As places open and people around us get together, we are choosing to still stay home and stay safe. The pandemic isn't over even if it seems like other people are acting that way. It isn't easy and we are definitely bored, but we know this is the right thing to do so that we can see my mom and we can prioritize public health.
Anyway, on to pictures....
Two tongues out.
Serafina and Tom made the dog swim again. He's good at it, but he doesn't really like it.
It was finally time for a quarantine hair cut for Leo. Here's the "before" shot.
And after. Tom did a pretty good job.
He did some work on his own hair too.
Here's Mousse being extreme unhelpful in the kitchen. But still very cute.
On our walk this morning, Mousse encountered a strange sight.
This dog statue completely spooked him and I don't blame him. We had to cross the street.
On Saturday, we loaded up the car and headed to Tahoe. It is our first time venturing outside of our county and it felt strange. We needed to go to fetch our ski stuff after the season came to an abrupt end, but we also were in need of some change of scenery.
Here's Serafina's back seat selfie.
When we got there, we stretched our legs with a walk near the ski house.
The kids did a short walk with us but then Tom, Mousse and I went a little further.
On Sunday, Father's Day, Tom made his own breakfast because I'm not the best at making eggs. He didn't mind (or at least that's what he claimed). We headed out for a hike. On the way to the trailhead, we could see that Donner Lake was really crowded - lots of people all along the shoreline and especially at the beach. It was alarming to see. Coronavirus is still raging in California and it worries me so much that people are behaving like the pandemic is over.
Fortunately, the trail we chose was pretty empty and even when we did encounter people, the trail is wide enough to pass with plenty of space. It's a hike I've done before by myself.
Here we are just starting out.
Mousse loved the snow melt springs.
After plenty of whining from the kids and none from the dog, we made it to the top.
Mousse enjoying the view.
Tom got up even higher to take in the view of Donner Lake.
Another stream stop on the way down.
The dog was so tired from all the fun adventuring, he let the kids do this to him on the drive home.
After a little rest at home, it was off to see the big lake - Lake Tahoe and pick up a pizza from our favorite spot.
The beach at the lake was way too crowded for me. People were spaced out but it still makes me uncomfortable. We did stay long enough for Mousse to play a little. He's still unsure about deeper water.
Monday morning Tom had to do some work and Leo had to sleep in, so Serafina and I did the Shirley Canyon hike, which we've done a couple timesbefore.
The dog loved it.
And Serafina told me after that she really liked scrambling on the rocks, which is my favorite part of hiking too.
The nice thing about this hike is you have tons of opportunity to get near the water no matter how far you take the trail. We didn't get too far because it was starting to get hot and a little crowded.
Tom was able to take a break from work so we headed to Donner Lake to visit a part of the shore that we knew is dog-friendly from a prior visit.
I don't have too many pictures because I was wading in the water and we were all encouraging the dog to get in, but he wasn't too interested.
Tuesday we headed home but Serafina and I made time to re-visit the Shirley Canyon hike with the dog. A hike so nice we did it twice!
We got a little higher up the second time because it was earlier in the day and not quite as hot yet.
We packed up all our ski gear and headed home. The drive was smooth and we were home before dinner. It was a nice change of pace but it was definitely hard to see so many people out and about when the threat of Covid is still very real.
It's my birthday. And I'm 45. I don't feel 45, yet here we are. I miss my dad because it's also his birthday today. But I didn't have to miss my mom because we snuck her out of her retirement apartment complex to have birthday lunch with us. Technically her place is "closed" and the Shelter In Place orders in our county discourages activities with people outside your immediate household, but Tom and I have been exceedingly careful so we felt comfortable bringing her over. The most excited to have Nana visit was definitely Mousse.
This morning we picked up some fancy cupcakes from Frost.
Singing "Happy Birthday" to me.
Born in the 70s and wearing a 70s inspired jumpsuit. Black dog is the perfect accessory.
This evening Serafina got started on my birthday gift puzzle from my Aunt Sheila.
It was a bit of a strange birthday with no outings to restaurants and no hugs from friends, but we definitely made the best of it and I had a great day.
Serafina performed two more recital pieces today in our living room. First up was Lyrical. This costume was not her favorite.
She was too overheated at the end of her performance team dance to let me take a picture so here's a picture from her first time performing with the team in November.
This past weekend was supposed to be Serafina's big recital weekend. She would have performed four dances over two days, and her Jazz dance included her friend Millie. Of course, none of that happened because of Coronavirus. Instead, she put on her costume and makeup and danced in our living room during her usual zoom class time while the teacher recorded it. She has two more classes later this week and then all the videos will be shared with parents as a "virtual recital". It's hard not to feel sad about this. She was a good sport and did her best, but she was upset after because this isn't what she imagined for herself. She's also really worried what will happen for next dance season.
Here she is in her sparkly Jazz costume.
She did her own makeup and she did a great job.
Sassy Jazz poses
Showing off how the dress sparkles. This would have looked great on stage.
Saying farewell to the Jazz class and teacher. Her friend Millie is in this class so when we feel safe to start seeing people, we plan to have the girls put the costumes back on and take a picture together.
The ballet costume actually photographs well. In person, it's kind of a strange green color.
It looks much prettier here.
Thursday she'll perform two more dances. Recitals are usually pretty busy for me with shuttling her back and forth to the theater and helping backstage for at least one performance. This year my only job is to keep the dog and Leo out of the room while she performs.
