Hannah competed in the spelling bee at school! First, she had to win her classroom's Bee and then she completed against the top 3 spellers from each 3rd, 4th, and 5th class. There were 18 spellers at the final bee and Hannah got 4th overall!! Her words were track, clutch, booth, and goggles. On the last one she spelled googles - dang nerves!
Being 4th is the whole school is a pretty darn big accomplishment so we stopped and got her some Bubble Tea on the way home!! Way to go, Hannah!
The dog's don't know what to think of Hannah's dino mask.
This dry air is making Ozzy's beard really fun!
Look at this picturesque mini apple pie that Hannah made!! It was delicious.
Then, on January 17th, Zane tested positive for Covid. We'd been notified by the school that he'd been in close contact with someone who had it...twice. Awesome. On the 16th he had a fever but the home test was negative. We took him to an MU testing site and stood in line outside for a PCR test on the 17th. We'd heard the line can get really long so we were there a little before they opened at 8. We found out the next morning that he had it so I emailed everyone I needed to and stayed home on Covid Leave with him. We kept Hannah home too even though we weren't required to. Zane had a fever of 100-101 for 2 days and then a persistent cough and sore throat for a couple more. He took Dayquil and NyQuil so he wouldn't feel like complete crap, but didn't need anything heavier than that. All in all we only missed 3 days of school since Monday was MLK Day and CPS gave everyone Friday, Monday, and Tuesday off to get a grip, catch their breath, and clean the schools. My dear friend, Susan, dropped off a Covid Care Package to keep our spirits and sugar levels up. It included "Encourage-mints," "Covid sucks(ers), cookies that said "things might be crumby, but you're tough cookies," and trail mix that said "we hope staying home doesn't drive you nuts." She's so clever and thoughtful, it was a great pick-me-up!
On Friday, the 21st, Mason, Hannah, and I all tested negative on home tests! We didn't feel the need for PCRs since none of us had any symptoms, which is a miracle since we didn't have Zane isolate. We figured we'd all already been exposed by the time he started showing symptoms so why bother. This was our home testing station...with Hannah's distance learning packet off to the side! Zane was able to keep up on work via Schoology on his iPad.
On one of the days we had off school we did doggie maintenance where they both got mani/pedis, a bath, and Ozzy got a haircut. All of that hard work on their part deserves Kongs filled with peanut butter. Here is Rue, post Kong, enjoying some rays on the carpet. I like how she still has her paw on the Kong.
Another day off we needed to get out and get some fresh air! Kids, dogs, and I loaded up and went to Capen Park for some trail walking. First stop, smashing ice in the creek.
The dogs performed their party trick on Zane - notice the leashes wrapped around his legs.
I was very proud of us for this moment. I'll admit that I didn't exactly remember the right paths and we may have gotten a little turned around. Our choices were to backtrack for a really long time OR cross this creek. We used the rocks sticking up out of the water, took is slow, and made it across the river!!! It was a blast! Only one shoe got wet and that happened after we'd crossed and was kinda on purpose.
The wide path back to the car was coated in ice so of course there was an ice skating race.
Zane wanted cake. Zane made cake. We all enjoyed cake.
Today Zane had a basketball game that they won in sudden death overtime!! It was so exciting to watch. When my throat is sore tomorrow I'll have to remind myself that it's from the yelling, not Covid.
