Eggs in a Mug

We've been getting more creative with cooking since we've been home, and the kids have been taking on more responsibility. One beautiful morning last week, Benji wanted to make himself a savory breakfast that he could easily carry outside. I suggested he google eggs in a mug, which he happily did and then cooked for himself. He was very satisfied with his success:

Lamy Lego Challenge

The L-P clan is having a daily lego build challenge and they asked if Benji would like to judge a round. We all decided to get in on the action and took a communal vote (and then judged a second challenge the next day). Here is Sophia giving us a virtual tour of their jungle builds for us to vote on:

First Fancy Dinner in Social Isolation

The very last errand I ran before we decided to hunker down at home was to our local cheese shop. I decided it would be nice to have a relaxing fancy-ish dinner together as we looked ahead towards staying in for a few weeks (or months):

A Walk in the Woods

We've been trying to get out a little every day so that we don't feel stuck inside the house. It's nice to have both the John Warner Parkway Trail and the Meadowbrook Trail so close by. It is especially nice that the weather has been warm and the trees are starting the bloom. Here are some pictures from our first long walk (4 miles) along the Parkway and back through the new wetlands they created in Greenbrier Park:

Zoom Confirmation Class

The regular schools took last week off, but CBI wanted to push ahead with confirmation class, so they met by zoom. Unclear whether there will actually be a 10th grade confirmation in May, but we appreciate that they are preserving the option:

St. Patrick's Day 2020 (Quarantine Edition)

On the day before St. Patrick's Day, Benji asked if we thought the leprechauns would be able to get through the travel ban on Ireland to make it here. I knew he was joking, but at 11:30pm on the night before, I worried that he was expecting some St. Patrick's Day magic, so I got up and did some mischief (mostly using dry erase marker on the mirrors, but the leprechauns also left green confetti all over his seat at the table). Turns out, he was not amused by this:

You can't tell, but he is glaring at me as he sweeps this up.

Once things settled down, we got to making our Irish Soda Bread and enjoyed it for breakfast:

We accidentally used two pans and it came out extra fluffy -- might be a new trick!

We took some festive pictures and had a nice green themed supper (Green goddess grilled cheese, followed by pistachio pudding):

Filling Out the Census

Both kids were fascinated by this, so we did it as a family:

Creative Time

The kids came up with a schedule for their weekdays, and the first block is "creative time." They can pretty much do anything they want in this block that is not reading and does not involve a screen.  The first day, Benji built this air powered car:

Social Distancing, Day 1

We have a decent number or art and science kits in the house that we had not yet had time to tackle.  For our first weekend home, we pulled out this pyramid that you have to chisel away until you find a pharaoh inside.  It only took about 20 minutes, but at least it was a change of pace:

Pi Day 2020

The celebration must go on.  I had shopped for ingredients ahead of being shut in. We had been eyeing a recipe for Peanut Butter Pretzel pie that I had seen online. It came from England and was all in grams, so the kids broke out the scale and measured each ingredient. It was super yummy:

ArtConnections 2020

The Charlottesville City Schools annual art show opened last week. We had planned to go this Wednesday, when Benji would be performing with jazz band at the open house.  On Friday, when it seemed clear that schools would close, Abby asked her art teacher if she could go down and see it during class. She texted me pictures of her two pieces in case we could not get there in person (the show is now closed, along with the schools, so I'm glad she did):

Selling Candy Bars for Stage Left

Baking Hamantaschen 2020

National Oreo Day

We bought a pack of mint oreos to celebrate:

District Band Assessments 2020

This year, they were held at CHS, which made it easy to just slip over at lunch and listen to the Walker Band play (Benji is first clarinet):

Liberation and Oppression Exhibit

For the first time ever, instead of celebrating Thomas Jefferson;s birthday, the city of Charlottesville is having an official celebration of the days of liberation. As part of this, the Charlottesville Schools  and Albemarle Schools teemed up to create a special exhibit of themed art. We received a letter in the mail that Abby's art had been chosen for the collection and went to see it for the opening night reception at Gallery 160 at Stonefield:

Backyard Adventure Book

Aunt Barbara sent this to him last week, and he barely looked up for an hour afterwards:

Learning to Knit

Benji has wanted to learn for a while, as have I, so we agreed to try to tackle it together. While I was in California, Amy taught me the very basics, and then Benji and I watched a video together to learn to cast on. Abby decided she wanted in on the action, and quickly surpassed us since she had some prior experience. We are all still moving along on our projects, though:

In front of our video

Later on, more knitting downstairs

Look how far she has gotten!

Progressive Family Dinner

This was the last of our February bucket list. The vision was for each family member to make one course and eat a slow dinner over the course of an afternoon/evening. We did it on a Friday, which made it a little more compact (especially since Abby had Track until 5:30), but we still had time to relax by the fire between courses, drink some wine, dance to fun music and catch up on the week.

In order to be fair, we made bets at the Superbowl to determine the order that we chose which course to cook.  The bets included the length of the anthem (under/over two minutes), the coin flip, the first car commercial and the ultimate winner. Benji got the most points and chose dessert. I came second and chose the appetizer. Abby was 3rd, but kindly chose the main course, leaving Kevin with soup, salad or side to choose from:

We set the table for Shabbat while waiting for Abby

First course: whipped goat cheese with thyme, lavender honey and dried apricot in phyllo tartlets

Soup by Kevin: Roasted tomato with sourdough crouton and baked cheddar

Relaxing between courses

Abby showered while hers was in the over (since she was fresh from track). It came out really well: creamy french onion baked pasta

Benji surprised us by doing his all on his own -- he even nailed the presentation! Banana pudding trifle (I love how he put the single banana slice on top for garnish)

Time Travel?

Benji had this posted on his door yesterday. He said that if we opened the door without knocking while he was in the quantum tunnel, all of humanity would disappear: