April

Bare feet!

It's a good April day when you can:

Write with sidewalk chalk 

In bare feet 

In the sunshine 

With Molly 

When you should have been in school!

The boys have been playing a lot of ping pong in the garage!  It also makes a good Lego table.

Instead of watching sports on tv (which have all been cancelled due to COVID-19) we've been putting puzzles together.

The boys were excited to get the trampoline set up!

Mason found a good spot for his new hammock!

More and more things were getting shut down and we were feeling a bit antsy so Nathan created a fun family night.  The Family Olympics consisted of target shooting with Nerf guns, pool, Wii bowling, and a LEGO building competition.

           

Grandma Bolkema
My heart had been hurting ever since I found out that my Grandma fell and broke her hip.  COVID-19 restrictions were so tight that nobody could go with her for surgery.  She had complications in recovery and passed away a couple days later, on April 4.  I so loved her and I am going to miss her.  We were able to have a graveside service standing 6 feet apart and it was torture to not give hugs to my parents.  My cousins weren't able to travel so we gathered in our own homes via zoom that evening.

I'll never forget Grandma's faithful card and letter writing for our birthdays, her delicious chocolate chip cookies and peach dessert, her Bingo prizes at Christmas, and her love of playing games and being together.  She was a treasure.  I know she prayed faithfully for her family.  I know I am truly blessed to have her as my grandma.

It is well with my soul.  Thanks Amy for this reminder.  What a difficult time to grieve over the loss of someone you love.

Quarantine
We were at the point where we didn't allow the boys to play with friends for fear of spreading COVID-19.  Overall, I think it was good for them to find things around the house to entertain themselves with and to play with each other.  Dorian and Levi set up the tent and camped out for a night!

We have been very blessed to get meals for the boys while school isn't open.  It's great to not have to think about what to make and the boys love the food!

Molly puts up with a lot and frequently entertains the boys!

Impressive
Nathan planted seeds with Levi and Mason to transplant to our garden.

He helped Dorian make a compost bin/worm farm mainly so that he could have worms for fishing!

Workspace
This was my workspace and it was my job to try to keep up with school emails which came rapidly.

I had one required training session online from school about how to learn and grow during this time of Pandemic.

Easter Weekend
The boys and I did a window scavenger hunt on Good Friday that the school put together.  We took donuts in the car and searched for clues until the puzzle was solved!

We enjoyed an afternoon with the boys at Oak Grove.

Happy Easter
The morning started out with an Easter Egg hunt!

It was a really strange day!  There was a blizzard outside!  Our church service was live streamed because we still weren't allowed to gather in groups of more than 10 people.

Nathan made a delicious dinner for us!  The boys surprised Nathan and I with a scavenger hunt that they created!

The prize at the end was a beautiful handmade cross.  What a true blessing!

The seeds are growing!

In the evening our church did a Kahoot game night.

Another week in Quarantine
Dorian and Levi spent hours each making their own Kahoots.  Dorian made one with questions about himself and about fishing.  Levi made one about himself and hunting and penguins.  How creative!

Mason loves to do his school work in his PJs and with Molly!

Dorian took over most of the sunroom.

Levi claimed our bedroom for his work space.

How strange to see that even the parks are closed down.

The boys put the fishing boat in the water!

Another puzzle completed!

We were super excited to get out our new ski boat!

The boys all fit in the storage compartment!  Maybe not for long!

Levi is turning 12 soon and looking forward to taking the boating coarse so he can legally drive the fishing boat without a parent!

Levi was very good at flying his drone and taking pictures with it.

I thought it was funny to find Molly here all by herself.

Mason and Levi each enjoyed a few zoom calls with their class.

Dorian loves to bike to Sandy Hollow to fish!

Levi claims that Molly helps him to be able to do his school work better!

Nice experiment trying to make rock candy, Levi!

More fishing at Sandy Hollow.

The boys love to identify birds around the lake.

More Fishing
The boys went fishing on Silver Lake with Boogerds and Dorian caught a Northern Pike off the dock!

Our dock on Big Spirit Lake is in and the boys found that minnows were biting!

Friends
We decided that it was safe to gather with friends again!  How refreshing for the soul.

It was our first time putting our ski boat in the water!

Janey came to the cabin with her kids for an afternoon and Addi and Mason even jumped in the water!

Handsome!  He looks good in our new boat.

Now the lift is in too!  We are hoping that by the time Memorial Day comes around this year, we will be settled in and ready to host people at our cabin!