Covid 19 - 2020 | Update 1.0

I am losing track of time, but I believe we are entering our 10th week of quarantine due to the Coronavirus. Some days it's crazy, some days we're crushing it. In general, here are a few highlights:

1. Brecken has been wearing PJ's every day since March 16th. With all this chaos, we need to choose our battles and this is not one of them. Instead, we just call him PJ.
2. Ryder and Logan live on their trick scooters.
3. Boys started a YouTube channel to have a big project to focus on and distract them from the fact that they cannot really play with friends.
4. Ryder and Logan have slept in the same lofted twin bed together since March 16th.
5. I love having breakfast and lunch break with the family.
6. Mikayla watches the boys around 3 days a week. Fun for the kids and fun for us to see her so much.
7. We haven't really seen family or friends. Just neighbors outside from 6' away.
8. Ryder and Logan have become BFF's. They rarely fight and spend every minute together.

While the world has been cancelled, we are trying to enjoy this extra family time together.

Covid 19 - 2020 | The Beginning

It's almost hard to believe we are entering our sixth week of quarantine due to the new Coronavirus.

At the same time, it feels like forever since the kids have been at school and we've been able to socialize with friends and family.

As our family journal, I thought it would be interesting to jot down a few notes about what this time has been like for our family, what we are appreciating, and what we miss so much.

On Monday, March 16th our local schools were closed. The governor ordered schools to close starting Wednesday the 18th and each district made the decision whether to be open that Monday and Tuesday.

At the same time, both my work and Shawn's work strongly recommended that all associates work remotely.

So that has been our routine for the past five weeks - multi tasking as parents, day care providers, teachers, and trying to be good employees all at the same time. Should go smooth, right?!

Montana | Day 5

Today was a full travel day. We fueled up at 6am with breakfast at the Hampton Inn. 

We had packed our car the night before, so we hit the road in the dark right after breakfast.

Matt generously let us use his suburban for this trip, so we have been spoiled with satellite radio, dvd screens, and the PlayStation Shawn hooked up to the last row of seats. 

The boys have also been loving having Wyatt ride with them much of the trip. We don’t have any extra seats in our sedan back home, so riding with a friend is a huge treat. 

We made a quick stop in Beach, ND and had dinner at Applebee’s in Fergus Falls, making it home around 10pm. The drive went pretty quick, but by the time we hit Minnesota, we were ready to get out for a bit!

Overall, it was such a fun trip - riding with friends, family, and getting the next generation stoked on the sport. My favorite moments on the mountain were not solo powder turns in the trees; they were watching the three big kids giggle, hit jumps, duck into trees, and help each other out. So great to see them having so much fun, getting better each day, and taking care of each other. 

All of that said, I’m pretty excited to sleep in my own bed tonight! :)

Montana | Day 4

Today we skied Bridger again. We got there before the resort opened, met Noah in the parking lot and geared up.

Brecken came down with a temp yesterday, so was unable to go to ski school / Playcare. 

Thankfully he was well enough to still ski all day with Shawn. He rocked it, crushing blues and greens all day without falling. We are so proud of him.

The rest of us rode together most of the day, with the majority of our time spent on the Sunnyside, Pierre’s Knob and Alpine lifts.

My kids loved the terrain park and all the kids loved the Hully Gullies.

We rode the last lift up at 4pm, making the most of the (possibly) last ski day of the season.

Shawn hung with Breck all day, including nap time in the chalet.

We left the resort and headed straight to MAP Brewing for dinner.

They had an amazing view of the mountains, great beer, awesome tacos and live music. The kids sat so nicely, playing at their own table. Such a nice perk of traveling with friends. 

After dinner, we had one more swim session before packing up and calling it a night. 

Big 14 hour drive tomorrow...

Montana | Day 3

Our third day in Montana was an off day. The kids slept until about 8:30 (!), we had breakfast and then hit the pool. Our hotel’s pool was being serviced, so we used the neighboring property’s pool for some coffee and a hot soak.

Throughout the day, we walked Main Street...

Had lunch at Burger Bob’s....

Had a snowball fight on our sculpture garden walk...

Went bowling...

And participated in trivia night at the Bozeman Tap a house.

After getting the kids settled in our rooms, we hung out in the lobby with our baby monitors for some adult time. 

Another great day of the trip.

Montana | Ski Day 2

On our second ski day, we woke up early and had breakfast at our Hampton Inn in Bozeman. 

Then we drove about 20 minutes in the snow to Bridger Bowl for a day on the mountain.

We checked Keira and Brecken into Playcare, Wyatt into lessons, and met Noah at the chalet. 

The couple inches in town meant tons of new snow on the mountain! The powder day was a total surprise. 

We all stayed together as much as we could for a large group and spent a lot of time on the Pierre’s Knob lift. Noah was our local guide.

After a full day of riding, we picked up the little ones and headed back to the hotel for a swim. 

Once we burned every last bit of energy, we went to Bridger Brewery for some drinks and pizza. 

We put our exhausted kids to bed in our hotel rooms and ended up hanging out in our room chatting and playing some tunes. I was amazed the kids slept through all our chatter! 

Enjoying the vacation and looking forward to a chill off-day tomorrow.

Montana | Ski Day 1

After two pretty solid days of driving, we were happy to be skiing today! 

But first, we stopped at the Red Lodge Cafe for breakfast - giant pancakes, bacon, eggs, and bottomless cups of coffee.

The resort has a great small town feel and despite their busy winterfest events at the base, the rest of the mountain was great.

Brecken and Keira skied with parents most of the day, but did have a 90 minute lesson. Brecken loved it. He also liked having his friend on his ‘team’ :)



 

The rest of us had a great day exploring the mountain in spring conditions. It was 50 degrees at the base!

Mid mountain chalet for a snack break.



In the evening, we met up with Noah at bet and taco joint in downtown Bozeman. Perfect for a kid-friendly spot with fast service.

Great first day in the mountains!