May 2020

May 2020 was a good month! We started to feel a little freedom from being cooped up at home, but now looking back we called this a temporary sweet spot.  A few things started to open back up with weird hours and limited capacity but we were feeling like things were ending from the pandemic...maybe?  We were just excited to have more places to visit...safely.

The botanical gardens opened back up.  You now have to reserve your time you will visit ahead of time and wear masks in all the buildings, but we were so excited to be back that we didn't care.

We were excited that the Botanical Gardens reopened this month! Of course, there are several areas still closed, but we had a fantastic morning exploring trails we've never even done before!  We got there when it opened and it was a little cool...It quickly warmed up though!

Walking aroudn the gardens.

Back before Covid hit, I signed Clayton up for baseball.  They were supposed to start back in March and play until the end of May...spring ball.  Well it's turned to Summer ball now basically, but Clayton is LOVING IT! He has always said "I wanna be a baseballer" so this is perfect for him.

A turtle showed up in our yard one day.

We actually had a couple more after this one, but the kids wanted their picture with this one.

Running through the sprinklers.

We have loved all the extra play time we have gotten with our neighbors during this.  This is just a random picture one day of our driveway. I think on this particular day I had our 4 kids, 2 of NKs friends, Clayton friend, and 2 boys that are friends with both Dawson and Carter...for a total of 9 kids playing outside together. So fun that no one has anything to do so all these kids get so much uninterrupted play time.

Celebrating Lolly's birthday.

Nora Kate and I made this strawberry poke cake.  Delicious!

We painted rocks and hid them in our neighborhood.

Strawberry picking on an oddly cool May morning.

When they're this good how can you not sneak a few when you're picking them.

We handn't seen any friends outside of our neighbors in FOREVER...like since early March, so we were thrilled when our friends with Henry, Annie, and Ruby were comfortable to meet us and bike/walk/scooter on a path one morning. Clayton was so excited to see his buddy Ruby-he picked her a flower. So sweet.

With all of our extra free time, the kids and I managed to finish all our homeschool curriculum work at the beginning on May, but mid month the teachers did a zoom call for all the kids to be able to see their friends. They all missed their 2 mornings a week when they normally get to go to the building and see friends.

One thing I have wanted to do in Huntsville for a while is a mural tour. There are tons of great murals around, but we just hadn't made time for it.  I made a list of lots of murals and we chose Memorial Day weekend to walk around downtown and see them all.  It was one of the first REALLY hot days we have had. We were all hot when we were finished (and I took the picture above), but it was a lot of fun!

Somehow I always manage to do something weird when I'm uploading pics and get them all out of order! I'm not sure how...but going backwards from Memorial Day to Mother's Day....

Grandad and Nana came down to visit on Mother's Day weekend.  After being at home for 2 months I had told the kids that I wanted three things for Mother's Day...

1-For all 4 to happily cooperate while I marched them around downtown Athens to take some pictures

2-For everyone to go strawberry picking with my on Mother's Day weekend

3-to get to go on a long run

I told them I didn't want anything else.

So I was very surprised when John surprised me by renting a pontoon boat on Mother's Day. It was a lot of fun...We took it out of Lucy's Branch Marina.  It was a lot of fun. Nana and Grandad were in town so they got to enjoy the boat with us!

Our fruit garden has started producing strawberries.

Since Clayton had a 1st day of school pic that said he was going to miss his brothers and sister while they were at the building 2 mornings a week, we decided his last day of school pic could say that he was happy to have them back...this is kind of funny though because really by the time we took this picture he had truly had them back home with him already for nearly 2 months...but he's excited to have them home and playing, instead of doing school work.

Carter started golf lessons back in March, and has continued.

Botanical Gardens

This was the weekend Nana and Grandad came to visit. The evenings were oddly chilly this particular weekend.  The boys had fun taking Grandad fishing in the neighborhood.

Nora Kate's last day of 1st grade!

Botanical Gardens

Dawson on his end of year zoom call with school friends.

Lolly came to visit at the end of the month.  

Botanical Gardens

With our strawberries from the strawberry patch (remember my mother's day request?), Nora Kate helped make this strawberry short cake.  It wasn't the prettiest, but it was delicioius!

Here she is zesting the lemon for the cake.

Our friends had us over to swim! It's so great to see friends again!

Here's Carter on the pontoon boat on Mother's Day

John brought home a slingshot for the weeknd! So fun!

If only it had room for 4 kids I could really get used to this!

Carter's end of school year zoom goodbye to school friends.

Botanical Gardens

Having fun in Downtown Huntsville on our tour of Murals.

Botanical Gardens

You know it's summer in Alabama when you get your first basket of peaches from Isom's Orchard.

Chick fil a picnic on our mural tour in Big Spring Park.

More baseball

The strawberries we picked at the strawberry farm. So sweet and yummy!

Mural tour

Botanical Gardens

Swimming at a friends pool

Trying to squeeze between 2 buildings downtown on our tour of murals.

Last day of 4th grade!

When Lolly came to visit we celebrated her birthday.  We made this yummy strawberry poke cake.

Another picture out of order, but this was when we met our friends to ride bikes on a trail.

Mother's Day pontoon boat.

Our garden is doing well. We had to put up the white pvc and a net to keep the birds out of the fruits.

botanical gardens

Mother's Day pontoon

We could get used to this!

Botanical Gardens

Our sweet neighbor across the street cleaned out her costume jewlery and brought over a giant bag for NK to go through and pick some fun pieces from...Of course, Nora Kate had to try on all of it!

Botanical Gardens

Last day of school

Botanical Gardens

When Carter is a golf lessons, Clayton practices putting.

We are so happy to be able to enjoy the pool!

In all of our extra time at home, we have done a lot of bike riding.  One particular day we rode a trail from Mill Creek up to County Line, and saw TWO BIG snakes! One fell out of a tree and almost fell on Nora Kate....you can imagine the dramatic reaction that got...especially since she was on her bike. I managed to get a picture of the 2nd snake we saw, and this one was smaller than the one that almost fell on NK. The kids declared they didn't want to ride this trail for a long time!

We decided on Memorial Day weekend to support our local putt putt place (called Insanity) since it just reopened.  We were the only people there and it was outdoors so we didn't have to wear our masks which was great because it was HOT!

Mural tour

Murals

The kids like this fish mural

More baking with my girl

Last day of 1st grade.

Last day of 2nd grade!

Nora Kate and 2 of our neighbors have become sweet friends during all this time at home. I think quarantine would have been super boring for NK without these buddies.

Last day of 4th grade.

We celebrated a friends birthday at their pool...the nice thing about a family like us with 4 kids being friends with a family that has 3 kids...when just the two families get together it's enough for a party. Haha

Last day of 2nd grade

That wraps it up for May! We are looking forward to an even more exciting June!