More Time in the Forest

The kids all wanted to go back to the forest again today to explore the same area as yesterday, but this time spend more time in the river.  Peter stayed awake on the ride over, so this time I got to join them.  I convinced Bella to try to cross the river so she didn't get left behind and we all had a great time.   Being at the crossing myself, I saw why she was hesitant.  It was a deep, murky section and the only way across was a narrow tree that had fallen over, quite a ways above the water.  I told her I'd cross and she could follow.  Carrying Peter and navigating that crossing was a bit frightening, but I figured I could do it.  Before I began, Benjamin, who'd already crossed, called to me saying to wait and let him see if he could help.  He found another large log and with great effort, laid it in the water just so that he could stand on it farther out towards me.  He slipped at one point and got water in his boot, poor guy!  This position allowed him to grab Peter from me after I'd gone about 3/4 of the way so I could finish and get off the tree without having to hold him.  What a gentleman.  Bella followed by shimmying on her rear with her legs straddling the tree.  She was struggling much more than I did and Christian declared that he would help her.  He climbed onto the tree and tried to help but wasn't much assistance.  On his way back, he slipped and fell into the water.  Luckily he wasn't hurt and laughed it off.  I declared that we had some real gentlemen in our family - willing to risk injury to help us cross.  "Can I get screen time for that?" was Benjamin's immediate reply.  So typical.

We made it to the part of the river where they wanted to swim but they didn't want to ride home on their bikes in wet clothes, so I went back to the bikes with Peter and went home to get the car.  That took a lot longer than I anticipated and was gone an hour.  The trek back to the bike, the ride home, and then the discovery that sitting for 3 months has caused my van's battery to die all took their time.  Consequently, I had to clean out the Ford, attempt (and fail) to attach the bike rack, gather dry clothes since now they'd have to ride home after all since there's no room in the Ford for 3 bikes, and return.  When I arrived they all exclaimed that they thought I'd died and wished they'd just gone along with me when I left.  I would have liked that a lot better too.  Alas, live and learn.

Days like this would never have happened during school time.  There are a lot of down sides to the quarantine, but I sure love being able to spend entire days playing in the woods with my kids.  What a blessing it is to have this time.  I really hope that they remember this time fondly and don't focus too much on the fact that they can't see their friends and that all their spring break and summer plans were canceled.  That part of things is really depressing, actually.  It was going to be so much fun during scout camps and church camps and especially when Jill and her family were going to come visit - finally after 15 years of living here!  I'm really sad for my kids to have to miss all those things.  I'm counting it a blessing that I don't have to take Peter around to so many places and struggle with missed naps and screwed up schedules, though.  Having him on a 100% consistent nap and bedtime schedule is a wonderful thing.  He's such a terrible sleeper that keeping this solid is crucial.

The only other thing I really, really hate about the lock-down is wearing masks everywhere.  I hate walking through the store and not being able to smile at people or chat with people.  Everyone is in their masks, keeping their distance, ignoring others.  Plus, I'm so incredibly uncomfortable in mine that after about 15 minutes, I'm so miserable and grumpy that I wouldn't want to smile or talk to anyone anyway!  I absolutely HATE wearing that darn thing.  It leaves bruises on my face and pushes uncomfortably up into my eyes, leaving my eyes red and irritated.  Let's not even get me started on how hard it is to breathe and how hot it makes me!  It's a nightmare and I feel like I'm in some sort of dystopian horror film whenever I'm out and surrounded by sullen, distant people in masks.  The other day I left Costco and started to cry.  I felt so miserable about the whole thing.  I really enjoy interacting with people at the store - shoppers and employees.  I enjoy meeting new people and smiling at people.  Being shut off and covered up has been really hard.  However, I know that if that's the only thing I'm struggling with, I'm very blessed.  I had to say that last part (although it's true) because something else I've noticed about this quarantine, which I haven't liked, is that you can't talk about what you like about your current situation without people slamming you for not being sad enough about all the people that are suffering right now and you can't talk about how sad you are without people slamming you about how you should be grateful because so many people have it worse.  You just can't win.  So, I've said pretty much nothing to anyone.  Social media is a messed up place.