The Arrival of the Apocalypse and other Happenings of Late (March and April 2020)

In early March, it became apparent that a new "killer" virus--COVID-19--was quickly spreading around the world. Large events were cancelled, team sports ceased, school was nixed, restaurants and many other businesses temporarily closed, travel was essentially banned, face masks encouraged, church meetings and temple attendance suspended and a "stay safe, stay at home" order was issued by Governor Herbert for the state of Utah. Since then we've been virtually nowhere besides recreating in our own neighborhood, visiting the grocery store once a week and escaping to the desert or the mountains to recreate as a family.

So many people have suffered during this crazy time (lost employment, financial concerns, loneliness, illness, fear), but we have been so blessed to have an awesome quarantine team here. We've been busy with projects--building new raised garden boxes, planting vegetables, installing lawn edging, working on our yard, making art, sewing masks to donate to hospitals (through a worldwide church service initiantive, ProjectProtect), making music together, reading books, drawing plans for a tree house, cooking, baking, riding bikes, planning a neighborhood chalk art festival, climbing trees, hammocking and just spending time together. In more recent weeks, we've teamed up with a couple of other families on our street to allow our kids to play together outside. That has created a lot of its own magic for our kids. They've gotten to know some neighborhood kids in a way that would not be possible in "normal life." Since they are always home, they play every day, all afternoon after they get their school work done. No one is rushed off to extracurricular activities. It's old-school style, unfettered friend time.

Eating at the exclusive S&H Diner, run by experienced chefs and proprietors Sophie and Hallee Sullivan. These kids have a knack for generating fun around here.

Fancy desserts, served exclusively at the S&H Diner in Millcreek.

We took the kids up to Alta the first weekend in March, the first of several planned family ski days. We prefer spring skiing with the little ones because there is still plenty of snow, but you get warmer, sunnier days, making for higher little people morale on the slopes. Sadly, this was the first and last time that Lindy and Sean got up skiing this year due to the arrival of the COVID-19 Apocalypse that took over the world within a few short weeks.  

On March 8th, Sophie and Hallee participated in the Interfaith Music Festival at the Salt Lake Tabernacle, singing their hearts out with the Salt Lake Children's Choir. (This was the last large event we attended before everything got cancelled.) It was an phenomenal night celebrating varied religious traditions. The evening started with a Muslim call to prayer and included additional prayers offered by a Jewish rabbi and a Native American (Northern Ute and Paiute), followed by dancing, music and religious readings by gospel choirs, the SL Children's Choir, the Salt Lake Scots Pipe Band, Cambodian Buddhists, members of the Bahi'i Community, Sikhs, Latino Catholics, and Hindus. It was a beautiful, faith-filled night of true connection.

Soph and Hal, singing with the Salt Lake Children's Choir and sharing the stage with the Unity Gospel Choir.

"Lindy and Jesus"

Lindy, creating new ways to put together our magnetic blocks.

In mid-March, Hallee joined her cousins on a ski trip to Jackson Hole, literally right before they closed it early, for the COVID, of course. She had a blast with Arden. Maya, Uncle Newel and Aunt Karen.

Hallee's in the purple coat.

Hal and cousin Maya.

One day in March I pulled out my old junior high gym shorts and tried them on. Due to the extreme stretchiness of polyester, I wormed my way into them and made the kids laugh while I sang the King Middle School song.

Of course they all wanted in on my shorts:

Lindy and Sean, entertaining themselves with their Great Great Great Grandpa Olsen's handmade wooden marble track.

Sean, ready for another family walk through the neighborhood.

Sean, playing soccer like a pro. He's actually am amazing dribbler for a 3-year-old.

Sophie quickly drafted this home-school schedule once we found out that she'd spend the rest of the school year at home. We didn't ever follow it, but she had fun making it.

March 14th was Pi Day. The festivities started with a family pi run/bike ride--3.14 miles--through the neighborhood and looping around the track at our stake park. Casey and I completed a 2*pi run, just for fun. Sophie had a nasty bike wreck--two bloody palms and a bloody knee--at the stake park and I pushed her home in Sean's stroller. She's generally pretty tough, but she cried all the way home and was pretty pale until I got her down flat on the carpet for wound cleaning and doctoring.

Assembled and ready to start the Pi Day run and ride!

After our ride, we feasted on the key lime pie that Sophie had made earlier, using it for our lunch.

You can see one of  Sophie's bandaged hands in this photo.

Lindy acted as Sophie's personal nurse after the unfortunate incident.

The first segment of the 2*pi run.

The kids like to play "Movie Theater," which involves making and selling tickets and treats and then screening a family movie for fun and profit. They constructed this ticket booth for one of these occasions. 

The annual Sullivan family tradition--the Saint Patrick's Day party--where we felt like rebels for gathering in mass numbers at the start of the pandemic.

Since all church activities have been cancelled, Sophie, Hallee, and Zeke plan a weekly "youth activity" and they are awesome!! This night they did a bake-off and then delivered their delights to youth leaders and neighborhood friends for judging. Hallee and I teamed up to make mango tarts and Sophie and Zeke made brownie cookies sprinkled with powdered sugar and blueberries.

Zeke is constantly schooling Sean on the finer points of various sports, teaching him player's names and then challenging him to various games. In this photo, Sean = "Tom Bradey"

"Taisum Hill"

Hallee, Sophie, and Zeke, dressed up in all of Casey's ties, because when you are on global quarantine, you've got to make your own fun.

Sunday afternoon watercolor session. We've enjoyed Sundays on the quarantine, with home church, lots of musical numbers, and more time together (especially more time with the Bishop).

Sophie's chalk art--a Fibonacci spiral--made as part of her classwork, now done remotely since all of the schools closed.

Grandma White brought Hallee some early birthday presents, including a mass of self-inflating balloons. She made short work of decorating our basement a couple of days early.

Hallee turned 12 on March 27th and was ticked to not be having a friend birthday party, but we tried to make up for that.

She asked for a house-building Lego set and a fit bit. Her parents delivered!

Hallee wanted to make sushi for her birthday dinner.

Sophie and I gave ourselves Japanese names for the occasion. I was "Sushi Master."

Sophie was "Sushi Warrior."

Instead of cake or any other birthday delicacy, Hallee requested popsicles as her birthday treat, hence the lit candle flaming above that mango popsicle. 

Home church.

Sean is a true renaissance man--holding a doll in one hand and a cadre of cars in the other.

Another winning "youth activity"--a dance competition. Sophie, Hallee and Zeke versus Casey, Lindy and myself. We sent the videos out to several friends for judging.

With extra time on my hands (think no driving to and from school multiple times a day), I decided to update the kids photo books and take a few yard portraits. Here are a few of my favorites:

With the unexpected advent of homeschooling, we started up weekly poetry tea times. Each of us memorize a poem and then recite it at the gathering or come ready to read one (or more) while we eat delectable treats.

In April, after 3 weeks of experiencing Best Avenue as a ghost town, we decided to liven things up and plan a chalk art festival. I bought $100 worth of sidewalk chalk and we distributed it to everyone on our street along with the following flyer:

Getting everything ready for distribution on Best Ave.

On that Friday, just about every Best Avenue neighbor got out and chalked up their walks and driveways. It was warm and sunny and our street seemed to wake up from a long sleep. People came out of their homes and talked in the streets. It made our hearts happy after a weird, eerily quiet few weeks, to see living interpersonal exchanges between neighbors.

This was my contribution.

The kids even chalked our gutters, spending hours of time doing it!!

One of our neighbors, an art major, did a series of panels on her sidewalk of "the masters."

Casey took it to the next level and started carving letters into our driveway. "Change the history of the world!"

I include this hopscotch, crafted of blue painter's tape on our hardwood floor, because it will forever be there. Apparently one of Hallee's teachers (her games teacher, Mr. Keenan) gave her an assignment to construct a hopscotch. When I pulled up the tape a few days later, it took the finish off the floor. Now the hopscotch is permanently emblazoned on our floor. Right in the entry to our home. As if to shout; "Yes, we have kids!! Lot's of them!!!"  Interestingly, I had no emotional reaction when I pulled up the tape and saw the obvious damage. I think I'm past feeling with all of the endless entropic degradation of everything when you have five kids.

Sledding up at Solitude. Since all of the ski resorts are closed for skiing, they are open and available for sledding!!

Making "bird's nests" on the first official day of spring.

On Easter weekend, we headed out to the west desert (the west slopes of the Cedar Mountains) for some camping, hiking, kid driving lessons (just to spice up quarantine life), and an epic Easter egg hunt.

Hallee suggested that we do the Easter egg hunt in the cliffs situated about 3/4 of a mile above our camp. After short consideration, I realized that it was a genius idea.

Casey and I hiked up first and hid the eggs in the rocks and crags above our camp. It was early evening

 and with the lowering sun lighting the rocks, it was magical!

Ready to go search.

Sean on the hunt.

We hiked down after the sun set, collecting wood along the way for a fire.

We watched the sky for meteors, sang songs, roasted Easter candy and told stories around the campfire.

The next morning, while I was cooking breakfast burritos en masse, Casey took the kids out for driving lessons in the family van. All but Sean sat in the driver's seat. Apparently Lindy was threatening to mow down cows on the road during her turn. Everyone survived and the kids were so excited to tell me all about it when they got back to camp. After breakfast we hiked up a side canyon.

Gathering rocks and insects.

After our hike, we let the kids take turns driving us back to I-15 on the unpaved desert road on our way home. Sophie gave us a scare when she rallied the van off the road and into a ravine on a tight turn. She was looking (literally) for the brakes so that she could slow down on the curve after trying to avoid a large rock in the road. Luckily, we weren't totally high centered and Casey got us out of the situation fairly quickly and then put Sophie back behind the wheel. It was certainly memorable.

Sitting down to dinner on Easter Sunday.

Crazy COVID hair, just for fun!

Nearly every year, the temperatures warm up, the apricot tree blossoms beautifully, and then there will be a day or two or three of freezing temperatures that eliminate our apricot crop. Some years we'll get a token apricot. It's extremely depressing. We've covered the trees in the past to no avail. This year Casey woke up in the middle of the night (on two different occasions) to light fires beneath the apricot tree (along with our peach trees) in an attempt to save the harvest. The third time that temperatures we're predicted to drop below freezing, Casey decided to try a new technique. He set the sprinkler below the apricot tree and turned in on. All night long. We woke up to this:

We feared the worst, but actually still have many apricots on the back side of the tree--the side that wasn't in the sprinkler. One year we'll figure this whole fruit tree thing out.

Sunday, home church cuteness:

Sophie and Hallee baked this cheesecake all by themselves.

In April, we took another trip out to the desert, this time for the Lyrid Meteor shower.

Fishing at Horseshoe Springs.

Sean was upset because he wanted full and complete control of Casey's fishing rod. It's hard to be little.

We spread out our giant blue tarp, topped with our warm sleeping bags and pillows and focused on the heavens after the sun set. We stayed until midnight but only saw a dozen or so meteors between the lot of us. Although disappointed in the meteor count, we had a good time, as we always do, in the desert.

Another COVID youth activity: Sophie, Hallee, and Zeke made this backyard obstacle course and repeatedly timed each other going through it (along with Casey and the next day with the neighbor kids and their parents). They have so much fun.

Hallee reached one of her youth goals in April--doing 50 consecutive juggles! She thought she'd never do it, but there it is!!

Family home evening in the backyard--a family stack.

Zeke, and now Sophie and Hallee, are all in the business of neighborhood rat trapping. They get paid $1 a head. This day was especially lucrative for Zeke:

Three rats! Two in one trap!! (The whole two rats with one trap thing seems like it would be rare, but it's happened three times so far.) Our backyard neighbor has a walnut tree and a ground level compost bin that they feed on. Yuck!!