February School Vacation.... COVID style, Day #3

Day #3 - Micah's choice

The Patriots Hall of Fame

The girls were not super thrilled with Micah's choice but never complained as he went along with their choices without grumbling.  They however became more enthralled with the place, especially when we entered where the Lombardi trophies and Super Bowl rings were on display.  

The rings became progressively bigger each year the Patriots won to accommodate the trophies displayed on them.  At this point I'm not quire sure they can be called a ring given their size.

There were many interactive exhibits which allowed all the kids to enjoy our time there.  One take away that I noticed was the size of the players.  On TV they look small but up close they are giants.

 

February School Vacation.... COVID style, Day #2

Day #2 - Victoria's choice

Build-A-Bear Worship

Victoria was in heaven.  She has been looking forward to this and knew exactly that this was what she wanted to do on her day from the beginning.  The lady who helped us was the same one who was in charge of Victoria's birthday party that was held here two years ago.  All four of us made stuffed animals including mom which turned several heads while we were there.  Nonetheless, it was delightful to be in the moment with my children.  My stuffed bunny, Dottie, now resides on Victoria's bed.  I think she knew my stuffie would end up being her charge moving forward.

In order... Micah's, Victoria's, Izzy's and mine

The end of the day was treated with something sweet.

 

February School Vacation.... COVID style

 After returning from the Ice Castles, we brainstormed on how to spend the rest of our school vacation.  Izzy came up with an idea she titled "3 Days of Fun".  Her proposal was that each of them picked a day and decided on what we would do.  All three of the kids agreed which then lead to brainstorming on what would their pick be.  The pressure was on as, at times, they couldn't decide between options.  Combined with options that either weren't open or no available tickets, decisions were made much easier.

Day #1 - Izzy's choice

Dave and Buster's

We have determined that this is the best indoor arcade based off of tickets won and prize choices.

The Ice Castles

 

In another time, February school vacation would mean heading to some place warm.  However the pandemic required us to look at more local options to spend time together as a family.  The Ice Castles fit the bill as we were able to social distance appropriately while staying outside.  The Ice Castles are located in four places throughout the US; New Hampshire, Colorado, Utah, and Wisconsin.  It is a whimsical winter wonderland created out of thousands of icicles and 25,000 tons of ice.  We had no clue what we were going to see.  The excitement of a novel experience was wonderful by itself alone.

Changing lights was a backdrop at any turn creating an alluring experience while strolling amongst the sculpture.

Once inside the castle, there were tunnels to go exploring.  Some we could walk upright.  Others required crawling.  But no matter where you went, the view was pleasing from any angle including looking up.

Hands down the most favorite part was the ice slide to get out of the castle.  And, similarly to the rest of the castle, was a cascade of rainbow colors.

Just like any other castle, the Ice Castle came complete with a throne.

Outside the castle, an illuminated nature trail awaited us before we headed home.

Izzy dubbed this "Victoria's world" which she promptly agreed.

Mardi Gras

Last year Izzy found the baby in our King Cake for Mardi Gras celebration.  This meant she was responsible for this year's celebration.  Izzy took her role seriously and made a most delicious King Cake filled with a scrumptious cream cheese and walnut filling.  Yummy!  She's been making tremendous gains in the kitchen and needed very little help from her mother.

We brought our King Cake with us on the way to see the Ice Castles which was a delightful treat in our hotel.  Of the four of us, Victoria is the only one who hasn't found the baby.  She was desperately wanting it this year and very frustrated as she initially thought she didn't get it.  The three us dug through our pieces but couldn't locate it either.  We then returned to Victoria's piece and, after pulling apart what was left over, discovered she in fact had the baby all along.  Now next year's celebration is up to her for planning though I suspect a big sister will be very willing to pitch in an help out.

 

Spread the Love

In January Izzy approached me about an idea that had been brewing.  She actually created a powerpoint presentation and showed it to me.  Her project was called "Spread the Love".  She wanted her entire 6th grade class to create Valentine's Day cards to be sent to someone who needed a bit more love during the holiday.  Originally she wanted to adopted a floor in the children's hospital but was informed that, due to the pandemic, the hospital was only accepting monetary gifts.  She was a bit bummed but didn't want to give up on her idea.  We brainstormed about other groups that might enjoy being recipients of this project.  Izzy settled on the idea of adopting a retirement community / nursing home.  The bigger question now was which one.  We came up with randomly picking a state/city, choosing the nursing home Grandma Lois lived in, or one locally.  While working with her teacher on her idea, three other classmates stepped up to help out.  One of them has grandparents who are living in such a community in New Hampshire.  We then reached out to them who were ecstatic about partnering with the 6th grade class.  As a mother, it was so wonderful to see my daughter dream up an idea and watch it come to fruition.  

This of course would not have been possible without Izzy's home room teacher who was her mentor, Ms. Gallagher.  She was Izzy's 4th grade teacher and moved to 6th grade just this year.  When Izzy learned that Ms. Gallagher was going to be her teacher again, even the pandemic couldn't put a damper on this.  Ms. Gallagher helped Izzy by creating time for her to present her project to the class.  She allowed Izzy and the three other classmates to stay inside during recess to created Valentine's Day card goodie bags that each student used fabricate their cards.  (A shout out to Victoria who also helped stuff 80 goodie bags at home for Izzy.)  And she helped collect cards from cohort B as these are the days Izzy is not in school in person.

On the day of Valentine Card pick, we counted at least 70 cards had been made.  Some of them were quite superb and thoughtful.  We went through and read every single one at home.  Some had riddles.  Some had hand made word searches.  A few were 3D or had pockets with hidden goodies inside.  Some told a story while others bordered on being pen pal letters.

Carla, the activities director at Harvest Hills, was such a delight to work with on this project.  I was afraid that Izzy would receive the same push back that she did from Children's Hospital given the ongoing pandemic.  However Carla was more than thrilled to help.  What we learned was that Izzy's classmate's grandparents live in the adjoining retirement community, The Woodlands.  Harvest Hills is the assisted living / nursing home.  Carla wanted to know if the cards should be delivered to the residents at The Woodlands.  I posed this question to Izzy.  Ultimately she decided to stay with Harvest Hills as she recognized the difference between the two locations after visiting Grandma Lois several times when back in Nebraska and felt the cards would "spread the love" more in this location.  Carla even sent back a few pictures of residents who received the Valentine's Day cards.  I'm so proud of the impact Izzy has made.

 

Happy Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day celebration was a bit low key this year.  We opted to make Valentine's themed cupcakes and watch a movie.  The kids were at their father's on the holiday.  To celebrate with them, they were surprised with small goodie bags when dropped off with strict instructions to not open until Sunday.  That day I was was awoken to them calling to video chat so they could open the bags with me present.  It was so cute to see them giddy and unable to wait till later.  When they returned home, they showered me with hand crafted cards and pictures.  Those I've grown to love as they come truly form the heart.

Super Bowl LV

This past year Micah has taken a very keen interest in football.  He spends countless hours reading about the game, player statistics, and running plays in his room with his Teenymates.  This year he was eager to stay up and watch the football game.  Stereotypic of girls, Izzy and Victoria wanted to watch the halftime show.  Everyone was required to take a nap in order to stay up for the entire game on a school night.  Not surprisingly, there was no fighting when it was time to lay down.  While the rest of us was going to rout for Kansas City, Micah was a bit torn.  In the end, Mahomes won out which led to some sadness when the lost.

Rather than a sit down meal, we made our own pandemic mini-super bowl party spread.  Mine included an adult beverage as well.