CVSD: Day 26

Today is the start of Spring Break. And we are sheltering in place at home, along with most of America.

Jack has been asking for forever when Spring Break would start. He is just glad to not have to crack a book all week. I have never been so grateful that our boys get along so well and that we have an acre of woods for them to spend a good portion of every day exploring.

We rarely hear them say that they are bored, though they do regularly ask for us to buy them a gaming system and Minecraft (but they asked for that before the pandemic). I think we will get them something soon, but we have still been holding off.

If they do say the "b" word (bored) they know they will be given the option to figure out something to do or be given a chore to complete. They typically figure out something for themselves.

They are working on building a tree house out of materials we already have at our house; they built a stick and leaf shelter/fort; and have created their own Adventure Club. I believe it requires wearing camo, carrying binoculars and exploring the woods.

When they tire of exploring, they have been playing an ongoing game of tag that has morphed into various versions. First it was bike tag – they just had to get close enough to yell the other person's name and say "You're it!" Then today it was hammock tag – they have hung their hammocks one above the other and flip over and over trying to tag any exposed skin on the other person before one of them flips again. Another version was on the back porch and they would name objects leading to the other person to "tag" – for example, Isaac was standing on the couch so Jack said, "I tagged the floor, the floor tagged the couch, and the couch tagged you! You're it!" They think these games are hilarious and play for long periods of time. I love their inventiveness.

Tonight will mark the 9th night they have slept outside on our back porch. I am tempted to offer to let them set up our two-man tent out there, but they seem pretty content with their fortress of cushions.

Every year I try to keep track of the birds that are flocking back to our property. So far this year we have spotted the following: a Red Shouldered Hawk, several Pileated Woodpeckers, lots of Yellow Bellied Sap Suckers, a Screen Owl, Cardinals, quite a few Tufted Titmouse, a Northern Mockingjay, crows, a Morning Dove, a Goldfinch, sparrows, chickadees, and so many other birds that I constantly hear but haven't gotten eyes on yet. We typically see quite a few Bluebirds but I haven't noticed any so far this year.

I wish we could go somewhere fun for Spring Break, but if we have to be stuck at home, our property is a pretty nice place to be stuck.