiting for this crazy roller coaster to open after mechanical issues.  It did eventually, and it was a great ride!  This is my favorite dramatic shot from that stop...

Next up was Vegas, including the view from our room at Treasure Island...

We walked down the strip a bit and showed off the various hotels, tourist traps, shopping areas, and whatever else.  It was lovely then and it was fun to relive now.

I can't leave out seeing my first Chihuly permanent installation!

Someday I will get back and take a million proper pictures with my digital camera!

We had some footage of the conservatory in the Bellagio, which was full of hydrangeas, which I'd coincidentally had in my bridal bouquet...

We also had the full Treasure Island pirate battle!

We had a few minutes on the gondola ride at the Venetian...

…and some silly humor outside the Luxor, too.

This didn't make it to the video, but it's one of my favorite pre-digital pictures ever.  Notice the 96 degree temperature late at night!  This casino no longer exists, sadly.

Seeing those moments again was fun and brought back a lot of good memories of a much simpler time.  We weren't sure what else was on the video, but it was interesting as new things popped up.  We had footage of move-in day in our first apartment and Christmas time at that same apartment a few months later.  We had Christmas with Craig's family, including watching our then-18-month-old niece and nephew (now 18 years old) opening presents on Christmas Eve,  We also had Christmas with my dad's side of the family, including shots of my grandma's second-to-last Christmas, when the house we still gather in was still hers.  We also had an extended video of our niece and nephew's second birthday party, which also included a lot of beloved, departed family members.  

I sent this photo to our sister-in-law as a preview of the upcoming entertainment at our next family gathering!

There were so many emotions and thoughts I didn't expect from seeing that footage.  It definitely sinks in how quickly time passes when you see two-year-old kids who are suddenly high school graduates.  As okay as I've been with myself as I've aged, it was shocking to see myself at 24 in something more than just a picture.  It was definitely a different time, and my narrations definitely made me question how I ended up on TV that year!

After a quiet Saturday, Sunday was a pretty busy day.  I went for a bike ride in the morning, ideally before it got too hot but that happened anyway.  Gotta love the canal path.

A gaggle of geese!

After church and lunch, Carter and I went to visit a friend of mine to deliver one of the extra garbage cans I ended up with due to a company trying to make things right.  She has three puppies at her house right now, and they were super cute (though VERY high energy)!  We had fun catching up while the boys played video games.  Once we got home, the boys went in the pool and I went to Wegmans and made dinner.  After that I went on a very long video call with my oldest friend Heather.  We were overdue for a catching up, and a Zoom call made that much easier!  I'm surprised I still had a voice at the end of the day after so much catching up--times two!

Now we're into my next week of furlough, and despite a crazy heat wave we're trying to make some plans to do some fun stuff...so stay tuned!

News and Notes, The Award-Winning Edition

Another week of furlough is upon us.  I'm enjoying these weeks way more than I should given the reason, but I am thankful for the free time and the ability to hang out with my family without feeling trapped at my desk.  I wish I had a few more meaningful things to fill the time, but the downtime is nice for now.

I probably should be more productive, but I do manage to fill the time.  I putter around the house.  I run errands when I can.  I read.  I spend a lot of time checking on my garden, which is thriving.

Tomatoes at the top, zucchini on the left, cucumbers on the right, green beans on the bottom

I have planted flowers in pots that seem to need constant watering, I've tried to seed and keep watered the holes in the grass from dandelions I killed, and I am constantly pulling weeds.  I've sat on my front porch more this spring and summer than I think I ever have, just because it's nicer to sit outside than it is to be a little chilled in the central air indoors.  We spend most afternoons in the pool, which is both awesome and exhausting.  The sunscreen ritual is getting old, as are the constant fights over splashing and squirt guns.  But the water is lovely and clear, and floating around can be blissful.  My legs are getting a good workout from the frequent whirlpool requests and I appreciate having this kind of an option to avoid the screens, but it can be tiring doing the whole routine every day.  It reminds me why sometimes fall feels so much more freeing and relaxing!  Not sure I've ever had that feeling as early as June before, so I think that's a sign we're trying to squeeze what we can out of this summer!

Furlough in general is just sort of odd.  I don't miss work at all, especially with everyone home all the time.  It's no fun when I'm stuck working and they're off having fun in the pool or finding other ways to have fun, so I'm appreciative to have this time.  However, it's also a challenge because I have to be more participatory in keeping the kids occupied, and that is HARD.  Between the screens and the bickering, it's a challenge.  That's why I'd rather have real activities to get us out of the house, but it turns out we're all mostly just a bunch of homebodies (or super lazy) because it's hard to get agreement to go anywhere.  Overall, the mental break is nice but having it in the midst of this crazy, messed up world right now is a bit bizarre.  All the time in the world, but nowhere to go, it seems.

The political situation is growing more insane by the day.  The President continues to downplay the coronavirus, even as the cases are rising like crazy in much of the country.  We're still holding steady here, but the longer there's indoor seating in restaurants and bars, among other things, the more nervous I am that the same thing will happen here.  The majority of new infections seem to be hitting younger people who can't seem to keep themselves home, masked, or distanced.  Heck, younger people in Alabama are having COVID parties, which seem to be like chicken pox parties, but the first to test positive wins a pot of money.  It's so incredibly stupid (especially because this is not one-and-done like chicken pox and is far more dangerous), but some people think it's just overblown by the media and it's not that serious.  At this point I don't even care what the statistics look like--I've heard enough stories that I know I don't want it for any of us, and we will continue to be careful because the experts (not the media) make it clear this is a problem.  And yet the President still insists it's going away and will not push masks for everyone, even though it seems to be the only logical way to keep businesses open and most of us feeling any bit of normalcy.  He's been having unmasked, undistanced rallies in hot spots and even talked multiple times about reducing testing so cases don't seem so bad...which obviously makes no sense.  How anyone can take it this lightly, let alone the leader of the free world, completely blows my mind.  While it all seems logical enough to me to mask and be careful, apparently we as a society need leadership to actually lead, starting from the top.  Instead, we have tons of division and the politicizing of a pandemic.  It's exhausting to watch this happen, though I'm happy we're doing okay so far in our area.

Still, it's getting harder to balance things as life starts to slowly get back to normal.  Jacob has basketball starting again soon.  He has to wear a mask for practice right now and it's driving him nuts.  But it's nervewracking to think of him playing games unmasked and having us sitting in a gym with a bunch of people.  But not playing at all would also drive him nuts, so we're trying to find a balance.  We have multiple family gatherings coming up in the weeks ahead, including Jacob's birthday party at some point, and I'm feeling very torn about them.  It's easy to think everything will be fine, especially outside, but when you hear about families with a dozen or more infections as a result of a party, you think twice.  We have to find a new normal because this isn't going away, but the more I hear about the virus, the more I want to hide.  It's scary.  I don't want to live in fear, but finding a safe, logical, livable middle ground is challenging.

Last weekend we tried to get back to a little bit of normalcy.  On Saturday I went for a run, shopped at Kohl's for the first time in months ($27 for four shirts, a necklace, and two pairs of pajamas for Carter!), then shopped as a family at a couple places (also for the first time in months) before getting in some pool time.  We ordered in for dinner and popped some popcorn for a movie.  Minimal arguing made for a very nice day.

Sunday was our 17th wedding anniversary.  It's pretty crazy to think we've been married that long. We reminisced a bit and then decided to celebrate by going mini-golfing.  It wasn't busy at all, but we did start out masked until we were sure we could properly distance on the course.

Aside from a couple bad sport moments from Carter, we had a nice time.  It definitely felt good to be doing something we would do during a normal summer.  We were excited to find out that the arcade there was open, as their Facebook page kept emphasizing all outdoor activities were open.  We had promised Jacob that we'd go as soon as it was open since we couldn't go for his birthday, and he was thrilled to be able to play his favorite basketball game.  And after a couple tries, he finally found his rhythm and beat the high score of 73 with a score of 80!  As an added bonus, he earned us the 109 ticket jackpot!

We grabbed some ice cream at Dairy Queen after to finish off a very fun and oddly normal evening.

My mom offered to come in one evening this week so we could go out for a proper anniversary dinner.  It turned out that Tuesday was the best night for it.  She arrived in the afternoon and took the kids out for a dinner of their own, and we went out alone for the first time in a long time!  I was still not comfortable with eating in a restaurant, even with distancing, but luckily it was a gorgeous night to eat outside.  We decided on Texas Roadhouse since it had an outside tent and hardly any wait, offered salmon for Craig and a couple options I like, and we knew we could bring rolls home to Carter who loves them!

We had a really nice dinner!  I even had a glass of wine, which I almost never do when we're out.  The food was great, and it was nice having conversations without constant interruption.  As an added bonus, the National Lacrosse League was in the process of releasing their annual award winners as we ate (every 10 minutes there was a new one posted).  Craig was up for the Media Member of the Year, and we had a little advance intel that the news might be good (okay, a lot of advance intel), so we were eagerly awaiting the announcement of that award.  When it was announced that Craig won, instantly his phone started lighting up with texts and Facebook messages of congratulations.  Then when I posted it on social media, I started getting the same thing!  It was really fun to see all the messages from friends, family, and all around the league, especially since Craig usually doesn't get a lot of fanfare despite being the longest tenured broadcaster in the league.  Ironically, it was nine years to the day that he got passed over by the ownership he currently works for when the Amerks were sold and they went another route with the PR department.  In the end it was probably likely that the Knighthawks had specifically requested to keep him, but it still didn't feel great at the time even though the switch to all lacrosse meant his life got a lot less busy.  However, in the end it ended up rather stressful anyway, thanks to an owner who seemed to consider him as on-demand help.  But last spring the team was sold again, which is how he ended up with the same ownership that originally passed him up.  So, after all of that, getting this extra bit of validation was nice.  It made dinner even more fun and celebratory, and brought back a lot of good memories as messages from all different parts of our lives and careers came through.

Not every night you get to have dinner with an award winner!

Because we wanted to stay out a bit longer and because Craig is obsessed with DQ's non-dairy Dilly Bars, we headed back to DQ to bring home some dessert.  The boys went for a swim with my mom after their dinner, finishing up just as we got home, and then we all hung out for a bit before bedtime.  My mom and I even got to take a nice walk the next morning before she went home.  It was great to have that time with her, especially since our time has been so limited in the past few months.

We've now entered a bit of a heatwave heading into the 4th of July weekend.  It was in the low 90s today and it looks like the mid-to-upper 80s into the 90s will continue with very little rain for the foreseeable future.  I'm not complaining, though watering is a challenge so I'd welcome some night rain, if nothing else.  While the relaxation has been nice, I'd really like to fit in some fun over the next 10 days before I head back for another week of work.  Everything still feels pretty limited but I feel like there are some doable day trips.  We're skipping my family's picnic on Saturday (as of now), and with all the fireworks canceled, it seems like we'll have to make do with pool time and maybe a viewing of our honeymoon video (which I finally figured out how to view on our TV, since it's on a Hi-8 camcorder cassette) that comes complete with a spectacular fireworks display from our hotel room in Las Vegas on July 4, 2003.  Haha!  But we'll see if we can come up with any other activities to spice up this weekend and week two of this extended furlough period.

I always hate how fast this period between Memorial Day and the 4th of July goes, and I know the rest of summer goes way too quickly as well.  Part of me wants to speed through all of this so we can get closer to a vaccine and getting our lives back on track, but then again, I know this period of our lives is unique and special in its own way.  I should appreciate it while it lasts and savor these moments, particularly since we have no idea what the future holds--for us or for the world.  Will we stay healthy?  How stressful will the fall be if school can't go on as planned?  Will we be able to have a normal Christmas?  So many questions and so few answers lie ahead, so while we're in this little bit of a quiet sweet spot, we just need to try to enjoy it.

A Celebratory Weekend

We had a couple special days over the weekend for two of the people in our house.  Jacob's birthday was Saturday, and Father's Day was Sunday.  While things definitely looked a bit different this year due to social distancing and all that's been happening lately, we did our best to have a couple special days.

On Saturday, Jacob requested cinnamon rolls for breakfast, along with a Tim Hortons' run for fun drinks for everyone (iced cappuccinos for him and me, and frozen lemonades for Craig and Carter).  Carter also downed a bunch of donuts!

Next we moved on to presents.  We had warned Jacob there wasn't a lot since one of his gifts was still in transit and he'd already recently gotten new clothes (including what he's wearing in the picture below) and a new gaming headset to finally replace the less-reliable Five Below ones--although his most recent issue may have been caused by his controller, which we were able to replace for free...but it's probably fine anyway since we know he'll use the headset a bunch.

He was eager to open the big one that didn't match anything on his list...

...and it turned out to be a shoe rack!  He loves his shoe collection (even the outgrown ones) and currently has a bit of a haphazard setup in his closet.  I figured this one could display them a bit better.  As you can see, he was happy about it!

He also got a pair of shorts he wanted...

I ended up buying him a bunch of snacks, too, just so he had something else to open.

Clockwise from the bottom left--a can of gluten-free Pringles-style chips, M&M candy bar in crispy (since most snacks with crispies aren't GF), Haribo Starmix (which he adorably tried to share with me, but I told him it was all for him), Ruffles Jalapeno Lime chips (complete with NBA branding), Cheetos Jalapeno Cheese, peanut M&Ms, Ice Breakers mints, and two Airheads.

He wanted some family time in the pool, which didn't work out ideally with Carter's current anti-pool attitude, but we did have some nice time with three of us.  The weather was perfect for it.  We also ordered Red Robin to eat at home (so good!) and we had cupcakes for dessert.

We finished off the night by watching a movie of Jacob's choice, complete with popcorn.  He seemed pretty happy with his day, though he's definitely looking forward to his party (whenever we do that) and his gifts that are yet to arrive.

On Sunday, we got up and watched church before getting ready to head out to Buffalo.  I was a little nervous because I woke up with a bit of a sore throat and some congestion.  I was hopeful it was just allergies, but I was a bit concerned because I gave blood on Thursday and had to take down my mask a bit to eat my post-donation snack.  I also didn't sleep that well, so I was hopeful it was just tiredness, but I brought my mask for indoor wearing, just in case.  I felt a bit better as the day wore on, but the post-nasal drip seems to be hanging in there bit today.  Before we left, Craig got his Father's Day gift--two 20-pound weights to complete his home gym.  They were very hard to find, so I was thrilled I was able to grab them last week.

They were hiding in my trunk, so I just brought them out to the porch and covered them with a blanket.

We spent the day with Craig's parents.  His brother's family headed out on their own weekend adventure, so while it was unfortunate we couldn't give our niece and nephews their birthday and graduation gifts in person, it was nice to have quieter time to spend with Craig's parents.  It was the first time we'd been able to hang out with them since mid-March.  We ordered dinner in and sang happy birthday to Jacob with amazing gluten-free cupcakes.

Pardon me with the mask in the background...

Jacob loved his first gift from them, which was a really cool throwback Raptors jersey.  After eating, we enjoyed some time in their heated pool.  The boys loved how warm it was and enjoyed having a deep end to keep things interesting.  Jacob felt pretty good once he realized he could swim across it just fine, since I think he thought he might have false confidence from being able to touch the bottom of our four-foot pool.  But he did well, which puts all of our minds at ease!  I think Carter needs to learn ASAP, because his floatie seems to be at its weight limit since he's not very high in the water anymore.  He'll be able to touch much more comfortably by next summer, but it's still pretty close right now--on his tiptoes and head held high in a slightly more shallow section of the pool is all he can muster currently.

We had a really nice time there, and since his cousins weren't there to hang out with, Jacob sat with the adults and got to hear some interesting stories from Craig's dad's time in the military.  I cherish the time I had to listen to my grandfather's stories of life on the farm and away at war, so I was happy Jacob had that chance, too.  And I know Craig's dad really appreciated having us there, too.  One of these days I'll make it up to my dad, who was OK with me not coming in--but I have time off coming up so I might go hang out there for a day or so soon.  

We got home just after bedtime and Carter was actually happy to go right to bed!  We weren't too far behind since it had been a long day.  As a whole it was a low-key but very pleasant weekend.  I'm looking forward to the continuation of Jacob's birthday at some point soon, and ready for another week back at work before two weeks off.  I'm hoping we can find a few fun things to do with our time during those weeks so we don't drive one another nuts!    

Twelve!

Dear Jacob,

What a crazy year it has been.  You gave up lacrosse for good, embraced basketball full time, won a championship, started a new school, dealt with a lot of related ups and downs, and are now navigating this crazy coronavirus quarantine.  In the middle of all of that, you've grown up so much.  You're almost as tall as me, and your shoes are officially bigger than mine.  It's hard to believe that the tiny baby who changed our lives 12 years ago today is now a legit big kid and only a year away from being a teenager.  

Basketball was definitely the theme of this year!  Last summer was a game-changer when you finished up lacrosse and started playing basketball full-time.  Upward was fun in the winter, but when you joined up with the summer leagues and started playing with some real competition (including 13-year-olds) that was pretty amazing to watch.  You really came into your own with your first team.  You learned a ton, showed your defensive skills, and really wowed people with your three-point shooting.  Watching you win a championship was so much fun after a few losing lacrosse seasons (and one winning one that you barely felt a part of).  The next round's team wasn't quite as fun, but every different team is a learning experience--remember that!  Your winter season was pretty interesting for a lot of reasons--team dynamics, challenging teammates and coaches, and some tough losses.  But the wins you had were hard-fought and it was great watching your team come together.  Between that and the summer league, you really made yourself visible to a core piece of the Rochester basketball inner circle, and it seemed they liked what they saw.  Hopefully that support will come in handy over the next few years.  We're sad that your travel season has been one big mess, because we were all looking forward to watching you and your team play and getting back on the road again.  There isn't much that this virus hasn't ruined--at least not when it comes to scheduled events--so at least you're not alone there.  But it's hard to watch you be limited to the driveway and a little bit of gym time, because we know you're ready for so much more.  It's been a pleasure watching you play and we can't wait to see what's next.

As for school, you were a real trooper.  Moving to a new school--and a private school, at that--was a huge change for you.  Sometimes I wonder why you did it, since you always seemed to miss your friends and be frustrated by some of your new limitations.  I know deep down this is probably a basketball move more than anything, but I hope the education you get will be well worth it.  Despite the complaints, you probably did better with the uniforms, early mornings, and middle school workload than I expected.  I actually really came to enjoy our morning drives, despite the very early alarm clock and lots of yelling you out the door.  But our time alone was a lot nicer than I expected and I missed it when it ended.  You did a great job with your school work, consistently pulling great scores on projects--even the dreaded summer reading I was sure we'd never survive.  There was sometimes a lot of complaining, but you always seemed to make out okay in the end.  You even made the honor roll for the first three quarters (and most likely the fourth, as well).  

When it came to quarantined learning from home, you really amazed me.  Given all the challenges we had with homework over the years, it seemed like a nightmare scenario to have to do all your work at home.  But you handled it like a champ.  We had a few rough days here and there where the workload or the projects seemed overwhelming, but for the most part you handled things very well.  You usually looked like an old pro compared to your brother, who was giving me flashbacks to your Kindergarten homework hell.  Thank you for making it pretty easy on us!  And thank goodness it ended early!  

While I hope you get an influx of new kids this year so you can get a little more comfortable socially, at this point I'm just hoping for any sort of in-school time because I think you need to get back to a little bit of normalcy.  But I know we're both so proud of how you adjusted, and we hope you'll even put a little extra effort in because you have so much potential to do amazing things.  It's like I told you after last year's unsuccessful school awards ceremony: You have the potential, but when teachers know you're not using it to the fullest, you're never going to get the recognition you deserve.  It's there, though!

Speaking of quarantine, I know this time has been challenging for you.  On top of basketball being ruined, you've been isolated from most of your friends and stuck here with the people who probably make you craziest.  Thank goodness for Xbox (and sometimes your phone), but I'm sorry that we've had to be so strict about face-to-face time.  I'm glad you got some friend time last weekend finally, but I know that having to deal with your parents all the time, and especially your brother, has not been easy.  While I can't say you've made it easy for us either, I know that a lot of our troubles are just because you're trying to make your brother into a better person and make sure we're aware of things that might need attention.  We appreciate the effort, but it's okay if you just stay a kid for a bit longer, I promise.  Parenting is tough and you don't need to worry yourself with it just yet!

Despite our ongoing issues with you and your brother, the moments of maturity that I have seen in you over this last year have been something to behold.  As your emotional maturity moves along (in some areas, anyway), you now have some physical maturity to go along with it.  Your voice is getting deeper, you will pass me in height all too soon, and your feet officially overtook mine almost a year ago.  You care more about your hair than you ever did, and you definitely have a look in mind for clothes (but given how particular you were about those for years, that'll be tough to beat).  Girls definitely popped up on your radar this year, too.  In a year you'll be a full-blown teenager, and before we know it you'll be looking more and more like a man.  I'm definitely not ready, but it's fascinating to see little previews pop through here and there.  

This birthday definitely feels a little different with all of our limitations right now, but I hope all of the little things add up to a really great day that celebrates you!  We'll just have to make it up to you when the world opens up a bit more--arcade, party, and eating in at Red Robin again!  We love you so much and hope you feel that, even in the tough moments.  You made us parents and have given us quite the ride these last 12 years, and we look forward to seeing where you'll go from here.  Have a wonderful birthday and an even better year!  

Love, 

Mom