COVID-Week #11

Finn is getting ready for his Virtual Decathlon for school

Social distancing Croquet in the yard with a neighbor

Aiden getting ready for his Virtual Decathlon for school

Working on his school assignment

I thought we would give a brief recap of the previous nearly three months that we have been mostly at home and in quarantine together.

Most Frequently Requested Game of any type:  Family Basketball

Favorite Dinner:   Beef and Noodles (a new recipe we received from a recipe exchange during the quarantine)

Favorite Saying:  "Two Claps for...."fill in the name (when someone does something good) and everyone claps!

Favorite Workout:  Peloton workouts with Olivia for Luke, Liam, and Mom; Finn enjoyed hikes and Aiden enjoyed basketball.  Bike Rides outside for Mom and Dad were also fun.

Favorite Movie:  "Greater", a movie on the life of Brandon Burlsworth.  We also liked the Fred Rogers movie called "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood"

Favorite Show to watch at Night:  Brain Games on Disney+

Favorite Weekly Show:  Michael Jordan Dream Team on ESPN

Favorite Breakfast:  Luke's blueberry coffee cake

Favorite Hike:  Taylor Falls glacial potholes and waterfall

Favorite Board Game:  Clue

Number of 1000 Piece Puzzles completed (mostly by Luke and John):  5

Activity we are most excited to do again:  Hockey!

Favorite take out meal:  Pizza

Favorite Book:  Front Desk (Mom and Finn read this together and loved it)

Things the boys did to stay in shape and active:  Hill Repeats on the side of the house, Basketball, Ladder work in basement, shooting hockey pucks, bike rides

New Sport the Boys tried:  Mountain Biking

Number of Bikes purchased or changed during quarantine:  FOUR!  Luke and Liam both got new bikes, Aiden got Liam's relatively new bike from last summer, Finn got Aiden's bike

House Projects Completed:  Too many to count but they include...taking down and storing the boards for the hockey rink, cleaning out the basement and making an exercise area with a t.v. for workouts, cleaning out the garage, one bag picked up for dumpster, refinishing swing set, window cleaning, mulching, closet and room organization and cleaning, office cleaning.

Most hours spent in the office working:  John!

Number of teeth Lost and Visits from the tooth fairy:  3 (for Finn)


While I planned to do a recap on the blog this week of the things we have done over the last three months in quarantine, I would be remiss if I didn't mention the unrest in Minneapolis over the last week.

On Monday, an African American, George Floyd, was killed by a Caucasian police officer in Minneapolis when Floyd refused to get into a law enforcement vehicle after being apprehended for forging a $20 check.  This was the spark that lit the fire (literally and figuratively).  Since Monday, there have been both peaceful and not so peaceful protests downtown.

On Wednesday, the protests escalated to riots and portions of downtown Minneapolis were completely destroyed by fire and vandalism.  These are areas we have been to many times and have friends who live in these areas.  People had to be evacuated from homes, businesses were burned to the ground, windows were shattered on stores, all MN Target stores were closed for the entire weekend after looting and rioting inside, and so on.  It was beyond scary to see the destructive and violent behavior of many people.

A curfew was enforced by Friday evening as the rioting continued.  Interstates, restaurants, shops, etc... were shut down on Saturday evening by 7:00 pm.  We received a governor initiated phone call from our school district requesting that parents keep their children inside after 8:00 pm.  The National Guard, Red Cross, Minnesota Department of Safety, and others were organized by Saturday and the rioting and looting was thankfully stopped.  Law enforcement made several arrests, seized weapons, narcotics, handguns, and knives.

What have we learned from this?  I hope we have a greater appreciation and tolerance for others no matter what the color of their skin may be.  We have had many conversations over race and violence and the difference between a protest and a riot.  I hope we teach our kids to love and accept others despite our differences.  And I hope we can change the conditions in our society that continue to exist and allow an African American person to be treated differently than a Caucasian.  It's been quite a week here and one I will never forget.

“…I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.”

MLK 1967