Ok, so I know that I've 100000% dropped the ball on the Ballou Blog and I hear that people actually DID like looking at some of our adventures. The good news is that I might not be great about posting the updates here, I've been pretty good about keeping the slide shows coming.
So I'm going to backlog a whole lot of them here AND make the commitment to updating the links on the blog when I make a new one in the future.
Wherever you find yourself on this 2022 holiday season, the Ballou Family wish you all the health and happiness.
Wow! The holidays (and January) really flew by...and while they were different than some years, we did maximize the silver lining to what I think was a nice silver glow. What I mean is that while we missed all of the family and friends we normally would see, we focused on spending as much time with our family that we do see.
Linked below is a quick slideshow capturing some of the that was our holiday season...
While we couldn't vacation like we typically do, we used the days to play with our new toys, find a deserted beach, or hike in the rainy redwoods.
Thanksgiving was much smaller than usual, though not sure any less food was made :)
Christmas shopping was definitely different and we tested the amount of things that would be put into an Amazon cart (we never found a limit), but most of the stuff turned out to be perfect even if we couldn't fondle it in a store.
Christmas Day seemed just as magical (and busy) as usual -- though with a bit more thankfulness that we'd all lived through 2020 pretty successfully.
The kids definitely used the situation to convince us that it was a special year and they needed special privileges like staying up to midnight on New Years Eve ("I want to see 2020 go bye-bye," as E puts it)..and you know what, with the combo of sugar, excitement, and card games the kids made it without a single whine...even the next day they were stellar.
The other big news, that I teased at the end of the last post, is that we did welcome a new puppy into the pack: Lucky. He's so much fun and really a good lil' guy....though don't tell him he's little, he has no idea. And pretty easy as well, he mostly just goes with the flow of what the big dogs do. He eats when they eat, he goes outside when they do (including potty breaks), sleeps, plays, goes in the RV, car, whatever. We've had him less than 2 months and he just clicks so well, I feel it's been years.
I did want to share a little about picking him out: We had 7 puppies to choose from, 30 minutes, and 4 adults + 2 kids to come to an aggregable choice. What could go wrong? I talked with the breeder and she ordered the choices for us. To be honest, Lucky was mid-list and I wasn't even really considering him. The moment the we stepped out of the car, the breeder started pulling the puppies out. She stopped and said, "hmmm, I think this one just picked you." We asked why, and she said something about how he perked up first and somehow she sensed a match. I might've nodded out of curtesy and promptly began looking at our top three. And for various reasons, those didn't feel right to everyone and Lucky kept coming back to us and us to him. (I barely had time for photos or video, and looking at the few I did take actually show Lucky...by complete coincidence). At the end, E was the last one who wasn't convinced because Lucky kept nipping at his face. "Come here," I took E and Lucky well off to the side. "Maybe it's the mask." E pulled down the mask and sure enough, the puppy nibbles turned to puppy kisses and E's face melted into a grin. And like that, the choice was clear. His name is Lucky, but I really feel we got all the luck in the deal.
Like the rest of the country, we're starting to hold our breath and sigh with relief with the coming vaccine. Both sets of parents are in process -- some 1st doses received, appointments finally scheduled after hours of being on the phone or online appointments selling out faster than you could check out.
Hoping the next post we can report that those at the highest risk in our bubble have gone down to the lowest. Until then, take care y'all.
In comparison from March through August 2020, September and October were much more steady as far as wildfires and pandemics go. We mostly just hung out in the bubble, started getting into a groove with the distance learning and enjoyed each other's company. Penny got fixed and there was this election thing that happened, both which added some angst and complications, but drops in the 2020 bucket.
Linked below is a quick slideshow capturing some of the that was our September and October.
We did have a great 'bubble Halloween party' hosted by Nana & Papa. We went all out from the entrance hall covered in cobwebs and fog, rat-loaf appetizers, the COVID piñata, a nearly full delegation from Oz, and some cool zombie shoot out games designed by the kids. We didn't end up going trick-or-treating, though I think we all had too much fun and food to miss it much...though we so wished we were able to share the festivities with more people. Next year, we hope, next year.
Since there's not much else to report this post, I think it's interesting to document a bit of what our normal looks like with the distance learning in the bubble. As I've said before, we're so SO lucky to have the both sets of grandparents to be with the kids most of the day. On a "typical week," Oma/Opa handle Monday through Wednesday at their place with Nana/Papa taking Thursday & Friday at theirs. Lisa and I try to take 'point' depending on which grandparents is chief-in-charge. What do I mean by point? Well, getting the day organized, being around for the inevitable technology issues, contacting the teachers, etc. (It's largely a symbolic job, the grandparents really got most of it down). Opa or Nana focus on E, while J is with Oma or Papa. We tend to all eat meals together and try to split the cooking responsibility to whoever's got more 'free' time after work or school. Most of the time, the kids and one of us parents been also sleeping over at the grandparents' house, since it makes the 'getting to school' far smoother.
Logistically complicated? Oh, yeah. Does all this mean we're hardly ever in our house as just us? Yep. Is this at all how any of us envisioned this school year? Nah, obvi.
The best way to describe this state of life is that we've become a small nomadic tribe of learning, working, playing and eating. As with all tribes, we grow closer every day that we're maneuvering through the tribulations of the times...if that's trying to figure out how to finish the science worksheet or the tension of watching Pennsylvania count ballots one-by-one.
I'm sitting here trying to figure someway to write my overwhelming gratitude for the bubble and finding myself an astronomical unit short. It's not just that the grandparents' help allows Lisa & I to keep our well-paying jobs. It's that they're going so far above and so far beyond to guide our kids to being better humans. There is no doubt that the kids are being shaped every day by these people who love them more than anything -- people who are willing to commit most of their waking hours to helping the Charolette's Web book reports and learning how to tell time. Parents are tasked with the near-impossible role of being a daily north star to their offspring. Ours get a constellation of six bright ones, each with the different set of amazing traits.
So the summer came and went in the usual 2020 way! Once we merged bubbles with the family, there was so much fun to be had...and while we missed our usual travel and adventures, we had plenty of adventures of a different sort.
Linked below is a quick slideshow capturing some of what life was like the June to August 2020...our summer of quarantine.
We spent so many days on Coyote lake going round and round while Papa pulled us of "the sidewinder" which is like a love child of a couch and an water inter tube toy. It's just thrilling enough to get death grip and just safe enough that everyone can do it.
We spent a lot of time just hanging out with the families...eating and just enjoying having more people to interact with. Many nights that we're at Nana & Papa's, we've been telling stories, having dessert, and drinking wine around the gas fire pit on the back deck...which definitely hits the notes of...well, GLAMP-ing at the very least. And, of course, there's the family soccer games at Oma & Opa's. Guess that's not much of an adventure, but since these are the folks we adventure with, it somehow felt like we were at Big Basin or conversing around the dinner table on a cruise.
Of course, school starting has been (and continues to be) a ride all it's own. Our school is virtual in the moment and graciously, we've got all four of the grandparents as the learning coaches. We can't really express how lucky and thankful we are for the help...which doesn't express the feeling adequately. To have so many people sacrificing their hard earned retirement to help with phonetics or simple division demonstrates to the kids how families come together in crisis, how we can work together to make a hard situation one that makes all of us better people, and how much they are surrounded by love. Plus, if there's ever been moments to practice our grown up communication it's teaching 3rd grade social studies on a google slide to a kid that is learning how to use a mouse / keyboard. I've never seen a human randomly click that many times in a second.
Another one of the 2020 curveballs were the August wildfires the SAME week as school start. There was a freak storm the weekend prior with some where between 7,000 to 12,000 lightning strikes around the bay area, sparking 600+ fires. Theses quickly combined into some of the largest fires in California history. The SCU Lightning Complex burned close to 300,000 acres in the first few days just miles from my parent's house and became the 2nd largest wildfire the state has seen (of course, at the same time that the fire in wine country was the 3rd biggest and that the CZU fire consumed some of the most beautiful redwoods and towns in the Santa Cruz mountains between us and the coast). They received the evacuation warning on the Thursday of that week...which of course, came at like 2am and it was very difficult to even tell where the warnings vs. evacuation ORDERS began). The kids and Lisa left immediately to the safety of Oma & Opa's, while I stayed to help get all the irreplaceable paintings and photographs prepped by the front door and interpret the various announcements at all hours of the day & night. Finally, on Sunday, the evacuation order came. So Nana, Papa, & the all the dogs moved into our house. Luckily (?), Cal Fire has had a lot of experience recently and quickly created a containment line to protect the communities threatened by SCU and by Friday, the order and even the warning were lifted from their house and they moved back. I have to admit, it turned out to be like an extended family party with some school mixed in.
They dogs have loved it too. Many days they've gotten to beat the heat by a quick (and muddy) walk down to the shoreside. Though Penny HATES it when we have to leave her siblings if we're spending time up at home. When we're leaving Nana & Papa's, she'll lay down and becomes 'no bones' to the point where she actually is dragged out to the car. At home, sometimes she goes on a hunger strike and barely eats. It's so hard for the first day or so, though we do our best to bring her over to Oma & Opas to play with her other friend, the 55+ year old tortoise, Prudence.
For us, this 2020, as it is with so many others around the world, has been fraught with a 'new normal' that really feels like a constantly shifting 'new' and far from 'normal.' We've all had our dark moments of stress, friction, and anxiety. Yet, reflecting on this summer, what really shines in the memory is like so many other great summers: the fun, the love, and long days spent together.
