Mallorca - Day 1

 After two years of no travel, I was desperate for any kind of vacation. Just before the kids' school break in May, I went online looking for a last minute getaway, and I found an all-inclusive holiday in Mallorca. We typically do city breaks, seeking out culture and history, but I found myself looking forward to relaxing by the pool. 

Our flight out was on a Sunday, and I had seen articles online about the difficulties at UK airports due to staff shortages. Long queues, canceled flights, missed connections - I was nervous about getting to our destination.

We arrived at the airport around 6am, which was 3 hours before our flight. We had paid for fast track through security, and that line was about half the length of the regular line. However, as time passed, the regular line started moving more quickly than fast track. When any flight was preparing to board, workers would walk around saying, "Dubrovnik, anyone going to Dubrovnik follow me," and then deposit them at the front of the fast track queue. Things were moving so slowly that eventually they jumped us to the front of the line so we could board our plane. Thankfully the kids had behaved really well through this ordeal. 

The flight was uneventful, besides the time Clara sang She Loves You by The Beatles at the top of her lungs.

Upon landing, we had a bus ride of about an hour to get to the resort. Lily and I fell asleep, so it went quickly for the two of us, ha.

It was nice to finally arrive at the hotel and deposit our luggage. I immediately broke the flusher on the toilet in our room, so we explored while they sent someone up to fix it. We started with a light snack, and wandered the grounds. The weather was sunny and perfectly warm. Matt and I started exploring the included bar menu with beer and cocktails.

The kids took their first of many dips in one of the pools. Matt and I had more drinks.

We went upstairs to change for dinner. All of the meals were buffet, so there were plenty of choices for everyone. Matt and I had more drinks. There was a mini disco scheduled at 8:00, but Clara said she was too tired, so we headed up to get the kids to bed. Matt and I followed soon after (maybe it was all of the drinks we tried).

View from our room

Dusting Off the Keyboard

 Hello, is this thing on?

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I didn't really have the motivation to keep up with this blog during the beginning (2 years) of the pandemic.  After the novelty wore off, it was depressing and incredibly boring. While the kids were off school, I spent my days immersed in virtual schooling, which is not my strength at all. When they went back to school, there were still restrictions, mask mandates, etc. All restrictions have since been removed in England, so we can move around freely, get our hair cut, and attend events. And more importantly, we can travel again!

For our first trip since 2020, we decided on a short break to Glasgow during the kids' Easter break. However, plans were changed when Lily and I both got Covid. Although we missed our holiday, thankfully we weren't extremely ill. 

We have since been able to leave Yorkshire, yay! Details will be coming on that trip soon.

 

We did have a few exciting things happen in the past couple of years.

 Last year we bought a house! Going through lockdowns in an apartment without a yard was so difficult. We knew we didn't want to do that again- plus there was a nice tax break going on. It's still smaller than what we could have in the US, but it's been really great to have our own place, no downstairs neighbour, and a backyard for the kids. 

We love the door to the backyard!

Living room

Kitchen/dining room

Utility room!

During this time, we also had another exciting addition to the family - Matt got a plot at an allotment (community garden)! He enjoys the planting and being outside, and I enjoy the food he brings home. Last year he grew onions, garlic, rhubarb, peas, lettuces - just to name a few. 

These next photos show the beautiful handmade raised beds he built. I was very impressed with his hard work!

And here are just a few shots of some of our harvests!

Different kinds of beets

Purple potatoes

I think those are the two major things that have happened. Stay tuned for a relaxing island vacation!

 

 

Lockdown 2020 - Rules and One Walk per Day

We've been on lockdown since the end of March, though it feels like much longer (I'm sure everyone can relate, right?).

In the UK, that meant pretty much the following:

- if you can work from home, do
- most places are closed, including beauty salons, parks, non-essential shops, and eat in restaurants. Several restaurants introduced or continued takeaway services. Most places that stayed open only accepted card payments.
- only go out for exercise once per day (and much of the time the instructions were to stay within walking distance of home)
- while out, stay 2 meters apart
- no meeting with people outside of your household.
Since so many people are out of work, the British government has provided aid to millions. I think it was up to 80% of salary, depending on different factors (it didn't apply to us, so I didn't pay much attention). 

Matt has been home more during the lockdown, so many of our walks have been family walks. We are lucky to live close to open space, and most of the time have been able to easily keep our distance from others. Our walks contain a lot of tree climbing and pretend games.

We found loads of tadpoles in the boating pond at the park.

For the most part, the weather has been sunny, and for me, it makes it so much harder to stay inside.

Lockdown rules have recently relaxed slightly, though vaguely. We're allowed to spend more time outside, and sitting or sunbathing is allowed as long as you stay 2 meters apart. Schools are planning to reopen in June, but only certain years will go back, and there is a long list of guidelines there. Only 15 children per "bubble," freshly washed clothes each day, staggered drop off and pick up times, etc. Clara is in the age group that is invited back, but the older children are not. They will continue doing virtual school until their years are asked to come back (more on updated homeschooling later). It's a really hard decision to make, whether to send kids back to school or not. No matter which way I lean, it feels like a wrong choice (and oh, the judgement I've seen by parents on both sides).

How has the lockdown been in your area, and how is it changing?

Diary of a Virtual School Mum - Day 1

Our school has worked very hard to set up resources for the children to learn from home. I fully appreciate all they've done, and can see that they care about the kids. But man, this is a lot of work for me as well. Here's a quick summary of our first day.

Pre-Monday work included receiving log in information for all three children on Google Classroom. There are also additional websites we needed set up, for different types of work. We need to order laptops, but since we haven't yet, I had to download all applicable apps to my phone.

Monday morning. I woke up thinking I would do a YouTube exercise video, but the girls wouldn't stop screaming at each other. They had gotten up and dressed as I had asked, so I'll consider that a victory. We had breakfast, then a short amount of free time before "school."

9:00 Clara logged in to a morning "meeting" with her teachers and classmates. She was excited to be able to see her friends, and her teacher talked for a few minutes about what would be happening for the day.  Clara's assignment was to decorate cardboard eggs and string them up on a garland. I fished cardboard out of the recycling bin for later.

9:20 Lily logged in for her morning "meeting." I must have had the time wrong, because for 10 minutes it was 4 or 5 children chattering until the teacher joined the call. It was another brief call explaining a few things, and then that was finished.

Miles' call was scheduled for 10:00, but two of his friends logged in early to talk. Miles joined them at 9:50, right before one of the teachers did. His main teacher showed them how to access a few things, and the morning meetings were done.

So the whole time the kids were on these video calls, I sat with them to make sure their microphone was muted, that they paid attention, and didn't do anything inappropriate.  I was able to do a load of laundry in between the calls.

10:30 I gave Miles and Clara a Lego challenge while I set up the computer for Lily's work. She had one maths lesson about telling time, and we worked through it together.

10:45 Next was science. We were supposed to find little creatures out in nature, take a photo if possible, and draw them out. Handily, Matt has recently started making terrariums, so we didn't have to go outside.

I uploaded the pictures above, and "turned in" her work.

11:05 Lily and Clara began decorating the aforementioned eggs, and Miles logged in to see his assignments. First was maths, which was figuring out the perimeter and area of a rectangle. There was a video lesson to watch, then a few questions for him to answer and return. I started making lunch (microwave mac and cheese).

11:45 Lunch time.

12:15 Miles gets back on the computer for English. We log in to another website, and he does three different activities. I have to charge my phone because of the video calls and checking the classroom app all day. And the teachers keep adding assignments and meetings.

12:45 Miles finishes English, and I try to find a delivery or collection time for groceries. It's fully booked for three weeks.

1:00 The girls play on their tablets while I relax on the television. The kids all have a snack.

1:40 It's almost time for Miles' music lesson, another video call. He starts out in the dining room with my phone, but I have to move him to the computer in the living room because he has to look at the words on the screen to sing along. A video call with several children singing a song they don't really know is... something. Miles keeps goofing off, so I keep muting him so he doesn't disturb the other kids. I notice that Clara is supposed to have a music lesson later on.

2:40 Music is finished, and the girls are fighting and running around like maniacs. I'm ready to be finished for the day, whether the kids have completed everything or not.

Here's a list of things we haven't done:

• Make more egg garlands (3 in total), and have Clara practice with a hole punch. We don't have a hole punch, so I'll skip that part. Maybe 3 eggs on the string will count (hopefully).
• Have Clara watch a slide presentation about birds building nests. There are questions for her to answer as well.Then she has to gather materials outside that a bird might use, and build her own nest. (This project can be done throughout the week).
• Have Clara watch a video about dinosaurs, and let her create her own.
• Lily needs to look at recipes (some given to her by the teacher, and find some in books at home) and answer some questions about what makes a recipe.
• All three kids have a rainbow art project to do.
• Miles has poem homework for Wednesday.
• Miles has a chapter of a book to listen to.
• Miles has to make a drawing to redesign the school garden.

It's now 3:30, and I have put on a movie for everyone. I need a glass of wine.

Stream of Consciousness - Coronavirus

I have more of our trip to Manchester to write about, but it feels a bit weird in the middle of a pandemic.

When we planned that February trip, we had originally wanted to go to London, but decided against it since it's one of the biggest tourist spots in the world. (I felt slightly paranoid at the time, because no one was altering travel in Europe yet).  Right before we left, we booked a pre-Easter trip to Rome and Naples, and days later, the outbreak in Northern Italy began. 

School has just been closed here, as of 2 days ago. Our school has been working extensively on setting up Google Classroom for the students, as we don't know when they'll get to go back. I've received several emails on how to access their work, and what time they need to log on to "meet" with the different classes. This all starts tomorrow, and though school will be understanding while we get used to this, I am nervous about keeping everything organized. I'm also nervous about being stuck in the house with the kids indefinitely. But I'm working on keeping my attitude positive, because I don't want my stress to rub off on the kids. Lily is already anxious about the whole situation.

So far we are all well. We can continue to do things like go for walks outside, we will just stay away from busy areas (not that many areas are busy these days). Matt still goes to work, but is on an adjusted schedule. We will keep busy with schoolwork, and we also bought a PS4 and subscribed to Disney+. There are loads of ideas floating around on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest on how to keep kids busy during this time, so if we get bored I will check them out.I'm also planning to start showing the kids videos about US history, so they can learn more about their background and culture.

This is by far the hardest time we've spent so far away from family. Even if we were in the US, we wouldn't be visiting everyone, but it's different to know that we can't get on a plane if there's an emergency.  The kids are really missing relatives, and I'm thankful for video chats.

Oh yeah, today is Mother's Day in the UK. Before school shut down, the kids drew and painted pictures for me. Lily brought a tulip home, and Clara made a bracelet. There is usually a Mother's Day assembly with the younger kids, but it was cancelled this year (hopefully just postponed - we'll see).

My portrait painted by Clara

Matt had to work, but the kids and I did go for a walk outside.

We passed by the park on the way home, and Lily desperately wanted to stop and play. There were a few families there, but I didn't feel comfortable stopping. It was difficult because she was upset, and I imagine there will be many more instances like that.

A near empty park on a sunny Sunday

For now I'll just focus on trying to help the kids with schoolwork and keeping myself busy. How are you all coping with everything so far? What is the hardest thing to deal with so far?