Week Six

 Last Tuesday we had the best time at Lake Bixhoma!  It was hot and sunny and the water felt great!

 If pools don't open this summer we're definitely going to be here a bunch!

 Wednesday my calendar was very appropriate!

 That night we had a frog visitor.  I hope we have a bunch of frogs like we did last spring and summer!

 Thursday we went to fill the Blessing Box since it was YFR's week to maintain it.

 It was also William Shakespeare's birthday so we participated in a Bard-Day Party hosted by Maryrose Wood through Your Morning Basket.

 All week we listened to Grace Lin read from Where The Mountain Meets the Moon, which we had gotten a copy of when she came for Books to Treasure almost 9 years ago!

 While we listened, I worked on a puzzle!

 Sunday evening we went on a picnic (a friend posted a recipe for Schlotzsky's bread and it is sooo good and easy!) and the weather was beautiful again!

Last night we had our first 4H meeting on Zoom!  Technically things will be open here at the end of the week, but I'm not sure how that's going to change things for us too much at this point as gatherings of over 10 are still restricted.  Some of the kids' activities are over for the year now anyway, so I guess we'll slowly ease back into things.  After being home this long it's definitely going to be a big adjustment getting back to going out on a regular basis!

Scavenger Hunt Vacation

 We were supposed to leave for Branson last Thursday for a trip to see Jay's aunt and have some fun.  Obviously that didn't happen, so we tried to come up with something fun to do.  Friday we went on a scavenger hunt for Tulsa landmarks.

 Our first stop was the Tulsa mural.  Kind of small and disappointing to not be able to get very close, but I get that they don't want it vandalized.  There are actually some much larger murals downtown that would be fun to do a scavenger hunt with.

 Then we made a quick stop at the Center of the Universe!

 Buck Atom's is on 11th Street.  I haven't been inside, but it looks like they have some neat things!

 We hit another Route 66 spot next.

 East Meets West

 Woodward Park was beautiful!

 The Golden Driller

We stopped for some Brownie's for lunch!

 

Our last two stops were at ORU.  First, the Praying Hands.

 

Thanks to Joe, the ORU security guard who told us where to go to get the Prayer Tower in the background since the campus was closed and we couldn't get very close.

Not the fun time we had planned, but we had a good time anyway.  This morning an Elisabeth Elliot quote popped up in my Facebook memories that seemed appropriate for these times:

"It is always possible to be thankful for what is given rather than resentful over what is withheld.  One attitude or the other becomes a way of life."

The Boxcar Children with LitWits

 When I was writing for MetroFamily I shared about LitWits kits.  These are great literature kits that you can purchase online and if you live near them in California, they offer in person literature workshops.  Thanks to the pandemic, they offered a workshop online for the first time so we jumped on it!

 Alice's class was on The Boxcar Children.  Coincidentally, Alice's class took place on the author's birthday!

 A couple of days before the class, a box arrived in the mail.

 It was full of everything she needed for the class!

 When it was time for the workshop to begin she logged on to Zoom and they walked them through everything.

 Lots of discussion and plenty of hands on activities!

 They also did some writing.  I peeked in every so often to make sure it was all running smoothly and never had any problems.  She was able to do everything on her own.

She even got to plant some carrot seeds!  She absolutely loved this class and if they offer one again online we will definitely do it!

Week Five

 I can't believe we've been at this for five weeks now!  We're still staying busy, but I've been itching to get out when the weather is so nice!

 Tuesday I saw a post from a local painting place that they had some new figures in and were offering kits to do them at home.  We usually go every summer so the kids can make a fair entry, so we called and ordered kits and the kids got to work.  I know this has been so hard on so many businesses, but it has been fun to see the creative ways many of them are using to keep some business coming in!

 Wednesday we did a chalk pastel class where the kids drew the Globe Theatre.

 

 Alice modeling her mask

We tried a new location of a restaurant--super yummy!

 

 And we had a driveway play date while the weather was so nice!

 The girls made an interactive sidewalk.

 Thursday Alice participated in a LitWits class.  I'm going to have to share more about this later because it was really cool!

 

 Friday night we played more Clue and baked some cookie dough we got from my mom and dad.

 Saturday we had a quick visit from friends!

 Chalking in the driveway

 

 Sunday morning Alice made omelets for us all!

 Yesterday the weather was so beautiful!  We went to Honor Heights to take some pictures and walk around a bit.

 The azaleas were so pretty!

 We stopped off for lunch at the original Chet's!

Monday night we also participated in a drive by birthday party for Jack's writing teacher.  Afterward we had some Andy's and visited with friends in the driveway.

It's been nice to get out some and we're definitely going to have to do more of it soon!

Happy Easter!

 We had a nice Easter, even if we were stuck at home and the weather was gross.  I had gotten some things for their baskets before this all began and ordered a few more later.

 The Mystery Box from the Tulsa Geoscience Center was a big hit!

 Alice played with her magnets all day!

 Thanks to Rachel, we were able to have our traditional Resurrection Rolls.

 The kids hunted for eggs.

 I failed to buy candy, so they were filled with quarters and puns.

 We had a big dinner!

 Tycho joined the kids for pictures.

And Seamus joined in for the family picture!