tales from a far-land

May 19th was a bittersweet day for our family.  In year's past the last day of school was joyous occasion.  The kids would enjoy end of the year parties with their classmates.  They would sign each other's yearbooks.  They would say goodbye to their teachers and friends before heading home to start summer break.   None of those traditions happened this year.  Instead, the school year ended with me picking up the kids' classroom stuff and yearbook from school wearing a mask while social distancing from their teachers.  Such a weird day.   The kids, though, were happy that homeschooling was over.  At least, for now ...   Even the school's mascot as masked up A special goodbye to Mrs. Billings - she is officially retired! Madilyn ~ Last Day of School Aiden ~ Last Day of School Both kids Aiden's Comparison 1st and Last Day of School 3rd Grade Madi's Comparison 1st and Last Day of School 4th Grade Both Kids Comparison 1st and Last Day of School

When the "stay at home" executive order expired on Friday, May 15th, our very social family was officially in an emotional and social funk.  The kids missed being with their friends.  They missed sleepovers and birthday parties.  They missed seeing their teachers.  They longed to interact with kids on the soccer or flag football field or at cheer.  They no longer wanted to engage with anyone virtually.  They were Zoom-ed out!   Josh and I were drained from trying to productively home-school our kids while also working out of the same house.  We were also worried about our livelihoods.  Most of Josh's business contracts (even those in escrow and would lose their earnest deposits) terminated when the "stay at home" executive order was initiated. Many of my clients had filed for the Payment Protection Program (PPP) Loans, but some still ultimately had to lay off employees in order to keep their businesses afloat.  Global and statewide uncertainty doesn't usuall

One of the things that Josh and I enjoy doing on our anniversary is going on a hike.  With the temperatures increasing above 100* in Phoenix, we decided to take the family up north to explore a new trail in the Coconino National Forest.  The trail that we chose is called Bell Trail and it was about a seven mile round trip hike.  Luckily, we started early because the sun started to get warm for the last hour or so of our hike.  The trail is really beautiful!  Lots of water.  Not a ton of shade.  But the pool of water at the end of the trail (referred to as "The Crack") was amazing.  The kids and dogs loved wading and swimming in it.  In fact, they didn't want to leave because it meant that they had to hike back out.  The dogs also weren't really excited about the hiking out part.  They just wanted to lay at the water's edge.  Maybe someday they will all grow to love hiking with us.  I guess we will just have to keep trying. Starting out on the trail First glanc

With Arizona's "Stay at Home" executive order still in effect, there was no way to celebrate Josh's birthday with a traditional in-person party.  Instead, I planned a surprise Zoom wine tasting party for him on Friday, May 8th.  By the way, trying to plan a surprise anything while quarantined and working in the same office as your spouse is nearly impossible, but I pulled it off.   In order to make it feel like we were all at the same location, I had a Zoom background created for everyone to use during the party.  Also, on the day of the party, I delivered the following to each of the couples attending -- a wine rating sheet for each person, a cheat sheet of the wines that we would be tasting in an envelope for afterwards, four different red wines in tasting cups, a cheese platter to share per couple and a brownie each for dessert.  This allowed all of us to experience the same thing at the same time.  It was fabulous!  My favorite part was listening to everyone as th

For the second day in a row, the Far-Landers celebrated another cultural holiday.  This time Cinco de Mayo.  In order to celebrate it, our kids had to learn more about it.  Thus, I created their daily homeschooling curriculum around the holiday.  The kids' art project that day was to draw a Cinco de Mayo Boy.  There article of the day taught them about the history of Cinco de Mayo and what we celebrate it.  And they had to respond to a question of the day, which they decided to provide via a video interview.  For dinner, we enjoyed burritos from Carolina's and homemade margaritas.  It was a perfect way to honor the holiday! Cinco de Mayo Boy by Madilyn Cinco de Mayo Boy by Aiden Enjoying homemade margaritas

We are a Star Wars family.  We have watched every Star Wars movie with our kids.  We have taken (when movie theaters were in operation) our kids to every Star Wars movie as they have debuted once they were old enough to sit through a full length movie.  We watched The Mandalorian on Disney+ as soon as it was available.  We even dressed up as a family in Star Wars costumes for Halloween three years ago.  No question ... we are a Star Wars family!  So, what do you do when you are quarantined at home and there is an international reason to celebrate Star Wars?  You celebrate!  We incorporated the special day into the kids homeschooling daily curriculum.  Their art assignment was to learn how to draw Baby Yoda.  They also had a read an article about Star Wars day and why it is celebrated.  And lastly, they created an interview video to respond to the Star Wars question of the day that was posed to them. They did a really good job. Then, after dinner, we watched Episode III - Return of the

Another blessing of being quarantined at our house is that the kids were still able to stay active in our pool.  An hour of swim time was part of their daily curriculum and, thankfully, our kids love to swim.  In order to spice things up a little, we purchased some additional pool toys like a Slip N Slide and a giant floating Cube.  It made their swim time a little more exciting and less mundane. Josh trying out the Slip 'n Slide Madi's turn Aiden too! Lounging poolside  Or in the pool Water babies Trying to surf in the pool The Cube