Family Time | Amy Scott's Thoughts

Hunkering Down November 15, 2020

Filed under: Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 7:13 pm

I have an internal sensor that goes off when it’s time to blog. I’ve been sensing I’m due for a blog post, but I’ve been putting it off because I don’t really have anything glorious or impressive to share (not that often do). Last weekend was fairly full with a family dinner, an outdoor/distanced hang out with some MOPS friends, errands, and an adventure to the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Jeremy also completed the set-up of our outdoor Christmas décor.

After the full weekend, I felt rumblings about lastest COVID-19 news. I no longer keep a watchful eye on virus news. Occasionally, I get curious about what the news is saying and take a look. I got one of those notions that I should check on things. I discovered that we are seeing record number of cases in our state. I was a bit alarmed. After what I read, I felt compelled to do a better job of sticking close to home. We are mindful while we are out and about. Our family dutifully wears our masks and uses copious amounts of hand sanitizer frequently. The only things we haven’t been too concerned about is intentionally staying home.

We wrapped up our errands during the week and went into this weekend knowing we wanted it to be a stay-at-home weekend. Turns out the theme of our weekend will now be the theme of our next few weeks. Our Washington State governor made new restrictions today as an attempt to slow the spread of the virus during the holiday season.

I tend to be a rule follower. It’s my personality. While I don’t love new restrictions, I have respect for the intention behind them. I certainly don’t mind wearing my mask to protect myself and others. I also realize that the virus is likely to spread in our homes where our guard is down. Did I love sharing a meal in a restaurant with my friend? Yes. Do I understand the reasons for take-out only? Yes. I get it. I want to do my part to solve the problem and get life back to normal.

I know opinions vary greatly on this topic. I read last week in my Bible reading plan Romans 13:1 which says “Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.” Unless my governing authorities ask me to sin, I will do my best to comply.

I acknowledge the struggle. I feel it. I see in our communities. I also realize that I have little eyes watching me right now. My kids are home. How I respond will be a part of their childhood memories and will mostly likely shape the men they grow up to be. I want to show courage to do hard things. I want to show compassion to others. I want to show that we don’t have to be isolated just because we stay home. I agree that these things take effort, but I believe it is worth it.

So now we hunker down… for at least the next four weeks… Jeremy and I will be creative to make these holidays meaningful and memorable. It won’t be easy, but it’s important. Staying home is an intentional decision for the greater good. Home for the holidays certainly has new meaning this year!

Thankful for outdoor adventures in November. This outing to the wildlife refuge was a little too cold and wet for me personally, but it was also beautiful. I enjoy exploring new places!

We are reading poems about the wetlands in school right now. This was the perfect field trip!

Couldn’t pass up a shot of the old white barns! So pretty!

The boys decorated mini trees for their bedrooms. Every year we get a new ornament for them. This year the ornaments were LEGO creations!

Jeremy, with “help” from the boys, did a great job getting the outside of our house ready for Christmas.

Our final forest school was a lesson on knots and knives. Graham opted to stay home with Grandma because it was so cold.

Graham was cold so he stole my sweatshirt from the laundry pile I was folding.

Time at home can be restful and chill. The boys joined me for a little screen time in bed. We don’t do this a lot so it felt special.

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Holiday Cheer November 6, 2020

Filed under: Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 2:06 pm

I’ve never held hard and fast rules for when it’s appropriate to start Christmas festivities. This year, the boys were super into Halloween (more than ever before). But a flip switched in their minds and now it’s on to Christmas. Owen especially keeps longing for it to be winter. I will admit that Christmas brings a cheer, joy, hope to the world. I can understand how more than ever we are craving the goodness of Christmas.

Yesterday, I sang “My Country ‘Tis of Thee” to Owen and he had completely forgotten that he sang it last year at his Veterans Day assembly at school. At this time last year, Jeremy and I grabbed red cups from Starbucks and showed up at Owen’s school so we could listen to 600+ kids sing patriotic songs. This memory and the fact that he had forgotten it made me sad. There are moments where what we have lost this year are acutely felt in my spirit. No songs being learned for performances, no assemblies to attend. And then there are moments like today when Owen tells me that he wants to be homeschooled forever. I realize that he isn’t hurting or lacking in his school experience. We are good. For every sad moment, I have so many things to be thankful for. Which is why Thanksgiving matters more than ever to me. It’s a time to reflect on our journey and how God has been good every step of the way. On our ride into town today, I pointed out the beautiful trees for that feels like the millionth time. I am going to vocalize my thankfulness as often as possible. I don’t want to take any moment for granted.

Which leads to the holiday cheer we experienced today. Anyone who has known me for more than a year knows that “Red Cup Day” is a holiday in my book. Starbucks has only made the day more special by offering free reusable cups. My whole family was jazzed to get our free cups today. We listened to Christmas music as we went around town. When we came home from running errands, the boys put on new Christmas pajamas and Jeremy went outside to put up our Christmas lights on the house. I hopped on to my computer and the boys filled our Operation Christmas Child boxes online. I changed the sheets to flannel in preparation for the return of colder nights this coming week.

I’m here for it. All the holiday cheer. Bring it on. I’m all in for celebrating the November holidays. All our crafts this month involve turkeys and thankfulness. We will focus on Veterans Day as part of school. We will give Thanksgiving it’s proper time and attention. But we will also anticipate the coming season with joy. We will talk about Christmas and prepare for it.

We have space in our life for both – Thanksgiving and Christmas. We have space in our life for both the sad moments and the joyful moments. Good and bad can co-exist and God is still there with each up and down. I’m learning to live at peace with the tension. It reminds me what we haven’t arrived yet. We are still looking ahead to a fully redeemed creation. Owen recently got a Bible and has focused in on the New Heaven and New Earth – the time when everything will be made right. I need that reminder. This isn’t it. We were made for more – and it is coming! Joy to the world!

Owen and his new Bible! Now that he is attending church again, we felt he needed an upgrade from his storybook Bible.

Launching rockets with some of our homeschool friends.

Don’t worry – autumn is still alive and well at our house!

I feel a little silly saying “Happy Red Cup Day” when my cup is green, but you get the idea!

Graham’s treat of choice today. He hugged this box the entire way home.

Using the online option to fill our Operation Christmas Child boxes this year. It was simple, easy, and fun. We love giving a gift and good news to children around the world!

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Halloween 2020 November 2, 2020

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Parenthood,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 1:37 pm

This Halloween looked different than any other Halloween in our past. Thank you, 2020. Instead of our usual harvest, carnival style event at church, we offered a “Fall Fest To-Go” event for our community. The church offered a bag of candy, carnival game ideas to do at home, small prizes and a teddy bear to each child that drove through our parking lot.

It’s been a while since I volunteered on-site for a church event. The boys and I have been sticking close to home these days. The nice thing about this event was our family wore our masks and our exposure to the community was as quick as passing a bag through the window of a car. I felt fairly safe with this ministry opportunity. I had a friend question me about the boys being at the event for the entire time (about three hours). I told her that my kiddos are pastor’s kids and they haven’t had to fill that PK role in a while. We could all step up for the night.

When our family pulled into the church over an hour before the event, we already had cars waiting in the parking lot. We knew that our social media posts had received a lot attention, so we weren’t shocked, but it was still a surprise. We quickly got our materials ready and we started handing out bags an hour before the event was set to start.

Jeremy planned for 300 pre-prepared bags. This was on par with our usual Fall Fest kid attendance in the past. However, this is 2020. Our community was desperate to make Halloween special and safe. Jeremy quickly asked me to move from passing out bags to creating more bags. We were handing out bags as quickly as we were making them. At one point, we ran out of candy and sent team members to buy more. When the event wrapped up at 8:00pm, we had handed out a 1,000 bags to kids in our community. It was truly mind blowing. My Fit Bit said I had been “swimming” for and hour and a half due to the pace and movement of my gift bag filling.

The number of kids we saw was shocking, but what really impressed me on Halloween was Owen and Graham. Our boys showed up to volunteer at the event and they took that role seriously. They transported bags for us, they filled bags, they handed out bags. They were little worker bees. It was truly an honor to serve together as a family. My mama heart was so blessed to see my kids buy into the idea of giving to others.

Jeremy and I came home tired from the hopping pace of the night, but also amped up from the results. We definitely didn’t expect this drive-thru event to explode the way it did. 2020 is so unpredictable. You plan the best you can and make the most of what you’ve got. We saw major success with this event and it left us with questions of what does mean for next year? Was this a special one-time thing? Is this the new way events should look? It’s impossible to answer those questions right now, but we are mulling them over and taking notes.

This Halloween was memorable to say the least. We had fun, we served our community, we worked together as a family. Halloween 2020 was one of the record books. It was certainly a special way to wrap up such a special month.

Panda Amy! I bundled up because I thought I would be out in the cold all night. Turns out I worked up a sweat filling gifts bags indoors!

Graham is helping to fill bags and Jeremy (on his dinosaur) is coming to pick up more bags to take out! It was fast paced evening!

Owen’s orange helmet blends with the orange bags on the table. Owen helped Papa hand out bags to vehicles.

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On Tuesdays… October 27, 2020

Filed under: Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 2:21 pm

On Tuesday, I have less words (which will probably be a benefit to you). I use them up on Monday and Tuesday is a recovery day. Mondays are marathons and Tuesdays are tranquil. I am thankful for Tuesdays. We all need Tuesdays. A day to reflect, to slow down, to recover, to give yourself grace, a buffer, margin.

Our schedule this October has been vastly different than years past. Even with a slower October, I’ve been surprised at how full our month has become. We’ve celebrated Graham and Owen’s birthdays. Each boy got to chose their own adventures on their birthday. We had two special birthday meals – one with each side of the family. That’s a total of four birthday celebrations (just for our kids alone). We’ve celebrated family birthdays and we’ve celebrated a few friends’ birthdays, too. The amount of dessert I’ve eaten this month is impressive!

The Fall Family Scavenger Hunt has filled in a large amount of our time as we race to complete missions and earn points. This hunt has included many of our favorite autumn traditions, but it’s also inspired us to visit places we probably wouldn’t have gone to this month (Rainbow Falls State Park & Mt. St. Helens to name a few).

These October days have been full of celebration, tradition, friends, and family. Everything has been on a smaller scale this year. I’ve appreciated the smaller gatherings. There is less pressure to make things big and impressive. The focus is on spending time with loved ones and doing things we enjoy. October is always my favorite month of the year and this October has been no exception. 2020 can’t take the autumn magic away!

Sunday morning hot cocoa with Owen. This week Owen asked to go back to church and attend Jeremy’s elementary class. I dropped Owen off with Jeremy for the 2nd gathering. Graham and I spent some one-on-one time together. This will be our new Sunday morning normal until Graham’s class reopens.

Family walk for the scavenger hunt – I love the amount of colors and patterns in this photo!

I snapped this photo on a chilly evening walk. I’m still trying to get outside everyday and get my exercise. Super cold, but worth it!

Lunch date with my forever friend, Maggie! We finally could meet up now that you can eat indoors with people outside of your household.

October has been a waterfall month! Winston Creek Falls makes waterfall #7!

Spur of the moment trip to Mt. St. Helens to get points for the Fall Family Scavenger Hunt. Such a cold adventure, but beautiful!

Dressed up in a costume for MOPS & MOMSnext last night. Chef Amy!

Making clouds in school this morning. Owen always picks science as his first subject of the day.

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Pumpkin Day October 21, 2020

Filed under: Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Parenthood,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 11:00 am

Pumpkins have to be my favorite thing about fall. They are my favorite way to decorate, my favorite flavor, and my favorite scent. I look forward to the pumpkin patch every year. In fact, most years you will find our family at the pumpkin patch multiple times in October. We go with friends, family, school, MOPS & MOMSnext… if there is a pumpkin patch outing, we’re there.

Because of COVID-19, we only visited one pumpkin patch this year. In a way, this created some pressure. Which pumpkin patch? We usually go to a variety of pumpkin patches and usually the location is determined by who we are going with. This time it was completely up to us. We finally settled on a pumpkin patch right down the road from us. We pass it every year and the boys always ask about it, but it’s never on the list of scheduled patches to visit. It was important to Jeremy and I to support a local pumpkin patch, so the one closest to our house seemed like a great choice.

In his need for independence, Owen grabbed the wagon and pulled it for almost the entirety of our visit. Graham (true to his nature) took the longest to select his pumpkin. I picked a pumpkin and Jeremy carved it. We did a “Team Parent” pumpkin this year. There were three challenges involving pumpkins for the Fall Family Scavenger Hunt, so we were able to accomplish those during our pumpkin day. Graham scrubbed the pumpkins clean when we got home and helped set them in the sun to dry.

Graham wanted a jack-o-lantern with a big nose this year. Jeremy made a traditional jack-o-lantern for our pumpkin. Owen wanted a spooky pumpkin. He decided to make his pumpkin look like it was saying “Boo!” I’m thankful that is his idea of spooky at this point. Owen did all the cutting of his pumpkin with supervision and guidance this year.

Every year, I am thankful for pumpkins! They make me happy. They bring joy to my world. Little things can make a big difference. For me that means pumpkins! Pumpkin day was a good day. Pumpkin season is a good season.

Taking his time to find the perfect pumpkin

Fall Family Scavenger Hunt: Visit a pumpkin patch

Fall Family Scavenger Hunt: Carve pumpkins

Fall Family Scavenger Hunt: Take a picture of the inside of a pumpkin

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Graham turns 5! October 20, 2020

Filed under: Family Time,Parenthood — Amy Scott @ 1:10 pm

Yesterday my youngest, Graham, turned 5! I am now a mama of a five and seven year old and it blows my mind. How did they get so big? I love who these big kids are becoming and it eases the sorrow that they didn’t stay little forever. But let’s be real, the little days were hard work. I have fond memories from the little days, but I am thankful for each new season. Big kids are cool, too!

Birthdays this year were a pick-your-own-adventure kind of a celebration. Graham decided he wanted to go to a new waterfall, so we selected Snoqualmie Falls to visit. The waterfall was impressive and the boys loved watching the powerful water. We even felt the mist from the falls spray over us. We went to lunch in Bellevue and then Graham went birthday shopping. We enjoyed our time in The LEGO Store and The Disney Store. Graham’s original birthday request was to go to a playground, so we stopped in Olympia on the way home for some park playtime. We grabbed pizza and cake for dinner. Spur of the moment, we invited Nana, Papa, Grandma, and Grandpa to join us for dinner. Having his grandparents end the day with him was the perfect birthday wrap-up for Graham.

It can be hard to single out Graham’s specific interests. True to his little brother role, so many of his interests follow Owen. He wants to be like his brother and keep up with his brother. Graham’s favorite toys right now would be LEGO sets and Hot Wheel cars. He asks to pull out board games often. He likes to take the pieces and play his own imaginative games with them. Frequently, the Candyland characters are dancing around the house on their own mission apart from the actual game. Graham loves time outside – it might be jumping on the trampoline, following a new trail, or playing sneaky-spy in the yard. He is also our most adventurous eater. I’m fairly sure he can handle spicy food better than me!

Jeremy asked Owen to describe Graham in five words yesterday. Owen wasn’t sure so we turned it into an activity for the whole family. Jeremy said fun, Owen said brother and friend, I said smart, and Graham said silly. These are all accurate! I’ve been surprised by how smart Graham is as I’ve had a chance to be his schoolteacher since March. He knows way more than I realized. I enjoy being a part of his education so much. Having extra time at home with him for his last year of preschool has been a blessing. Owen and Graham are best friends right now. It’s so sweet to watch their brother-friendship unfold. Graham is fun and silly. His goofy ways add so much joy to our family!

Showing off his new color changing Hot Wheels car

It was so cute watching Graham walk around the mall with Wall-E in hand!

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Autumn at It’s Best October 15, 2020

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Parenthood,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 3:04 pm

October is autumn at it’s best (in my humble opinion). In October, the chill is a novelty and I bundle up in layers and with blankets. In October, the rainy days are a welcome excuse to snuggle in and be cozy at home. October leaves are brilliant shades of yellow, orange, and red. While leaves are actively falling, the trees aren’t bare yet. October sunshine is my favorite of all. It washes the world in warm light, but doesn’t carry the heat of summer. October activities are some of my favorite traditions. October foods are some of my favorite flavors. October is simply the best. In the words of Anne of Green Gables – “I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” Overquoted, yes. True, also yes.

We had a minor wind event this weekend. We lost power briefly on Sunday night. This happened about 15 minutes after we put the boys to bed, so of course, the power outage completely derailed the boys’ ability to fall asleep. Graham was scared, despite having a lantern light up his bedroom. We moved him into Owen’s room for the buddy system approach, but that also led to extra excitement. The power outage became a grand adventure at that point. The power returned around 10:15pm. The kiddos were still awake at that point. Needless to say, no one fell asleep early on Sunday night.

Monday morning was a tired one. We did a pajama day for school (which is becoming a tradition on nights when we go to bed late the day before). Instead of going to forest school on Monday, both kids took long afternoon naps. My biggest hardship with forest school is Monday is marathon day. Between school in the morning, forest school in the afternoon, and MOPS & MOMSnext in the evening, it’s a big day. I’m finding that I would prefer Mondays to a mellow transition back into our weekday routine, instead of a marathon. When the kids asked for rest on Monday, I listened and we made it a mellow Monday. To make up for missing forest school, we took a family walk on the property behind our house (we have permission to explore this land). We followed our favorite trail to the local beaver dam and explored animal dens looking for signs of activity. We talked about the sights, sounds, and smells as we wondered in the woods. It was a lovely day for exploration as the cool, crisp sunshine filtered through the half-bare trees.

Our family is keeping busy with the Fall Family Scavenger Hunt with our church. One of the challenges we completed this week was to visit a local state park – Rainbow Falls. The boys had never been there, so it was fun to let them run and explore a new place. Our family has a thing for waterfalls which made this outing even better. The drive out to the falls was beautiful. Blue sky, sunshine, fall color all around. The boys loved seeing a new waterfall and throwing rocks into the river. We rounded out the outing by following a trail by the river for a short walk.

I know at some point the weather will turn and we’ll feel “stuck” inside. I know at some point all the leaves will fall and the trees will be bare. I know at some point pumpkin season will be over. But we aren’t there yet. I intend to revel in every blue sky, every crisp walk, every seasonal treat. My joy for this season is amplified as I share my favorite things with my family and see them enjoy them too. This is autumn at it’s best!

Another weekend, another birthday celebration. The boys got to have dinner with my side of the family.

Uncle Andrew came through for us when we needed a real sword for a scavenger hunt challenge. Auntie April also let us photograph her VCR and record player!

Supporting the Seahawks (for a challenge)

Checking out one of the many beaver dams

Always ready to follow a new trail. Also, this picture is blurry because it was an “action” shot.

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Owen turns 7! October 9, 2020

Filed under: Family Time,Homeschool Adventures,Parenthood,Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 2:21 pm

Yesterday, our oldest son, Owen, turned 7! My youngest, Graham, will be 5 in a little over a week and I’m truly shocked to have “big” kids these days. It seems like the days of little “littles” are behind us. Each year I love to see who they are becoming. Every new season of development comes with so much joy and excitement.

For Owen’s 7th birthday, we had an epic day full of adventure and celebration. Our day started at Top Golf (which was first for all us, but Jeremy). It was fun to get out of the area and try something new. We had a special lunch at The Cheesecake Factory before exploring the historic waterfall highway at the Columbia Gorge. The whole day was full of yummy treats and awesome adventures. It’s been a long time since we had a full day of outings away from home. We are all super tired today after the big celebration, but we all had such a great time yesterday. It was worth it!

What can I say about Owen to document this moment in his childhood? The first thing that comes to mind is that he loves science. It’s the first subject he decides to do at school everyday. He is always asking me if we can do extra science experiments. He loves space, geology, nature, and geography. His birthday gifts this year included LEGO sets, STEM kits, and a globe.

Owen is creative and imaginative. He is often drawing pictures or diagrams and explaining them to us. He loves to keep tabs on the weather and is often updating us on the forecast – even if it’s for a city in Alaska or Iceland. He is getting old enough that he is requesting more independence. It might be with a chore, a school lesson, or assembling a LEGO set – he wants the chance to do it on his own.

One of my biggest blessings right now is extra time with Owen during his first grade year. I never set out to be a homeschool mom, but now I find myself sitting at the table with him each morning working through our schoolwork. I love learning/teaching alongside him. I love getting to see what makes him excited. He is growing up so much, but he also still brings stuffed animals to snuggle at the table during school or on a drive into town. He also still calls me for extra snuggles at bedtime. He is getting so tall! The taller he grows, the more comical our snuggles become, but I am thankful for all the snuggles I can get!

Owen is a big brother who includes Graham in his play and the two of them are often running wild together. My boys are blessed with a father who includes them in his hobbies. The boys are often outside with Jeremy doing activities such as golfing, hunting, or gardening. On rainy days, you might find them inside playing LEGO video games together for a minutes. I love this little family of ours and for the friendship that we share.

Some of Owen’s favorite things include: Papa Murphy’s cheese pizza, Swedish fish, and the color yellow. He is the reason we are always buying a gallon of milk at the store. He would wear pajamas all day, everyday if we let him. We love this 7 year old so much and we can’t to see what the next year ahead holds for him!

The official birthday morning photograph

Top Golf gave Owen this super yummy sundae with a special birthday message!

Chocolate cake at The Cheesecake Factory

Jumping from rock to rock at Horse Tail Falls

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Hazy Days September 17, 2020

Filed under: Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Homeschool Adventures — Amy Scott @ 2:26 pm

The last week has a memorable one! Washington state has been socked in by smoke thanks to fires burning across the west. One of the main reasons we’ve handle staying home due to COVID-19 so well is our property. The boys can run amok outdoors. They have plenty of space to play. The smoke this week has made the air hazardous. Being outside has not been an option. We have been trapped indoors and we are feeling a little crazy as a result.

To combat the bad air, we’ve been running box fans around our house with air filters attached to them. You can literally see that they are working has they’ve slowly changed color over the last week. I’m sensitive to air quality and have felt quite yucky all week as a result.

Our plans for the week shifted as a result of the smoke. Jeremy wasn’t able to go hunting due to fire danger. The land reopened on Tuesday and he went out for a short period of time. He decided to not go out the next day because the smoke was too bad. The boys and I planned to start “Forest School” with some friends on Monday afternoon, but the bad air quality had me feeling too poor to participate. MOPS & MOMSnext kicked off on Monday night and I was the guest speaker for the evening. I knew that if I was out and about on Monday afternoon, I would feel even worse. It was hard to miss the first forest school gathering, but it was the right decision.

While the smoke dominated the landscape of our week, I am happy to report some non-smoke related news. MOPS & MOMSnext had a great kick off. We had 16 ladies attend which was more than I expected. I had fairly low expectations so it was nice to be pleasantly surprised. We have a great guest speaker lined up for our next meeting, so I’m hopeful that we keep the positive forward motion.

This week was our first “full” week of school. Due to Labor Day weekend, we’ve had two weeks of school with just three days. This week we did a full four days for the first time. (We accomplish 5 days of schoolwork in 4 days.) It felt good to do a full week, but I am thankful for the change of pace tomorrow. I’m glad it will coincide with the smoke clearing. I’m thinking we might head outdoors for our own version of forest school to make up for missing Monday. Each week of homeschooling establishes our our new normal. I’m enjoying the feeling that comes with settling down and finding our groove.

And on a completely lighthearted note, we found my favorite pumpkin bread mix at Costco. I’ve already started to eat my weight in pumpkin treats this season. Jeremy also harvested his little pumpkins last night and I’m reveling in their cuteness.

It has been a challenging week, but there have been many good and wonderful moments to keep me going. I am eagerly awaiting the clearing of the air. Until we are back to good air quality, you will find me sitting in front of a box fan with an air filter taped to it waiting for the orange haze to disappear. These are strange times!

Wii night with Nana & Papa helped distract us from being stuck inside.

Jeremy wasn’t able to hunt on Saturday, so he took over the kitchen to make himself a s’mores pie.

The day I find this bread mix in Costco is practically a holiday in my book!

I wish that was just fog… I kept trying to pretend it was fog…

Teaching Owen an important life skill – how to make paper clip chains.

Learning about balance with paper clips, straws, and pictures of weather/space.

A new distraction was worth the big mess!

Jack Be Littles might be my favorite pumpkins on the planet! So adorable!

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Yellowstone Road Trip August 23, 2020

Filed under: Coronavirus Chronicles,Family Time,Travels — Amy Scott @ 10:58 am

Back in December, we made plans with my family to go on a road trip to Yellowstone this summer. We had some concern that the pandemic would cancel our plans. This was actually the 4th trip that my family has planned to Yellowstone – the first three were canceled, so it seemed possible that this 4th attempt would also be foiled. Thankfully, we were able to make it and what a trip it was!

Our mornings were early, our days were long, but each day was worth the effort! The boys love nature and trails, so add geothermal sites and it was the perfect park of the kiddos to explore. I loved walking the geyser basins in the cool of the morning with the steam pouring out of the springs and geysers. The sight of steam billowing over the landscape was awe-inspiring and never got old! We also really enjoyed visiting Yellowstone Falls and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. God’s creation is beautiful and powerful! We spotted animals like elk and bison throughout the park. We never saw a bear, but multiple times we were very close and had just missed sightings moments before. Jeremy was praying we would see a bear. I was praying that we wouldn’t. I know the boys were bummed that we had no bear sightings, but I was thankful. Bears that aren’t in a zoo setting scare me. Even the bison and elk caused my adrenaline to rush. We were so close to these wild animals!

Yellowstone was the main event on this road trip, but we also saw a few other sights along the way. On our journey to Yellowstone, we stopped at Craters of the Moon National Park. We have visited lava fields and cinder cones in Bend, OR so we knew that this would be a fun stop for the family. We collected lava rocks, climbed a cinder cone, and admired the vast fields of cooled lava.

One of our days in Wyoming was spent driving through Grand Teton National Park. We drove one route through the park into Jackson, WY and then we drove back to our rental house through another park route. The views of the Tetons were stunning. The mountains views on this day of travel are some of my favorite from our whole trip. One of the mountains in the range is named Mt. Owen so that held special meaning to our Owen. We didn’t spend too much time in Jackson, WY. The city was neat, but busy. On our way home, we stopped by Jenny Lake (where we were 100 yards away from a grizzly bear that Wildlife Management was tracking) and Colter Bay.

Our last special stop on the way home was a visit to the Lewis & Clark Caverns. The tour was brief. Due to COVID-19, the tours are limited to one room in the cavern. We were shown the Paradise Room which is impressive. The only downside was we could see the pathways that lead deeper into the caves and we weren’t able to explore them. I guess that gives our family motivation to visit again in the future.

Signs of a pandemic were seen throughout our travels. Masks were worn indoors – regardless of what state we were in. Outdoors we wore masks when distancing wasn’t possible. Mornings were the calmest in the parks, so we were able to roam without too many people nearby. As more people entered the park midday, the more often we had to wear masks. On the cold chilly mornings, wearing a mask actually helped keep our faces warm. When the day heated up, I will say that wearing a mask became less ideal, but we did it. Hand sanitizer was found throughout the parks. We also had stock piles of sanitizer in our vehicles. Overall between masks, sanitizer, and being able to do laundry at our rental house, I felt like we were safe and cautious while traveling.

With all that has been canceled due to COVID-19, I am thankful that this long awaited family trip was able to happen as planned. We caravaned with my parents to and from the park and we met my sister and brother-in-law there. We haven’t had an all-family vacation since Graham arrived in the family. It was fun to show the boys a Vitzthum-style vacation. My dad always packs way too much food. Snacks abounded and dinner was always tasty with many options for everyone! The house we stayed at was the perfect set-up. My sister and her hubby had the upstairs with their own bedroom, bathroom, and loft for their little dog to hang out in during the day. My parents had the master on the main level. Our family had two downstairs bedrooms and a bathroom. The boys had bunk beds to sleep on which are a special treat!

Okay, I could ramble on about the great memories we made and the fun times we had! There is just so much to share after an adventure to Yellowstone. It was a beautiful trip. From geysers to thermal springs to mountains to lakes to rivers and waterfalls – there is something awe-inspiring around every corner! I’m so glad we got to explore this lovely part of God’s creation. God’s artistry through nature never ceases to astound me!

Here is an itinerary of our daily explorations and photos from our adventures:

Day 1: Old Faithful, Yellowstone Lake, Mud Volcano, Hayden Valley, Upper & Lower Yellowstone Falls. Day 2: Lower & Midway Geyser Basins, Artist Paint Pots, Norris Geyser Basin, Mammoth Hot Springs, Roosevelt Arch. Day 3: Grand Teton National Park, Jackson, WY, Jenny Lake, Colter Bay. Day 4: Biscuit Basin, Castle Geyser, West Thumb Geyser Basin, hike to Brink of the Lower Falls.