Risks

Life is full of risks, right?  With the current situation, the risk to Finn’s health is something that can’t be measured.  This virus is not well understood and while it does not appear to affect children in the same way as adults, the long term situation is still very much unknown.  Right now the world seems to be divided into two camps, those who feel this virus is being blown out or proportion (or even those who feel it is a hoax) and those who are taking it seriously.  There also seems to be another way that the world is being divided—those who are at risk of severe disease and those who aren’t.  They consider those aged 60 and older and those with underlying conditions including chronic lung disease, weakened immune systems, and diabetes at risk for severe disease. Those at risk for severe disease and those who live with or care for someone in that category have been under more cautionary guidance.  In Colorado that means that our stay-at-home order lasted longer and that, even as the world around us has reopened, our activities have been restricted.  There have been several news articles about risk levels and what activities are higher or lower risk than others.  And based on that, I am trying hard to find those lower risks activities that we can comfortably participate in this summer.  The guidance we have received from clinic has been pretty blanket guidance for the CF community as a whole. And that guidance has been to stay at home.  We have been told that we are “on a different timeline” than everyone else.  And as much as I understand all of that, and as much as I desperately don’t want to learn firsthand what this virus can do, quarantining for a year or so does not feel to be in the best interest of our family.  And so I am trying hard to find “acceptable” risks and those that are lower on the scale of risks.  

Today we decided to brave the zoo.  We went with a picnic lunch, two masks per person (in case we needed to change during the day) and a prayer that we would feel safe and comfortable.  Being outside with masks and social distancing as much as we can seems to be the least intimidating risk for us right now.  We ended up having a good day and only having a couple of moments where the crowds felt to be a bit too much.  I remain frustrated by the members of our community who cannot see beyond their own nose and follow the guidelines of social distancing and wearing a mask.  It seems that many have forgotten that “no man is an island” and that to belong to a civilized society we all have some level of social responsibility.  But, well, that’s another conversation.  Anyway, the point is we went to the zoo.  We had a good time and spent several hours there.  We are optimistic that we won’t be sick in the next week or so.

Waiting our turn to enter the zoo

Feeding the giraffes--we tried to find one that didn't have a ton of people gathered around

More giraffe feeding

After feeding the giraffes we backtracked through the exhibit to head to the new exhibit, which is really what we were there to see anyway.  Our strategy worked as there was not a line to see the penguins and there was hardly anyone else there for the rest of the exhibit. 

The new hippo and penguin building is beautiful!  And we were all alone visiting the penguins.  It was awesome!

This "Nature Play" area led us to a rope bridge that took us over the hippo yard and to a viewing area for the lemur island.  It was an awesome area and we were so glad to explore it virtually on our own.

This hippo was enjoying grazing in her new yard.

Lemur Island

In the hippo building we stopped to use the restroom and found the best view of the penguins.  Yes, this window was in the bathroom!

So fun to see the warthogs

As we were leaving the exhibit we saw this penguin in the window.  Can you spot it?

We happened to stumble across Mister in "My Big Backyard".  This is Finn's favorite zoo animal.

While we were visiting Marty McFly, a Kestrel, the vet arrived to take care of him a bit.  This caused a crowd and we started to feel a bit overwhelmed by the kids pressing into our area without masks.  We waited it out though because the kids were fascinated.

Applying an antibiotic to his foot

The view of Colorado Springs

The traditional elephant statue picture

Visiting the meerkats on our way out

KKTV Spot

I first forged a relationship with KKTV when Finn was just 2 or 3 years old.  We have been blessed by their support of our family and the CF community.  We had a small spot on the evening news at one of our first fundraisers which was a total bust.  But yet, they filmed some footage and aired it.  They are truly too good to us.  Then a couple of years later I was invited into the studio to film a couple of spots for "Moms Everyday" about our upcoming walk and our tennis fundraiser.  I stumbled all over my words and they were so patient and good to me.  Last year at our Chef's night I met Ashley Franco, another KKTV reporter.  She reached out in March and asked us to share our experiences.  And so this spot was born.  It aired on the late news the evening of Saturday March 21.  And frankly, I'm embarrassed by my camera angle, my answer to the questions, and my nervous giggle.  But, here it is.  Local Family shares importance of social distancing

The arrival of COVID-19 in Colorado

In early March the chatter regarding a new virus that was slowly spreading around the world started to pick up speed.  It was bizarre to see the first impacts in Colorado in the form of empty grocery shelves--especially toilet paper, hand sanitizer, and Lysol wipes.  Our family was getting ready for a spring break trip to New Mexico and had plans to visit Carlsbad Caverns, but I really wanted Finn to have a mask for our cavern trip and was surprised to see that all of the Vogmasks were sold out on Amazon.  At the time, the panic seemed really out of place.  The virus was in China and information coming from China isn't necessarily great.  We knew it was a virus that caused severe disease and that it was spreading quickly and killing thousands, but it really seemed so far away to me.

A nearly empty shelf where the toilet paper should have been.

No oatmeal--of all things to be out of!

One Wednesday March 11, the Colorado governor declared a state of emergency and on Thursday March 12, 2020 our school district announced we where going to take an extended Spring Break.  The first case of the virus had been diagnosed in El Paso County that week.  Around that time was also when the virus was officially named SARS-COV-2 and the disease which it  causes was named COVID-19 (as it had emerged in China in late 2019).  So, Friday the 13th was to be the kids' last day of school before a known two weeks off.  Finn had been home sick the entirety of that week.  He had been running a fever and had finally recovered enough to head back to school.  So, all of the kids went to school on the 13th to say goodbye to teachers and friends.  Kai came home with the entirety of his locker contents which was certainly an ominous feeling.

This came on Thursday March 12.  At this point friends were talking about pulling kids out of school, some CF families in other states already had.  I was trying to take the "alert, not anxious approach" and wait for more information.  This decision by the school district was appreciated as it made my decision for me, but at the same time I wasn't thrilled.  Every indication pointed to the fact that this wasn't going to be over in two weeks and that this wasn't going away anytime soon.  The long-term thoughts were really hard to manage at this point.

The problem with an extended spring break was that because of COVID we couldn’t go out to do much of anything and we were forced to cancel our New Mexico trip. We had received an email from the CFF on the evening of the 13th that recommended we pull our kids from school (after an email from our clinic just that morning saying the exact opposite) and that we stay home as much as possible during this time.  So, after Finn completed his Saturday morning swim lesson on the 14th we were home for the foreseeable future.  Even Reid started bringing home work supplies and setting up an office to begin remote working.  We could tell that the situation was getting serious.

So, over the next two weeks we tried to find a bit of a routine that didn’t always include electronic time and staring at a screen.  It was a challenge to convince the kids that just because we couldn’t go anywhere didn’t mean all we could do was sit and watch a screen. 

An attempt at a schedule and getting in some learning 

It happened that I had just talked to Kristi about having set a goal to learn to bake bread this year and so she gave me some tips and a a recipe.  And so I baked my first loaves of bread (from the wheat in our food storage) in early March.  I have since baked a lot more.

Trying to find exercise videos for the kids.  This is a GoNoodle video that Bree enjoyed in her first grade classroom.

Bree's teacher sent home a packet of worksheets for her to work on during the extended break.

Finn's teacher also sent home a packet of work, including the science assignment of growing a potato.  Unfortunately, we didn't have any great potatoes for this assignment and it was a bust.

And then this happened.  The state of Kansas became the first to close schools for the year.

Taking Rosie on a walk around the high school became part of our daily routine.  And Rosie loves every second of it.

As the states continued to roll out stay at home orders, people took to the internet to share their talents and interests.  There were so many options of things for the kids to do and see--virtual field trips, bedtime stories by celebrities, and so much more.  One that we did a few times was lunch doodles with Mo Willems.  My kids enjoyed it and really loved Mr. Willems.  But as we went from a school week into the week of Spring Break my kids insisted on having a "break".

Kai spent most of his time reading.  And since we didn't have many books for him, he mostly read this super hero encyclopedia.  He wasn't interested in any of the other available activities.

Bree's sketch of Pigeon

The run on food continued.  While I didn't want to go into the grocery store, I was hesitant to do grocery pickup because you never knew what they had in stock.  I found it was easier for me to go into the store and see what was there and then put together dinners from that.  Everything was picked over, from soups, pastas, canned goods, and meats, to hand soap.  Finding "normal" groceries was difficult.

This lone banana was the only one left in the whole store.  It made me laugh.

Just a month or two earlier we were worried about running out of snow days for school.  The winter had been fairly productive already and the kids had at least 8 snow days before all of this had started.  And we still had March and April, our snowiest months, to go.

And within a week, our two week break turned into a one month break.  Plans for remote learning began in earnest.

Ahh....this encyclopedia.  While Kai was reading it all of the time, it was constantly left out around the house.  One day Bree and Finn were playing and in the course of their play Bree was pretending to be an animal (a dog or a wolf?) that had strong teeth and she claimed she could bite through this book.  So, she put it in her mouth and bit down hard.  Finn got worried about the book and pulled it away.  Unfortunately, Bree's two front teeth were loose and she had bitten down hard.  Finn's pull yanked Bree's two teeth hard and they went from being on their way out to ready to pull.  She screamed and cried and both teeth were bleeding.  She pulled one tooth out that night, and the second tooth came out the next morning.  I guess that's one way to speed up the process!

On Saturday March 21st we were trying to take pictures of all the things we were doing at home as KKTV was interested in running a piece on what the pandemic meant for the vulnerable population.  I did an interview and provided pictures and video footage of our days.  This is the kids demonstrating some Cosmic Kids Yoga.

More lunch doodles with Mo Willems

And those two front teeth were gone!

A roller coaster building game that he had received for Christmas that we finally opened and started playing with.  It was really fun.

Finn's teacher set up a place for them to chat with each other.  Here he is checking in to see the conversation.

More yoga

Trying to get this kid to do anything other than read or play electronics has been hard.

Crocodile Dentist for the kid missing two front teeth

Coloring

Building a snowman in the back yard.

Oh look!  We got Kai to play Twister.

This little girl really likes working on her selfie skills.  She's constantly playing with the filters on my phone and asking to take a selfie with me.  I am not good at selfies, but she has gotten pretty good!

On Wednesday March 25 our Bear Creek teachers and staff came through the neighborhood on a reverse parade.  It was windy and chilly and we stood outside for over an hour waiting for them to get to our neighborhood, but it was all worth it to see the people that we love.  It made my kids so happy to see their teachers waving and calling their names.  

From FB: I had seen so many friends getting out to hike and seeming to be able to safely do so. I was feeling guilty for keeping my kids at home and not at least trying to explore the mountains, etc. So, we decided to take Rosie to a dog park. It was not our normal dog park but rather one that is farther away and also bigger with the hopes that social distancing would be better. We arrived to find the parking lot quite full and a lot more people than I anticipated. The kids and I were immediately nervous and the kids actually didn’t even want to get out of the car. After the drive there, and seeing Rosie so excited, I told them we should at least try. We went into the park but did not feel comfortable and knew we needed to leave.

We heard a dog bark and it drew our attention to a trail around the outside of the dog park that no one was really on. We decided we could at least take a walk before getting back in for the drive home. We had barely begun our walk when we heard a dog bark again. Because we were on the trail we were able to see the source of the bark. We were surprised to see two beautiful dogs down an embankment and apparently stuck. After observing for a minute we realized they weren’t stuck but rather digging under some overgrowth. The dogs were taking turns digging at the same spot. Our first thought was that maybe there was something there they were trying to alert us to. We did not see another person in sight and these dogs were clearly well cared for. We tried calling to the dogs but they wouldn’t come. I tried climbing down to reach them but couldn’t get close enough. We ended up splitting up so that two kids were on one side of the embankment and I was on the other side with another kid. From the side I was on I couldn’t see the dogs but was right over top of them. I tried several times to reach them but it was too steep. Eventually one of the dogs crossed the stream and ran up the other side and approached Finn. We ran to the dog and found her name was Maya and she had phone numbers on her tag. I called and left messages at both numbers but did not get any return phone call. While we were standing there trying to decide what to do, the second dog climbed the embankment towards us. We discovered his name was Jack, and he had the same phone numbers.

Now standing there with two beautiful, lost dogs, I had no idea what to do. We approached the fence to the dog park and I yelled into the dog park at the nearest person. I asked if she happened to recognize these dogs. She did not. I told her we had found them and asked her what she thought we should do next. We decided to call the Humane Society. So, I looked them up and made the call. A recording answered and informed me that due to COVID 19, an appointment would need to be made to bring in strays and to keep the animal at your house until your appointment. Eek! We were a long way from home, and these were two big dogs. It didn’t make sense to take them the 20 miles home. But now what? While we were standing there trying to decide what our next move should be, we hear from within the dog park “Those are my dogs!” and see a woman walking in our direction from the other side of the dog park. Relief flooded through me at not having to take these animals home and at having found their owner. It took the woman several minutes to arrive at the fence. She told me she thought someone had stolen her dogs and she had been so upset. She did not know how they had escaped the dog park but she was happy that we had found them. She threw their leashes over the fence and we leashed up the dogs and told her we would walk the dogs back to the entrance of the park. After returning Jack and Maya to their mom, we headed to the car and returned home. The elapsed time at the dog park was 35 minutes and we had spent only 5 of those at the park, the other 30 were spent rescuing the dogs.

My kids were so excited and felt they had really helped and made a difference. They were so excited to tell their dad the story of our trip to the dog park. I should have taken more pictures but I was so busy trying to figure out what to do, it never occurred to me. The dogs were absolutely beautiful and very calm. I’m pretty sure they were Samoyeds and that they had been freshly groomed. I’m glad we were able to get out of the house and help someone yesterday, but I also realized that my comfort level in public right now is much lower than others and that we are better off just staying home and walking Rosie in our neighborhood.

We returned from the dog park to find out that Colorado had issued a stay-at-home order.  We were happy to comply.

I ordered puzzles hoping the kids would help me.  Unfortunately, they weren't as interested as I had hoped.  But they did help with this one.

We decided to try to make salt dough ornaments for Easter.

Painting salt dough eggs

As March wound down, we knew we were facing at least another few weeks of stay at home orders, remote learning, and winter weather.  We were gearing up for much more to come and trying to keep busy.  While we were hopeful to return to school, we knew that many had already decided that they were not going to be reopening.  We watched the news anxiously and waited to see what April brought.