Stress test and bloodwork

Yesterday morning Nadia used Evanna's phone to send me text messages. We usually attend the 9:00 service, but the girls wanted to attend the 10:45 service. Since our church isn't offering any Sunday School classes yet, we have only been attending one service. I agreed to their request and began mowing the lawn at 8:00 since it was a little cooler at that time. I picked the girls up at 10:30 and the four kids sat with me in the 10:45 worship service. They were paid $20 for babysitting Noah (age 3) for 9 hours. The two girls split the money. Nadia was thrilled to have earned money ($10) for babysitting for the very first time. After lunch, we went to the swimming pool. We usually stay for about 2 hours, but we were only there for 45 minutes because of thunder. I started doing a challenging 500 piece puzzle with Ian in the afternoon. The kids and I went to a picnic at Pastor Ken's house that evening. Paul came and picked Nadia up at 6:15 and took her to youth group at FBC. The boys and I stayed at the picnic until 7:45 when we left to pick Nadia up from youth group before going home. Although the kids really enjoy swimming, I have to admit there are times I'd just rather stay at home in the afternoon. Afternoon rain interfered with many of our trips to the pool last week, but today we were able to stay a full two hours because it didn't rain at all today.

Paul had a Lexiscan myocardial perfusion imaging stress test at the hospital that began at 7:30 this morning. They said it would take 4-5 hours, but it took less than that because he was home at 11:30, and he stopped at the library and bought some jeans at Walmart on the way home. He had planned to go to work after his stress test, but he changed his mind and worked on our taxes since they are due in two days. This means we got to eat dinner together. We usually eat at least one meal together on Sundays, but we didn't eat any together yesterday because he went to work and didn't join us at the picnic. We won't see him at all tomorrow because of our trip to Six Flags. I took the kids to the lab this morning to have their blood drawn to have their cholesterol checked in light of Maurice's cause of death. We stopped at a UPS store to return a pair of jeans Paul got on Amazon recently, got breakfast sandwiches for today and donuts for tomorrow morning at Dunkin', and picked up a grocery order at Walmart on the way home. The primary reason for the order at Walmart was to get food for the guinea pigs. Hopefully we will get good results from Paul's stress test and Nadia's bloodwork. It had been many years since any of them had bloodwork so they didn't remember what it was like to have that done. They all did a good job. The Pediatrician called me twice today to give me Ian and Oliver's results. All of their numbers were very good. Because I don't have hypocholesterolemia like Maurice did, it's unlikely the kids have it, but since it isn't impossible that they have it, we wanted to have them checked.

Babysitting

Nadia took a babysitting class at the local hospital last August. I told her that once she turned 12 she could begin babysitting if anyone would be willing to hire her. Yesterday morning after the man came to buy Nadia's bike we walked to some yard sales being held about 1 mile from our house. After we ate lunch, a man came to measure our garage doors as we are starting the process of getting three quotes for replacing the doors. After he left, we picked Evanna up at her house before heading to the swimming pool. It was raining most of the time we were there, but since the kids were in the water, they didn't care. I sought shelter since I was talking on the phone to my sister and then reading a book. Last night Evanna's mom called me and asked if I could bring the girls back to her house by 1pm so that they could babysit a three-year-old boy who is the son of one of her co-workers. The girls are babysitting him until 10pm, but Evanna's mom was also at home for the last 3.5 hours. Evanna spent the night at our house last night, and Nadia is spending the night at Evanna's house tonight. Her mom is working tomorrow, and Paul is also going to work tomorrow. I'm going to pick both girls up tomorrow morning so they can attend the worship service with Ian, Oliver, and me. Nadia's fifth sleepover (this year) will end up lasting almost 48 hours!

The girls stayed up until about midnight watching the movie Invisible Sister on Disney+ and a few episodes of the last season of The Brady Bunch on a DVD. After the boys had finished eating breakfast this morning, we walked back to the yard sales. Yesterday I had purchased three skirts for Nadia and a dress for myself. Today I bought shoes for myself and Nadia and some tops for Nadia. The boys picked out some books that were free at one yard sale, and I selected two face masks for the kids that were free at the same yard sale. While we were at the yard sales, the girls had gathered quite a collection of toys to take to Evanna's house for the boy they were babysitting to play with today. I remember I often took one or two puppets (Kermit and Fozzie) when I was babysitting 30+ years ago. Last night we ate S'mores, and we shopped at yard sales for the first time this year yesterday and again today. That meant we accomplished two more things from our summer bucket list. Next week I want us to pick blueberries, which is something else on our list. We would have done that this week if I hadn't purchased cherries on Monday. We planned to go swimming after dropping the girls off at Evanna's home at 1:00 today, but it was POURING at that time. Paul came home from work earlier than usual today so he joined the boys in the pool this evening after we had dinner together. I didn't take any pictures yesterday or today, which is why I'm including some pictures from June that I hadn't used in the blog yet.

All three kids asked to go to PMBC for a second week of camp this summer, but I decided we wouldn't be doing that. I'm fine with taking them there again but not for a second week of camp this summer. Nadia decided that she did want to do the Christian theatre camp even though she would have to get up earlier those five mornings than she usually does in the summer. I decided to sign Ian up even though he wasn't leaning that direction. I didn't sign Oliver up even though he will meet the minimum age requirement (8) as his birthday will take place a few days before the camp starts. Part of the reason I signed Nadia and Ian up is because I am doubting the kids or I will be in any choirs this fall. Nadia will have three weeks of being in acting classes this summer. I wouldn't have signed her up for Cinderstein if I had known this other one week class would end up being rescheduled. They cancelled it and had given me a full refund. The kids and I are planning to go to Long Island to spend a week with my Aunt the first week of August, and then Nadia and Ian will have this theatre workshop from 8:30-12:30 for five days during the second week of August. The second half of August is pretty wide open, which is fine with me. I don't want to fill our calendar too much. Driving a lot really wears me out. I'm bracing myself for another exhausting day on Tuesday as I'm planning to take the kids to the Six Flags in NJ that day.

Sleepover #5

Once we entered the yellow phase in early May, Nadia began to invite friends over for sleepovers at our house. She had sleepovers three different weekends in May and once in June. Evanna is coming over again today for another sleepover. I got the ingredients so the kids can eat S'mores this evening. That will cross another thing off our summer bucket list! The girls had hoped they'd resume seeing each other on Sunday mornings on July 12, but now the date for offering more than just a worship service on Sunday mornings has been postponed to a date TBD. They are waiting to find out what the local schools are going to do regarding wearing masks and such before they reopen the kids and youth classes. 

On Tuesday we received some results. The doctor's office told Paul that his bloodwork showed a B12 deficiency. He's begun taking B12. They still are pursuing other testing next week (including a stress test) to make sure this is the cause of his symptoms. The director of Cinderstein emailed the cast list on Tuesday night. Nadia was assigned three parts, one of which is one of Cinderella's stepsisters. 

Yesterday morning I felt awful, but thankfully in the afternoon the headache finally began to go away and I began to recover from Wednesday's draining day. I had originally signed the kids up for a Knight Book Camp program at 2pm at the Lewisburg library for July 9. I'm glad I had cancelled their reservations a few days ago because home and the pool is all I wanted to do yesterday. Nadia completed a 550 piece puzzle I had gotten her for her birthday while we listened to an audiobook yesterday. I didn't have the energy to go for a walk yesterday, but I'm going to take a walk this morning. Nadia has been using my bicycle lately rather than her own. I asked her if she wanted to sell her bike, and she said yes because she likes my bike better. I reactivated my Facebook account so I could post a listing for the bike on some FB yard sale pages. She's looking forward to receiving $50 for her bike today. 

Six Flags America

Yesterday we visited an amusement park for the first time in 2020. Usually our first trip is at the end of April or early May to Knoebels. If WVIA reschedules their day at Knoebels, we will go, but if they don't I doubt we'll visit Knoebels this summer. That is the closest amusement park to our house. The next closest park to us is DelGrosso's, which is not opening this year due to COVID-19. I purchased a membership to Six Flags on January 4, and July 8 was the first we made use of that membership. Two of the three Six Flags parks that are 3-3.5 hours from our house opened on July 1. Nadia has acting class the last two weeks of July so I made reservations to visit Six Flags America (MD) on July 8 and Six Flags Great Adventure (NJ) on July 14. If Six Flags Darien Lake (NY) reopens this summer, I'm planning to take the kids there in August. If it doesn't reopen, I think I'll take the kids back to Six Flags America one more time next month, especially if Hurricane Harbor (the waterpark portion) is fully open at that time.

On Tuesday afternoon I purchased a box of eight donuts at Walmart so the kids could eat breakfast in the van on Wednesday morning. We left a few minutes after 7:00am. It was the first time in at least four months that I woke the kids up in the morning. Oliver liked the crullers; he ate three of them. Nadia and Ian each only had one because they didn't care for them. Paul had eaten two the night before, and I threw away the last one. My phone said the trip would take 3hr 20 minutes, but it took almost exactly four hours including one stop for gas + bathroom break. The GPS had me go a different route than I was anticipating, which included paying one toll. I don't usually pay a toll when driving to MD, but we didn't hit much traffic on the Baltimore beltway, which was appreciated. Our first stop was the membership services building to receive our badges and the drink container that enables us to receive free unlimited drinks at Six Flags parks for years to come. Ian drank a lot of Root Beer yesterday. Nadia had some lemonade and some Powerade. I had a tiny bit of Powerade and lemonade but mostly drank water because I don't like to drink calories. Oliver had a little Hi-C, lemonade, Powerade, and root beer, but mostly he drank water. We had packed our lunches and ate them in the van during the last portion of our drive. I had a coupon for $5 off a funnel cake. We usually have eat a funnel cake on our summer bucket list, which means we usually eat funnel cake once per year. The funnel cake was the only thing I purchased at Six Flags yesterday. Their food prices are ridiculous. Yvonne's family purchased four meal plans as they visit the park regularly since they live about 20 minutes from the park. This means they can receive 8 meals plus 4 snacks for free every time they go to the park. Joe gave one of their meals for Ian and Oliver to share for dinner. Nadia split a meal with two of her cousins. Oliver was full from what he ate in the park. I ended up eating a VERY late dinner as we stopped at a Wendy's around 8pm on our way home. I used a gift card to buy cookies for Nadia and Ian, a burger for Nadia, and a cup of chili for myself. 

The email I had received announcing the park was opening stated that Hurricane Harbor wasn't opening yet, and so we didn't bring any bathing suits. It turned out part of Hurricane Harbor was open, and given how hot it was yesterday, it would have been nice to go on a few water slides. There are two rides that involve water that aren't in the waterpark. One doesn't get you very wet. I rode that one only once because it involved too much spinning around for my stomach. Ian and Joel had an adventure as they got stuck on that ride one of the times they rode it. The other ride gets you VERY wet. I got drenched once. Most of the kids rode it at least once. Julianna and Oliver rode it umpteen times in a row. They weren't strict about wearing a mask on that ride. Maybe that was part of the reason those two rode it so many times. There were VERY few people at the park, which meant most of the time you just had to wait for the people currently on a ride to get off, and then you got on. Many times a ride would operate with just a couple of kids on the entire ride. Very easy to accomplish social distancing! Most of the time we wore our masks. Normally the highlight for me of a trip to an amusement park is taking pictures of the kids on rides. Because of the face mask regulations, I didn't bring my camera. Facial expressions are the main reason I take pictures. As we were about to leave, I took three pictures of seven of the kids. Most of them took off their masks for the picture. Andrew was still at the park when the photo was taken. Yvonne, Jenna, Micah, and Wesley had left around 3pm. Although Wesley is 3 years old, he is a tiny bit shy of 36 inches, which means he can't ride many rides. Julianna and Oliver were buddies for most of the day. Nadia was with Andrew and Joshua almost the whole day. She also rode some rides with Jenna and Nathan. Joel and Ian were buddies. Nathan joined Ian and Joel for part of the day and the older kids for the other part of the day. 

The kids had a great day. They enjoyed the rides and also loved being with their cousins. They are very excited that they will be riding rides with some of their cousins next Tuesday. Uncle Joe plans to spend the day with Andrew, Nathan, Nadia, and Joshua, and I am planning to spend the day with Ian, Oliver, and Joel. I didn't mind that Nadia was with the older kids without an adult in part because Jenna and Andrew have cell phones. Oliver always had adult supervision. I was a bit unnerved that Ian had big chunks of time when he wasn't with an adult or anyone who had a phone. Everything worked out fine, but it was definitely out of my comfort zone. Next Tuesday I'll be sure to stay with my boys. Ian is tall enough to ride everything at Six Flags because once you hit 54 inches you can ride everything. Oliver is 50 inches tall so there were 6 rides he couldn't ride yet. Ian and Joel don't aspire (yet) to ride everything they are allowed to ride which made them a good pair at the park. There are nine rides Oliver won't be able to ride on Tuesday. He's excited to ride the Joker in NJ.

We got home around 10:30pm, which meant we were in the van for 8 hours yesterday in order to spend about 7 hours in the amusement park. I was utterly exhausted when we got home, and I still have a headache and no energy today. The only place we're planning to go today, tomorrow, and Saturday is to the swimming pool. I'm sure I'll recover before our next adventure on Tuesday. We accomplished two things on our summer bucket list yesterday - eat funnel cake and go to Six Flags. I also deleted one  because the church that was still hoping to have VBS announced yesterday that they cancelled their VBS. I've taken kids to VBS every year since 2011, but 2020 is a very unusual year. If we didn't have a membership, I wouldn't be taking the kids to Six Flags this summer because of the requirement to wear masks in the heat, but thankfully the kids still had a good day, and I will bounce back.

EpiPens

Yesterday afternoon the kids and I headed to the Pediatrician's office for Nadia's twelve-year-old physical. I got some not nice looks from the receptionist when I showed up with three kids considering only one had an appointment, but what was I going to do? We all had masks on. In the past it was never a problem, but with COVID-19 they want as few people in the clinic as possible. I was going to ask a neighbor if she might watch the boys for a bit, but one her husband mentioned their kids needed to stay away from ours for two weeks since ours went to camp, I knew that wasn't going to be a possibility. I'm fine with Nadia and Ian staying at home in August while I take Oliver to his annual appointment. Over the past year Nadia gained 3 pounds and grew 1.5 inches. She's currently 94 pounds (54th percentile) and 58 inches tall (29th percentile). Her BMI is at the 70th percentile. The doctors are happy any time it's less than 85. Last year she received her immunizations, which meant she didn't need any today although the doctor mentioned the HPV again, which I have opted to skip. The receptionist took all our temperatures. The kids were confused by the numbers because they were in Celsius. I asked the doctor for an order for a lipid panel. I already have those for the boys. I was waiting until I got one for Nadia. I am planning to take all three kids to the lab at the hospital some time this month. I'll take them early in the morning because they can't eat breakfast before having it done, and I promised them I'd take them to Dunkin Donuts for breakfast as a treat if they do a good job with having their blood drawn. It's a way of screening them to make sure they don't have the condition that ended my brother's life. 

I usually am careful not to ask the Pediatrician questions about my other kids during their sibling's appointment, but yesterday I asked for an Rx for an EpiPen for Ian during Nadia's appointment, and thankfully the doctor graciously agreed. I picked two EpiPens up at CVS yesterday afternoon. Hopefully I won't ever need to use them, but I feel better knowing we have them. Ian and I are determined to be very vigilant in trying to make sure he doesn't eat any tree nuts. The doctor suggested a referral to an allergist. Ian saw allergists PLENTY when he was a toddler. I might ask for a referral at some point, but I think we'll wait until this COVID-19 situation calms down, which might mean waiting a year? We shall see. 

Picking up our grocery order went very quickly yesterday afternoon at Walmart. They were out of vanilla yogurt and substituted one pasta for a different kind than what I had ordered, but otherwise they were able to fulfill the rest of my order. Nadia and I ran in the store for a few minutes as Grandma gave her some money to buy a bathing suit. I picked up a couple of other things in addition to the bathing suit, and I did notice the shelves in the cleaning supplies aisle were still rather empty. She had her new bathing suit on yesterday evening, but when we got to the pool at 5:30, we found out it had closed early. Later I saw they had posted on Facebook that they were closing early at 3:30 due to very low attendance. The weather was in the high 70's yesterday compared to the 90's that we've been experiencing lately. Hopefully I have learned my lesson and will check Facebook every day before we head out to the pool as I don't enjoy driving 30 minutes (round trip) for nothing. 

Nadia pulled one of her molars out a few days ago right before she went to bed. Ian woke up early that morning (about 6:15), and Nadia sleeps past 8:00 so I let him be the tooth fairy. She was very surprised when I asked if she had checked under her pillow as she assumed that her tooth had come out too late for her to receive her $1 that night. The tooth fairy doesn't have the best track record for promptness in our house, but we succeeded this time! Nadia has been the tooth fairy before, but this was Ian's first time. He enjoyed it and successfully placed the one dollar coin under her pillow without waking her up. 

Monday night was the first time in almost four months that I was away from home in the evening. I was very tired when we got home from Nadia's audition. I wish Paul was able to go with us today to Six Flags, but he's very busy at work and one of his best employees is on vacation this week. This will be the farthest I've driven in 2020, the most hours we've worn masks in our entire lives, and it will definitely be the most exhausting day thus far in 2020. The park is supposedly 3hr and 15 minutes from our house. I think it will take longer than that to get there, but I'd love to be wrong! If I had known what life would be like in 2020, I would never have gotten a membership to Six Flags in January. I thought we'd visit five different parks - two of them on our vacation in August, and I figured we'd spend more than one day at the one in MD. I've been paying for Paul's membership, but I'm very dubious that he'll actually go to any Six Flags parks this year. I figure if the kids and I go to a Six Flags park at least three times this summer, I won't feel badly about the cost of the membership. The kids are very excited about riding rides and seeing their cousins - two of their most favorite things to do!!

We haven't worked on earning Junior Ranger badges recently, but here's Nadia's collection thus far.

Auditions

Yesterday morning the kids and I walked to the playground closest to our house in the morning, and we spent the afternoon at the swimming pool. Paul got home from work much earlier than normal because he had a doctor's appointment. He got home a couple of minutes after we got home from the pool. His PCP ordered more bloodwork, a stress test, and a referral for testing his nervous system. It was a very rare treat to eat dinner with Paul two days in a row. After dinner we stopped at the library on our way to Nadia's audition. Paul drove to Lewisburg after his doctor's appointment was done to pick the boys up because her audition lasted more than two hours. They did the auditions with masks on. I hope they are allowed to remove the masks for the two performances of Cinderstein as you can't see any facial expressions with a mask on and it's harder to hear them. In the theatre camps and classes Nadia has taken in the past, the girls have far outnumbered the boys, but it was almost an even split last night with 8 girls and 6 guys! Nadia knew three of the other seven girls - two from church and one from ice skating lessons. I knew one of the moms from church. We will find out by the end of the week what roles Nadia has been assigned for the production. There are more than 30 roles in the play. Those who are assigned the biggest roles will only be given one role to play, but most of the kids will each be assigned 2-3 parts. On our way home Nadia and I made one stop at a grocery store. I intended to just buy bagels and oatmeal, but I also bought cherries since they were on sale for $1.88/lb and some cereal that was on sale for 99 cents a box (Reese's Puffs, Cocoa Puffs, Honey Nut Cheerios, etc.). I buy cherries at least once a year, and we hadn't had any yet. 

Last Wednesday the Methodist Church began offering their Kids' Café lunch program again. In the past they've provided a meal at the park every day (M-F). Because of COVID-19, a drive-thru service at the park is being offered on Mondays and Wednesdays. On Mondays the children are given two lunches, and on Wednesday they are given three lunches. We didn't go last Wednesday because the kids were at camp, and we won't go tomorrow because we'll be at Six Flags in Maryland, but we went yesterday for the first time this summer. We were given 3 quarts of milk, 3 bags of snacks, and 6 lunches. I ate the slices of cucumber and the baby carrots. Yesterday Ian finished the Death Star, which included more than 3,800 pieces - definitely the biggest set he's ever completed. Thank you, PopPop! Ian's new glasses arrived in the mail yesterday. I would have chosen a pair that had some blue in it since his eyes are blue, but Ian's favorite color is green. He chose this pair. Hopefully they will be kept in one piece! I will admit I enjoyed taking pictures of him without glasses the last few months because it's a challenge to avoid a lot of glare.

Birthday Interview

Nadia turned 12 years old 11 days ago, and I did her birthday interview today. Paul has been working long hours six days a week, and sometimes he naps on Sunday afternoon because he's so exhausted. The kids were at camp for 6 hours shy of 6 full days last week. All that to say, I was very grateful that the five of us had a full day together today. We went to church this morning. When we got home, Nadia and I worked on hanging things up on her bedroom walls. One of my brother's paintings that had been in her room is now on a wall in the kids' bathroom; she still has several of his paintings on her bedroom walls.  Paul worked with Oliver on a K'nex project after lunch. This afternoon we all went swimming. It was Paul's first time ever going to this pool. The kids and I had been there several times over the years, but this year is the first time we've joined this particular pool. Nadia made a friend at the pool yesterday. Sarah is also homeschooled and lives about 10 minutes from us. Her mom is on the board of the swimming pool, and Sarah said she goes swimming there almost every day. Nadia enjoyed hanging out with Sarah at the pool again today. I'm very thankful this pool opened this summer considering how many chose not to open due to COVID-19, and I'm thankful Nadia has made a friend whom she can swim with regularly this summer. Also, I talked to my Aunt today, and we are going to visit her this summer. I had planned five trips for 2020. Three of those have been cancelled so far (Chicago in April, DC/MD in May, and Canada in August). I'm grateful it seems at least one will still take place (Long Island). Since Paul can't join us in Long Island because he's too busy at work, I really hope we can go to Ohio and Kentucky as planned in early October because he will join us on that trip if it actually takes place. Time will tell. This week I'm hoping to call Sight and Sound and reschedule our tickets for Esther since we weren't able to go in April. They are reopening the end of this month. Knoebels and Montage Mountain reopened recently, but thus far WVIA hasn't announced rescheduling their day at either park. We will only visit those two parks if we can go for free through WVIA.

Independence Day!

I wore red, white, and blue today, but that was pretty much the extent of our 4th of July celebration today. The last three years we spent July 4th with my Aunt Janet on Long Island. Prior to that we typically attended a parade in the morning and fireworks in the evening in our town. Paul put in a long day at work today. I left the house at 8:00am to go pick up the kids from camp. We got home around 11:30. We ate lunch, threw a load of laundry in the washing machine, and then gave nine butterflies their independence by releasing them outdoors. Our neighbors returned the butterflies to us last night as they knew the kids were coming home from camp this morning. Because the kids were at camp, their dad doesn't want his kids to play with our kids for awhile in case they came in contact with the coronavirus. After we released the butterflies, I took the kids to the pool for two hours. It had been eight days since we swam their because the pool was closed due to the weather on June 27 and the kids had been at camp since June 28. Nadia lost an earring at the pool on June 23, and the earring was found in the vacuum on June 28 and returned to us today. Almost all the fireworks in our area were cancelled due to COVID-19, but Williamsport (about 20 minutes from our house) was still having them. I asked the kids if they wanted to see them, and they said they already had a fantastic fireworks display last night at camp. So we stayed home this evening. 

Picking up the kids was similar to the registration process on Sunday. I drove around the loop. They told me that of the $20 each child had been given for the snack shop, Nadia had spent all but 25 cents. Ian had a little over $6 left, and Oliver had a little over $3 left. They offered to return the unspent money to me. I opted to donate it to the ministry. When I signed up using the first time campers go free code, I was required to pay a $55 deposit per child. They said if the children actually showed up I would receive the deposit back. Paul and I decided to decline the refund because paying $165 for three kids to attend overnight camp for 6 nights is still an incredible bargain. The director was very appreciative when I declined the refund. After I parked, I was able to get the kids. The first words out of Oliver's mouth were, "can we come back and for another week of camp later this summer?". I hadn't given any thought to the kids doing more than one week of overnight camp, but I knew this meant he had a great time. Last summer was his first experience with overnight camp, but since he was a little shy of seven years old, he only attended 3 nights of camp last summer. Oliver told me he'd prefer to come back to PMBC next summer rather than Camp Susque even though the food is better at Camp Susque. The kids said the food was good at PMBC and it's great at Camp Susque. Oliver loves the sticky buns for breakfast at Camp Susque for instance. Ian said the only nuts he ate were peanuts. He wore a baseball cap a lot which helped him not get sunburn on his face. He burns the easiest of the three kids. Nadia usually gets TONS of mosquito bites at Camp Susque. This didn't happen at PMBC thankfully. She got a little bit of hives after the hay ride because she's allergic to hay. 

I'm so grateful that all three kids had a fabulous week. There were around 70 kids there. They were put in four groups of about 18 kids grouped by age and gender. There were 9 girls plus one counselor in Nadia's cabin. Eight of the girls were 12 years old and one was 13 years old. The cabins looked like motel rooms. Each "cabin" had 5 bunk beds and a bathroom. At Camp Susque they have to walk outside somewhere to get to a toilet or shower. Because of COVID-19, they had the kids eat outside all the time. Once a week each group of kids helped with meal preparation. Each group went on a hike in a state park once, kayaking in a state park once, and did target practice once (hatchet throwing, archery, and BB guns). They went swimming every day. The swimming pool had a slide and diving board. They used a slip and slide, had bonfires, went on a hayride, had a Bible class every day, had a chapel service every day, etc. Ian gave my phone number to at least one of his friends. Nadia got contact information from multiple girls in her cabin. 

Nadia was very excited about holding her guinea pigs as soon as we got home. She was already texting friends and her cousin on the drive home. I was excited about showing her what I had done in her bedroom. She loves it! She said she wasn't surprised I had taken down the border, but she was surprised that I repainted the walls and organized her room. We didn't hang things on her walls yet. I think we'll get to that tomorrow. I put the new mat on the trampoline yesterday, but we haven't installed the new net yet. We started to do it last night, and Paul discovered a missing bolt. I'm very, very grateful to have all three kids back at home. I missed them and have greatly appreciated their hugs and hearing all about their time at camp. 

Last Day!

Today is the kids last full day of camp. I hope they have been having a wonderful week! I am thankful that the camp posted pictures and videos on Facebook so I have been able to see glimpses of my precious children even when I can't be with them, talk to them, or hear from them by letter or email. I cannot wait to wrap my arms around them tomorrow morning! I worked really hard on Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday I only did a little bit of work around the house since I spent a good chunk of the day with my friend. Yesterday I got my hair cut, did some grocery shopping, stained the front door (had a bit of a fiasco with the polyurethane), made a 111 page photo book on Shutterfly (first one in 6 1/2 months), ordered some prints, wrote each of my kids a poem for their final email which will be delivered to them at dinner at camp this evening, and painted a gallon of DryLok on the basement walls. The price of eggs has been rather volatile for years, but still I was happy to see the price had dropped back to where it was prior to COVID-19. What made me FAR happier was the fact that our local grocery store had ground beef on sale for $1.99/lb. YAHOO! The only time I had purchased ground beef over the past four months was for Andrew's birthday dinner and Nadia's birthday dinner - and on both occasions I had to pay more than $4/lb. I bought more ground beef yesterday than I usually do at one time just in case I have to wait a few more months for it to be at my price point again. I think we'll have goulash for dinner on Saturday night, as that's one of the kids' favorite meals, and we haven't had it in a few months because of not having ground beef. This morning I mowed the lawn and painted a second gallon of DryLok on the basement walls. I've listened to several audiobooks, watched two movies with Paul, and finished reading The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. Tonight I'm planning to watch Hamilton on Disney+. I think it will be extremely difficult for me to reenter the field of higher education in ten years. I'm hoping and praying that Paul might agree to take in some foster children at that point. It's one thing to be at home by myself for five days. I don't want to be at home by myself for months and years on end.

On July 1 our Governor announced that effective immediately masks must be worn every time you leave your house. Well call me a rebel, but I didn't wear one when I mowed the lawn today. I'm only going to wear a mask when a business asks me to do so (ex. at Six Flags or in a store). Prior to this most businesses had signs saying you should wear them on the inside of the store. For example when we visited Reptiland they said we had to wear masks when were inside but not when we were outside. A few weeks ago when I visited our local hardware store the employees were wearing masks, and they had a sign asking customers to wear masks. When I went to the hardware store on June 30, the sign had been changed to saying that masks are optional and an employee will put one on if you ask them to do so. I saw only one customer wearing a mask and everyone else I saw that day (employee or customers) wasn't wearing a mask on Tuesday. I saw online yesterday that the hardware store has gone back to requiring masks because of what he signed on July 1. Our church said that they were not changing their mask policy. We are asked to wear a mask as we enter and exit the building but can still take it off once we're seated in the sanctuary. I'm grateful we still won't be required to wear one during the service. I'm guessing the declaration of stricter masks regulations is because the number of people testing positive in the US is continuing to rise. I think it's because they have been increasing the number of people tested every day. If you go to the hospital for anything, you have to be tested for COVID-19. Paul will be tested prior to his upcoming colonoscopy. When I look at the chart below I don't think "Oh No the rate of positives is going up!". I think "Good, the daily death rate continues to decline." I never see GOOD news like that if I click open a browser on the Internet. Everything seems to be worded in a way to inspire doom and gloom or make people more fearful. Why???? 

But our church did decide to postpone the reopening of the kids' and youth classes indefinitely this week. They were going to reopen on July 12. I am very disappointed. Part of the reason I don't understand it is because I have read multiple articles about how children are at very little risk with COVID-19. One article said a child has a greater chance of being struck by lightning than dying of COVID-19. From February 1- June 30 the CDC reported that 29 children from birth through the age of 14 died of COVID-19. During that same time span, 100 children in that same age group died of Influenza. The CDC has said, "Children, including non-school-age infants, are seven times more likely to die of the flu every year than of COVID-19 and 10 times more likely to be hospitalized by the flu." The American Academy of Pediatrics said this recently, "Not only are children not at risk, but they do not contribute to community spread. Although children and adolescents play a major role in amplifying influenza outbreaks, to date, this does not appear to be the case with SARS-CoV-2." The last time our church had classes for kids was March 8. I would never have dreamt there would ever be a time they'd be closed for more than 4 months straight. The youth chorale Nadia and Ian were in last fall contacted us to see if we would be interested in a virtual choir this fall. Nope. We'll wait until they return for an in person choir, but who knows when that might happen. I think "normal" is a long way off and abnormal is here to stay for awhile (I don't like the term "new normal"). My kids not being here at home with me is definitely abnormal. I'm grateful we'll be going to back to normal in that regard after I pick them up tomorrow morning. I really miss them!!! But I absolutely loved camp when I was a kid, and I hope they've had a wonderful week. I can see from pictures that they've been kayaking, hiking, on a slip and slide, in a swimming pool, helped with some meal preparation, and done some target practice (archery and hatchet throwing). I'll hear all about it tomorrow on our drive back home! Usually we listen to an audiobook when we have a longer drive, but tomorrow I want to hear all about camp far more than I want to hear more of The Misadventured Summer of Tumbleweed Thompson, which was the book we were listening to before they went to camp.

Thankful Thursday

1. We enjoyed having the Towfighis spend about 7 hours at our home on June 13 in honor of Andrew's birthday.

2. The kids and I attended a picnic at one of our pastor's homes on June 14. It was just like the picnics we have had at their house in the summer in previous years.

3. We attended FBC in person on June 14 and our own church on June 21 for the first time since March 8. Nadia has been able to resume attending FBC's youth group on Sunday nights since June 7.

4. Ian and Oliver attended a sleepover at Micah and Isaiah's house on June 17-18. All three kids swam in their grandparents' pool on the 17th.

5. The kids all got a good report at the dentist on June 22. 

6. Ian got a new prescription for his eyeglasses on June 23. His new glasses should be arriving in the near future.

7. I'm eternally grateful for the twelve years that Nadia has been a part of our family! I think she had a good birthday last week!

8. I saw my friend, Cheri, twice in the past eight days. We swam at her pool for a couple of hours on Nadia's birthday, and yesterday she and I spent about 4 hours together in Bloomsburg. 

9. Abby came over for a sleepover at our house last week. She swam with us both days, went to the playground with us, etc.

10. We successfully took care of 2 gerbils for about 11 days. That is not a pet I ever want to own.

11. The kids are at an overnight camp in the Poconos this week. I can't wait to hear all about it on Saturday! All three kids have attended a day camp together in the past, but this is the first time more than one much less all three have been at an overnight camp together. Oliver spent three nights at camp last year; this is the longest he's been away from me since his discharge from the NICU. It's very strange to be cooking for two, well actually just for Paul because I haven't been eating what the rest of the family eats at dinner due to my diet. 

12. I lost 11 pounds over the past 6 weeks. 

13. I hope Nadia will like her bedroom when she sees it on Saturday as this week I took down the wallpaper border, painted the walls light gray, and did a lot of cleaning and organizing. 

14. Yesterday afternoon I painted the half bathroom and the steps going down to the basement the same "Silver Mine" that I used in Nadia's room. Of the three bathrooms I like the color of the walls in the kids' bathroom the best. It's a bright and cheerful shade of green. Although I prefer the color light blue, I have to say the half bathroom looks much better now that I've repainted it. I do prefer gray walls to white walls. Our master bathroom has white walls. 

15. This week I have gotten the strawberry poppyseed salad at Panera twice. I think it's rather overpriced but extremely delicious. It's my favorite salad EVER. I used a gift card both times so it didn't actually cost us any money, and Cheri and I used a $5 off coupon when ordering our two meals so it cost a little less that time. 

16. I also treated myself to a frozen custard at Rita's yesterday. I like to do that at least once a summer. Yum!

17. I will resume teaching a kids' class on Sunday mornings on July 12, Nadia will resume attending the youth SS class, and the boys will also resume attending their classes during the second service. 

18. I've been enjoying listening to music or audiobooks when I go for walks and when I am painting. 

19. I'm getting my hair cut today, and I don't need to bring kids with me! When is the last time that ever happened?!? It's been exactly six months since I had a haircut. I usually get one every 3-4 months. The quarantine saved us money in many ways, this is just one more example. When we were at the picnic on June 14 a woman (my age) commented on my "platinum highlights." I think she assumes I normally get my hair highlight and hadn't been able to do so because of the hair salons had been closed for months. Nope. I've never colored my hair or gotten any highlights. I do prefer her term to Oliver's. He calls white or gray hair my "old" hair. LOL!

20. Paul's heart appears to be fine (per his trip to the ER on Nadia's birthday), and Ian's allergic reaction that same day thankfully didn't necessitate a trip to the ER. 

21. Paul and I hadn't had a date since March 2018. I wish I had put more thought into it because Sunday night was our best opportunity. We did have time to talk on the drive back from camp, and we got fast food from two different places with gift cards for dinner, but in hindsight we could have made the evening more special. I went into Home Depot by myself while he was in the van, and when we got home I went to work on taking down Nadia's wallpaper border. Dinner at Olive Garden that night would have been lovely for example. Well whenever this once in 2+ year opportunity arises again, hopefully we will do a better job of planning a date. I did ask him to pick a movie on Amazon Prime that we could enjoy together on Tuesday night. He picked Noble. It was a true story about a woman who grew up in the gutters of Ireland and then as an adult helped thousands of orphans in Vietnam. He said he will try to come home from work a bit earlier tonight so we can install the replacement net and mat for the trampoline.

22. I've had more time lately for photography classes and reading. I'm thankful for the ebooks, audiobooks, and physical books that I've borrowed from one of the libraries. A few of the books I've particularly enjoyed recently have included Book of Lost Friends by Lisa Wingate, Everybody Always by Bob Goff, and The Shape of Mercy by Susan Meissner.

23. I've begun to cancel hotel reservations for our vacation that we planned to take at the end of August. It's disappointing, but I'm thankful at least some of the hotels are giving us full refunds even though I had booked non-refundable reservations. We've been given approval to receive refunds for four of the eight nights so far. I'm hoping in August (once we're closer to the time we were to travel) that we'll be able to cancel and receive refunds for more (all?) of the reservations. Maybe in the future I should avoid booking the cheapest rate so it's easier to cancel reservations?

24. I purchased a pool membership last week. The kids are thrilled! I think we'll get a lot of use out of it this summer.

25. Two of the Six Flags parks we planned to visit this summer have opened! We have reservations to go to the one in Maryland on July 8 and the one in New Jersey on July 14. We're hoping to meet up with the Towfighis (at least some of them) at both parks as they have season passes.