SD: 76 days. And done. Kind of.

After close to three months of lockdown, our state caseloads have trended downward for the required two weeks allowing us to move forward to Phase 3 of reopening Illinois. What that means is that restaurants can offer outdoor dining, state parks can reopen, nail salons and barbershops can provide services under new guidelines, and we can now gather in groups of up to 10 people. We are all cautiously optimistic that we can breeze through this phase to lift even more restrictions in the coming weeks. We are also looking forward to Mason’s baseball team getting back on the diamond in the next few days. Though practices and games won’t be quite the same, it will be nice to get back into a routine of sorts. 

{We discovered that Caleb has a neighborhood hairstyle twin. And we are all so very happy that haircuts can happen again!}

So what do the numbers say? In the past three weeks, our state has confirmed an additional 44,175 cases bringing our state total to 120,260. Currently, our state is conducting nearly 25,000 tests each day. Our death total has increased by 2,041 to 5,390. 

And this.

He may not have walked out of elementary school for the final time with the traditional clap out, but this kid is heading to middle school in the fall either way. The PTO surprised us at supply pick up with signs for the outgoing fifth graders. Certainly an end to the school year that this kiddo will never forget! 

Florida!

We took off for Florida for an 11-day escape from our shelter in place order in Illinois. Because flight schedules were impossible to trust, we decided to drive instead. And, all things considered, it really wasn't bad. With an average speed of 75 mph, we were able to make the trip in 16 hours and 45 minutes of drive time. With stops, our total time was 17.5 hours. We armed the kids with unlimited snacks and wi-fi hot spots, which made their ride essentially the same as a quarantined day on the couch. We set their iPad timers for 20 hours so that they wouldn't bother us with the constant "Are we there yet?" questions, and they were all perfect backseat travelers! Dare I say that we would absolutely do this again?

Because we were staying at my parents' condo, we were all very familiar with the area, the restaurants, and the beaches. And because we are frequent visitors, we really didn't bother with many pictures. We were able to visit three new-to-us beaches while we were there, and may have added some new favorites to our beach list!

Wednesday was technically Day 1, but it was a travel day, and we arrived exhausted to the condo at 9:30 PM. Did I say that we left home at 3:15 AM? That was the hardest part of the entire journey!

Day 1. Thursday: Englewood Beach

{The boys loved this beach for the big waves.}

{Jacob made it his mission to dig a hole in the sand at every beach we went to. This came in especially handy when he wanted to snack without the birds attacking him!}

{Florida had begun reopening by the time we arrived. Many people were asking if beach goers were keeping socially distant. This may have been the least crowded of all beach days.}

{We capped off our day with a sunset dinner at our favorite beach restaurant: Sharky's. All staff wore masks, all menus were paper, kids were not given crayons to color with, and I drank my wine out of a disposable plastic cup. Things are not normal, but it was nice to be out in public!}

Day 2. Friday: Siesta Key Beach

{This will always be our favorite Florida beach. The sand is second to none and the water was clear, warm, and perfect for wave riding. I even body surfed with the boys (and ALL of the fish) for nearly an hour!}

{Camryn decided today was the day that she was going to take on the ocean. She did. And she never looked back. Get this girl her own boogie board!}

{Jacob dug quite the hole. The sand was perfect for excavation!}

Day 3. Saturday: Venice Beach.

No pictures because everyone was burnt, chafed, and blinded from sunscreen, so Caleb and I loaded up our car full of complainers and went back to the condo where we would spend the day in air conditioning.

{We did get some post-dinner ice cream to eat at the pier. Venice Beach had a few very large sand bars that would appear during the evening's low tide. We have never seen that there before!}

Day 4. Sunday. A very rainy Mother's Day.

Although it didn't actually rain until later in the afternoon, cloudy and cooler conditions kept us at the condo for the day where we took several walks around the neighborhood and the kids rode roller skates, roller blades, and skateboards. A perk to driving to vacation is all of the random crap you wouldn't normally be allowed to pack gets tossed in the back of the car! Camryn wore her skates for roughly the entire day (even when navigating the carpeted indoors) and almost nose-dived into the toilet at one point when she lost her balance. 

Day 5. Monday: Nokomis Beach.

We have never been to this beach, but we would definitely go back!

{Jacob in another self-constructed hole.}

We left Nokomis Beach late in the day with the hopes of swinging back to Venice Beach where we could swim out to the sand bar at low tide. Although we could see the waves swirling around where the sand bars were, they never came to the surface so we weren't able to cross that off our list of things to do. What we did do that we never even anticipated was watch a group of dolphins swim past us in shallow waters by the pier. That was so cool and very unexpected!

{Camryn at Venice Beach. Getting very brave, and very good at boogie boarding!}

Day 6. Tuesday: Manasota Beach. 

Another new must-visit beach!

Venice, Florida, where my parents' condo is located, is renowned for being the "shark tooth capital of the world." And while our efforts at finding shark teeth this trip had been weak at best, Manasota Beach held the mother load! There were so many teeth that we could find them without using our sand sifters as they were just laying on the surface of the sand. It was so much fun for everyone to hunt for them!

{This is what we came home with! We typically find a couple dozen throughout our trip to Florida. This was found over the course of a day!}

{Sea turtles are also laying eggs during this time of the year, so we came across several of these roped off areas at the different beaches we visited.}

Day 7. Wednesday: Back to Siesta Key Beach.

Coincidentally, we were able to meet up with neighborhood friends who also fled Illinois. Jacob was thrilled to spend the day swimming with his buddy!

{Keeping social distance. Never mind that they were sharing a snorkel.}

{The condo pool was closed when we arrived in Florida because they were redoing the concrete patio around the pool. We knew this when we made travel plans, and we weren't expecting it to reopen before we left. But, surprise. Pool's open! The kids hopped right in after spending the day swimming in the ocean!}

Day 8. Thursday: Back to Englewood Public Beach.

The kids wanted to go back to this beach because the waves were so big the first time when we went a week prior. Unfortunately, the waves were not big this time around, but the color of the water was Caribbean looking. We couldn't get over how differently the water looked just a few short days later!

{Camryn enticing the birds. They wanted the food, but wanted nothing to do with her so they waited until she lost interest before they swooped in and grabbed the bread that she tossed onto the sand.}

{The sandcastle that took way too much arguing and complaining to build.}

{One final Florida sunset at the pier.}

{Night swims are the best!}

Days 9-10. Friday and Saturday: Venice Beach and then home.

We had intended to drive home on Saturday and Sunday, but with overcast weather and storms on the way, we decided to head out a day early. First we took one last walk on the beach, hit up the souvenir shop, and took a quick dip in the pool.

{Doing beach yoga where my mom does beach yoga!}

{One more swim!}

{The Sunshine Bridge is a favorite of ours because it goes up SO high over the water. Problem is, you can't see just how high it goes when it's raining so hard that you can't even see! The left picture is us driving up the bridge in the POURING rain. The line in the middle is the top of the bridge. After we hit the top and started to go back down, the rain stopped and it was almost sunny. Crazy!}

We stayed the night just north of Atlanta before driving the rest of the way home the next day. After 10 hours of driving on Saturday--and a quick pit stop at Purdue University for Mason (and me)--we were back in our driveway at 5:30 PM and ready to rest! This was quite possibly the best way to spend a lock down!

SD: 55-ish days

We've been at it for a while now. The seasons have changed, though the temperatures tell a different story. And aside from doing absolutely nothing really, we have been spending some time outside getting our yard ready for summer. 

{Jacob is officially in charge of backyard lawn mowing. Because straight lines don't matter quite as much in the backyard as they do the front yard...}

{Our trees and flowers are all blooming. Happiness looks like tulips in the spring!}

{My parents continue to take walks with us. And we happened upon the rest of our family on one walk. So. Close. To. Touching!}

{After having taken so many walks, I figured it was time to take a short jog. I planned to start with a mile. I underestimated the length of my route, but I think I did pretty good with my time for not having run at all since 1998. Never mind that my average heart rate was 178 bpm, and it took me roughly 12 hours to stop breathing like I was hyperventilating.}

{Starting with Camryn, all of the kids dyed their hair. It appears that teal is the official color of quarantine.}

{When you order roller blades, but they come in a box the size of a small storage unit, you get to make a nest. We are that bored.}

{My parents had a tree taken down in their backyard. We had no idea just how big that tree was until everyone was standing on the stump. Holy smokes!}

{I had a birthday. My parents joined us for a socially distant picnic and cake. And I was thiiiiisss close to blowing out my candles. I forgot just how dangerously we all lived pre-pandemic!}

Now for the nitty gritty. Our governor released a five phase plan to reopen our state. He divided our state into several districts based on ambulance and hospital territories that were set up many years ago. These districts are allowed to open independently of one another so long as they meet and maintain certain criteria for an established amount of time. Basically, lifting the orders and advancing through the phases means that there is enough room in the ICU for you if you need it. Currently, the entire state is at Phase 2. Without so much as saying it, the governor alluded to the fact that sporting events and major concerts (such as Lollapalooza) will not be happening in Illinois this summer. Bummer. But probably expected. Illinois is currently testing nearly 20,000 people daily for COVID, which is necessary data to have for re-opening the state, yet it's discouraging nonetheless because it feels as if our state is surging in numbers compared with other states whose testing is not nearly as expansive as ours. At this point, percentages of increase are more important than basic numbers, but it's hard to not feel a sense of defeat when daily death and case records are announced. There are currently more than 1.3 million cases of COVID in the US with just shy of 80,000 deaths. As of today in Illinois, there are 76,085 cases with 3,349 deaths. Since April 23, those numbers have increased 29,329 and 1,661 respectively. Other states have begun reopening, some with stricter guidelines than others, so time will tell if there is a resurgence in cases in those states. There have been some protests, and even a few lawsuits, in our state demanding that people return to normalcy, but for now we stay the course and stay home. The Dow Jones has gone up 800 points since April 23, despite a historic report in job losses. 

And now for the memes...

{Speaking the truth!}

{Yep. And I have had to jump mine twice.}

{Whenever I remember that they have a Zoom meeting!}

And just when you thought that 2020 couldn't go off the deep end anymore than it already did: Murder Hornets, which leads me to my favorite meme of the week...

Being locked down at home was fun for a bit, but all of our home projects are complete, which means it's time to hit the road. So we did. To Florida. Living our best quarantine life at my parents' condo for 10 days in a state that would prefer to act as if nothing ever happened.