Back to school--Hybrid

 It's not much, but the kids are going back to their actual school buildings for 2 hours twice a week. Grant started a couple weeks before the older kids. He LOVED it! He loved seeing his teacher in person and being with his classmates, even though he had to wear a mask. He rode the bus with Haddie each Thursday and Friday afternoon. 

It wasn't too grueling, as you can see. We got through the tough part of the school year in the first half. This last half has seen Grant with A LOT of time on his hands. He has listened to hours of Adventures in Odyssey just about every day. School at home isn't so bad. You get to bask in the sun on your squishmallow with your cat, listening to Odyssey, and munching on goldfish. And you don't have to pack a lunch.

The weather is getting better and the days are getting longer, which is good for evenings of four square. 

Alison G. snapped this photo of Joel and his friends waiting to go into school at Barlow. He's enjoyed getting to go back to school. The threat and danger of getting quarantined from school and tennis kept him home for a couple weeks during tennis season. Kids are getting quarantined if they are in the same cohort as someone who tests positive for Covid, even if they were never even close to that person. Getting to go to school has been a nice change in the routine, at least. Some classes only have a couple students in them, which is weird and sometimes awkward, but it's something!

Kari has not been excited about this switch to hybrid school. She would prefer to just continue doing school from home. We did give her the option later to switch back and stay home, but she decided to keep going, mostly because of her AP Biology class. She had a few weeks where she struggled quite a bit and felt pretty down and depressed. Thankfully, after I finally got her to talk through all her worries and stresses, she started to feel better. This pandemic has taken a lot on so many adults and kids we know. I'm thankful Kari is doing better and our family has fared pretty well overall during this crazy, long season. 

One things I was VERY excited about was this parking pass and what it meant. Kari got to drive to school and take her brother with her! We've been looking forward to this day for a long time, and it's finally here!