Quarantine Day 97: Last day of school for Naomi

Wednesday. Today we got up, moved all the clothes out of our master closet to see how we can begin to fix it, walked Pip, ate breakfast quickly and then decorated my car with thank you notes and good byes to 2nd grade. At 10 there was a parade for the Clyde Brown Elementary students to wave goodbye to their teachers. Juliet was being grouchy so JP stayed home with her while I took Naomi. We got there a few minutes early and I proceeded to blast the song 'School's Out for Summer" by Alice Cooper while Naomi stood up through the sunroof waving to her teachers as we paraded by. I think she was embarrassed that I was playing the music so loud as she kept telling me to turn it down! I think the teachers got a kick out of it! On the way home we did a lap around the neighborhood blasting the song again with her standing up! It was fun!

The rest of the day the kids played outside with the neighborhood kids. I proceeded to look up chicken coops to see if we could buy one relatively inexpensive for the time being as the chickens are getting big and we need to figure something out!! Hopefully next week we'll know if any neighbor complains to the town that we shouldn't have chickens. I've been telling them when I see them that we plan to have chickens so it is not a shock! Several of them told me today that they got the letter. Everyone I've spoken too is supportive! So we'll see!

As this was the last day of school for Millis Public Schools traditionally there has always been a concert at Tangerini's to celebrate. As this is not possible during the Coronavirus time we live in, we decided to have a socially distant block party instead. Before the block party, one of the neighbors had gotten a piñata and invited the girls over to take some swings and get the goodies out. It was really cute, there were only the 6 little kids doing it and it took them a long time to get the thing apart! All the chocolate candy had melted by this point, but the hard candy and trinkets were a big hit!

We set up around 4 for the block party and it was hot out still. So we found some shade on our grass by the circle that we set up. Everyone congregated in the shady areas around the circle, maintaining 6 feet distance with our set ups. The kids requested McDonalds for dinner this evening so that's what we did! Several other neighbors got pizza take out or cold cuts. Everyone brought their own food, we didn't share, which is not typically how we'd do a block party, but given the circumstance, we said from the outset that everyone had to bring their own food to eat. JP brought out the speaker and played some music. We also brought out the chicks to hang out with us and of course Pip. After a bit we got the fire pit going and the kids roasted marshmallows. They played on the swing in our yard, rode their scooters, played laser tag and then once it got dark enough, played man hunt! Overall a great end to homeschool 2020!

We got the kids in the house and our area by the circle cleaned up. JP took the kids upstairs to rinse their feet off and get them in bed. Meanwhile, I cleaned up the downstairs for the cleaning lady tomorrow! As annoying as it was to have to do, I'm glad I was forced to do it because the stuff from the block party would have sat around the house for the next few days! Its nice to have a clean house to wake up to!

Oh and now we're taking orders for our neighbors for Crescent Ridge! One of the conversations the adults were having was about how much money we've spent on groceries during quarantine and we talked about how we have been using Crescent Ridge. One other neighbor just got off the delivery waitlist and they too were talking about liking it. So of course once the other neighbors found out they wanted in on some of their homemade ice cream and milk! I think we're ordering 4 half gallons of ice cream and 1 half gallon of milk for the neighbors alone! This delivery service has really saved us during quarantine. Not having to stress about going to the store or not having milk and eggs and some other staples has been really key. I think going back to work in the fall, whatever that looks like, will continue to have the delivery to reduce stress of running to the grocery store!

Another thing that exploded on Facebook in our town is the high school mascot. It is currently a Mohawk Native American image and there is a petition to change that. It's been heated. But on the wave of BLM people are beginning to see areas that we have taken other cultures imagery and appropriated it for inappropriate uses as white people. So this is going to be an interesting next few months!