The world feels pretty crappy right now in a lot of ways, so here's a picture of my mom getting some animal therapy from Mousse.
She gave him a couple of dog toys including this chicken that he loves but also kind of freaks him out. It's pretty awesome.
We are getting a little tired of walking around our neighborhood so we went to a walking path in San Jose.
Right after we got Mousse we saw a guy being pulled on his skateboard by his dog and Leo decided he wanted Mousse to do that with him. I was skeptical that Mousse would do it since he's such a distracted little puppy but he totally did it!
It went pretty well until Mousse ran between Serafina's legs and everyone went down. No one was hurt and they all got back up and kept going.
Leo's quaratine hair is getting so crazy that it's starting to stick out through the helmet.
The kids are almost done with school. They aren't technically done until next week but neither of them have much work. They'll check in virtually with their classmates and teachers for some activities but that's about it. Both schools have scheduled days to drop off books/instruments and pick up personal items. It's a weird, anti-climatic way to end the school year.
We continue to shelter-in-place under the almost the same restrictions as when we started because our county, Santa Clara, is being extremely cautious. It's smart but it isn't easy. It's taking its toll on both kids as summer approaches and there is very little to look forward to - no parties, no camps, no traveling.
At least we have Mousse. Here he is playing with a toy.
One place we're allowed to go is the park as long as we stay away from others. Here's Leo and Serafina showing off some cartwheels.
Leo also wanted to see how many back rolls he could do. Spoiler alert: a lot. He almost barfed when he was done.
Today Leo had to go to the orthodontist. The assistant came to fetch him from the car just like when we go to the vet.
This afternoon we went back to the park we visited on Sunday so Mousse could explore the creek. He got his final puppy shot on Wednesday so he's safe to be in the wilderness - lakes, streams, hiking trails. He really liked the stream. Probably because he feels much more in control than when he's in the pool.
We drove to a paved trail today to have a little change of scenery. Mousse did great with greeting people and other dogs. He was really well behaved and seemed to really enjoy it.
He spotted a squirrel.
Fetch and water break in the grass.
Wiped out.
Here's Serafina making slime with one of her besties, Maya, on FaceTime.
Our sweet neighbor Colleen graduated from high school this weekend. Her older sister is about to graduate from college. It's been amazing to watch these girls grow up. They were little girls when we moved in. In the age of social distancing, Colleen's graduation looked quite a bit different than what it would have normally looked like but they did their best under the circumstances. The school hosted a parade in the morning for teachers to cheer for their students. In the afternoon, Peggy, Colleen's mom, asked all the neighbors to stand outsdie and congratulate her. It was strange but touching.
California History Day is the highlight of fourth grade. It could easily be argued it's the highlight of the entire elementary school experience. I know that we had an amazing time two years ago when Leo did it. And last year I helped out again because I like the event so much. This year my friend Mary and I were roped into leading it and we were not too jazzed about the amount of work we were going to have to do to pull it off. There are five fourth grade classes this year with almost 150 kids. We were going to have to get creative to add stations to make it work for all those kids. But then Coronavirus came and squashed it all. Of course, it was a bit of a relief for Mary and I to be off the hook but I felt bad that Serafina had to miss out. The teachers created a "virtual California History Day" with a list of suggested activities and a place online for the kids to share pictures and videos of themselves doing the activities.
Here's Serafina all dressed up in the morning.
Everything she's wearing belongs to me.
She weaved a basket out of construction paper.
And made Gods Eyes.
Later in the afternoon we took the dog to play fetch (he's still only so-so at it) on the very field we would have spent all day on and probably would have still been cleaning up at 4pm under normal circumstances.
In April, Serafina auditioned for her dance studio's competition team. She had to do it over video because of the Shelter In Place order. We got the results of the audition and she made two teams! She'll be part of the "pixie jazz" team, which is made up of kids from her same age group, and "show jazz" team which is select kids of different ages. I'm so proud of her. She's a hard worker and I know she'll do awesome. Of course, the reality is we don't know what dance will look like for next year. The studio wants to bring the kids back in person as soon as it is safe, so they are following the county and school district guidelines. I really do hope they find a way to have her take classes in person because she thrives on the social aspects and the comradery of a team.
Now that we are taking the dog for two - three walks a day, we are running into our friends out in the neighborhood more. It's very bittersweet. Of course it is nice to see them and have a quick chat, but it makes us crave giving them hugs and spending really time together. In California, especially the Bay Area, it might be a while still before we can do that.
Mousse gets to greet our friends though. He is always so excited to have someone give him pets and attention. He wants everyone we pass to pay attention to him, but only the people we know do it and I carry an extra leash to extend his harness leash to maintain six feet of social distancing.
Yesterday he got to see a couple of friends and he had a puppy play date with Georgie. He's a Pit Heeler mix and very cute. He's just a couple weeks younger than Mousse but the same size, sort of. Georgie is beefier with a big head. They played very well together.
This is Mousse's favorite ball.
He got in the way while Serafina was doing dance class.
I was gone for 30 minutes yesterday and he had to have lots of cuddles when I got home.
Leo and I took him to the school field today to work on playing fetch. He's probably at least 50% Labrador Retriever, but he didn't do so great on the retrieving today.
He was very happy to just lay in the grass.
He did fetch a few times, but honestly, I did most of the fetching.
He was happy to just hide under Leo's legs and chew on the ball.
Happy Mother's Day. It's been a pleasant one here. Quiet and a little sad. I miss seeing my mom. It's so hard to be just a mile and a half away but not able to spend time with her. It is the right thing to do but it's hard. Of course, we always miss Tom's mom. She would have been so charmed by these kids.
Anyway, on to more cheerful things. Mousse is a total cuddler, when he wants to be. And no one can resist the chance to cuddle.
My mom sent Leo this cool marble maze that he put together.
Speaking of cuddling, here's a old one of a fun double cuddle.
Here's a not-so-fun double cuddle. They are still this dramatic. It's exhausting.
Welp. There isn't much to tell you about. No field trips, parties or vacations. It's just "distance learning" and bike rides around the neighborhood. It's boring and frustrating but we are doing our best.
There's always some baking going on. Here's a vanilla cake with a pour-over fudge frosting. I've never made frosting this way and everyone liked it except Leo.
Saturday night we ordered a giant Sicilian pizza and it was awesome. I really like ordering from the locally-owned pizza place because it's no-contact pick-up. I don't even have to touch any buttons on the credit card machine. An important bonus in these times.
Sunday we dressed Fred for the week - Star Wars shirt for May the 4th, Mexico hat for Cinco de Mayo, and a bandana mask, of course.
Multiple times a day, the dog still loves to sit in my lap with his slobber sock. He'll come walking up to me with the sock in his mouth, so I stop what I'm doing to sit down and have our cuddles.
We are trying to do a good job of giving him lots of mental stimulation. I've been reading lots of ideas online. Here's today's challenge - finding the treat treasures in the cereal box.
More slobbering and snuggling.
Today he went to the vet and got the rest of his puppy vaccines. He has one more booster before he can go into the "wilderness" (hikes, lakes, beaches, etc.), but today he was allowed to finally go for a real walk.
Doesn't he look handsome in his special walking harness.
Man, he needs a lot of practice walking out in the world. Of course, it makes it more complicated that we have to avoid people completely. There is a lot of waiting for people to pass or crossing the street to keep away from others.
