Time for a Pause

 

Liam's final game last weekend before his team went into quarantine

Hockey Moms on Liam's team watching the final game for awhile

We hope to be back in a few weeks!

Final Practice for Aiden's Squirt A team

We are decorating for Christmas earlier than we ever have before!

Pumpkin and Apple pies courtesy of Luke for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Dinner

Colorado Monopoly (thanks Jane from a few summers ago)

It has been an interesting couple of weeks for us since my last post.  Starting with the picture of Liam's team in their tournament on November 15th where they finished second place.  It was a great weekend and we are thankful that we ended on such a good note.  I say "ended" because the next day, there were two kids on Liam's team who tested positive for COVID.  And then four more players after that, plus a coach, and 6+ parents.  Liam was among those positive tests for COVID and John and I were two of the parents!  

By Thursday evening, John and I started feeling a little "off" and just overall tired while Liam developed a slight runny nose.  Luke had no symptoms at all, but we opted to get all four of us tested the following day because Luke had one kid on his team who was positive as well.  By Friday, Nov. 20th, the governor of MN had also decided that all youth sports would be put on "pause" while we attempt to lower the COVID numbers in our area which continue to rise.

Fast forward to a couple days before Thanksgiving, we received the results from our COVID tests on Tuesday, Nov 24.  All four of us tested positive which meant that we were all in quarantine for the several days.  We had already been in quarantine since Friday, Nov 20th when we initially had symptoms.  We are thankfully all recovering now.  John prepared the entire Thanksgiving dinner for us.  He went down first with symptoms and felt good enough to cook by Thanksgiving.  Luke never had any symptoms and Liam, thankfully, had only minor symptoms including loss of smell, fatigue, and a runny nose.  Aiden had flu-like symptoms and a headache for 24 hours, but is doing well now.  John had some fever, loss of smell, and flu like symptoms.  My biggest issue is complete loss of taste and smell and I am still hoping to recover soon from that!  It's a very odd feeling to have.  

We will start back to school next week in full distance learning for all four boys without any sports after school.  Needless to say, the sooner the backyard ice rink is ready...the better (for the sake of all of us, that is).

Hockey in Full Swing

 

Liam's hockey team took a day trip to Duluth to play two scrimmages over the weekend

Luke's team finished third in their tournament over Halloween, but I didn't have any pictures to post earlier!

Riding the scooters in Rochester

Luke's hockey team

Enjoying some outside games after school

Liam and his buddy, Luke, getting ready for their game 

No more locker rooms in hockey right now so we dress in the parking lot.  We had a week of gorgeous summer like temps, but this has changed.  Not sure what will happen over the winter as we will no longer be able to dress outside

We had an absolutely gorgeous week of weather last week and spent lots of time outside.  It was a nice break in the very cold temps and record snowfall that we had in October.  We were more than excited to be biking again and playing with friends in the backyard.  Sadly, this week the weather has changed and snow is on the horizon.  Hockey is picking up for us as we are beginning to have games, scrimmages, and lots of practices.  We are thankful we are able to play and hope to do so as long as possible.  There are restrictions on the number of spectators and many other things, but the boys don't seem to mind and it has been a good distraction.  We are back to full distance learning for Luke and Liam and all middle/high school aged kids.  Aiden and Finn are still in hybrid learning and go to school twice per week.  The numbers of COVID cases have risen for us so we have had to make some changes per the Governor's orders.  Stay healthy and safe!

Halloween 2020

Liam's pumpkin

The front door

Carving pumpkins on a distance learning day after we finished our school work

Aiden's pumpkin with a knee hockey stick running through

Carving

"Finn Carrithers" plus hockey sticks pumpkin

Luke's PWAA team in Rochester with their new team apparel

Finn's first day of hockey as a Mite 2 Gopher!

Digging out pumpkins

Luke's team finished third in their tournament

Finn and his amazing costume!

Finn and his buddy, Silas

Luke's PWAA team with their new Team apparel

Finn sorting all his candy

Aiden and his buddy dressed up as cows

Luke's goalie pumpkin

 We had a nice Halloween despite it being quite different than normal.  For the first time in 12 years, we didn't all trick or treat together.  Luke had a hockey tournament in Rochester so he and John spent the weekend there.  Liam had a party with friends and trick or treating and he decided not to dress up this year.  Aiden went to a party across the street with several of his buddies so Finn and I walked around with a few other neighbors.  It was a chilly night with a wind warning so we moved quickly and tried to stay warm.  Finn's costume was a favorite among his friends who tried to figure out where his legs actually were in the costume.  It was a fun night for all of us!