NOTHING Happened in January.

Sweet Jesus, this is like the 11th Month of Society Being Closed, right?

I was checking out the archives of this blog of ours and saw that 2020 had only 63 posts.  That's about 10 - 15 or so less than the previous few years, on average, which goes to show you just how lame 2020 really was.  We didn't do shit, because we couldn't do shit.  Everything was cancelled, and we spent a ridiculous amount of time around the house.

And there's honestly only so much you can post about hanging around the house, guys.

January was more or less the same as every other month we've spent with society being shutdown due to Covid.  While the girls returned to school, Yours Truly spent the majority of the month teaching from home - I only went back to face-to-face instruction for the last three or four days of the month.  With Girl Scouts, youth groups, and all school-related functions outside of classroom time closed, we didn't have any extracurricular events with which to post about, so all you have for this boring-ass month is this one right here.

Our apologies.

Anyway, so here's what our day-to-day looked like this month.  Not a whole hell of a lot, but. . .  what did you expect?  There's a frickin' pandemic runnin' around still.  C'mon.

One night, shortly before bed, the kids wanted to 'play a board game.'  Apparently this passes as a board game these days.

I hate this game so Goddamn much.  I always insist on being the Spinner.

Trivial Pursuit is more my speed.

Lazily watching the game unfold.

This is the 'family' edition, which utilizes both adult and child-level questions.  I'm the only one who uses adult ones, though - Kris struggles as is with the kiddie ones ('cause Farwell.)

Shortly after the New Year, the snow - which had, up to this point, been more or less non-existent - came down with a vengeance.

Our dogs are obsessed with the Angelotti's dog, Tocatta. . .

Some scenic shots of the our yards. . .

Kris and Abby go to war with the driveway.  I had already shoveled it once by this point.

And yes, our candy cane lights are still up - they're frozen into the ground at this point.  I'll get 'em up in March sometime.

We get all kinds of video from this Ring doorbell of ours. . . I'll definitely be sharing clips in these monthly blogs of ours.

I haven't had a haircut since mid-October.  Shit's getting out of control.

During virtual learning, the Cannonball has to record videos of herself performing for her Orchestra teacher.

Like we've done the last two years (in the summers of 2019 and 2020), our friend group has once again decided to camp at a Jellystone Campground in August.  The day the campsites went live, around 9am on a Saturday half-way through the month, our group sprang into action and re-reserved all the same sites we had the year before.  Our group takes up the majority of the area known as the Gray Island, the whited-out areas being the ones we claimed within minutes of being able to reserve spots.  We also nabbed the two, long blue rectangles above us (I screenshot this before that happened), since two families waited for confirmation with their RVs before pulling the trigger.  BP grabbed a cabin right across the road from our compound, like last year.  You can rest assured we'll be posting multiple times about this trip - Jellystone with this group is always a good time.

Alayna did. . .  something. . .  on the side of Kris' face.  I have no idea what this is supposed to be.

Kids sitting in the snow in the backyard.  For whatever reason.

Abby's attempt at making 'apple fritters.'  She didn't use a recipe - I mean, why would you - so just mixed together flour, apples, water, and cinnamon in a big-ass bowl and baked it for awhile.  It wasn't horrible, obviously, but it definitely wasn't a frickin' apple fritter.  Most of it went into the garbage.

One Saturday afternoon, we took the kids up to Midland City Forest so they could get some sledding in while the weather was somewhat decent out.

Morgan brought Jackson and Sophie up there to meet us.

If you look closely at this shit-show, you can see a middle-aged woman completely run into these guys.  Frickin' hilarious.

Alayna was scheduled for advanced-level math next year.  She definitely doesn't get that from me.

Abby, sporting one of her new hats.

Getting ready to head to school on a Friday, showing off their nails.

While the moms all hung out at our house later that night, the dads decided to convene over at the Collier residence for cards and boozery.

Sending love to the wives.

We posted this to commemorate Samson's 3rd Birthday, which we decided would be the day we got him.  Homeboy's put on a few pounds, no doubt about it.

Girl Scout meetings have been virtual all year, but on occasion they'll get together for an outdoor activity.  Here, Abby, Ella, and Scarlett prepare to hit the sleddin' hill at City Forest.

Two grumps and a happy scout, shortly after a nasty wipe-out at the base of the hill.  Alayna - who came with us - scraped up her face pretty bad on some ice, and these two both hit their heads.  This more or less was the end of our weekday sledding venture.

Following Biden's inauguration, and the rise of the Bernie Meme, my brother, Chris, sent me this image of me and Bern admiring some of my new Christmas vinyl.

The next weekend, the inner circle of families decided to hang out over at the Collier residence again.  When we showed up, the dads had all ran to the store for some drink stuff and lotto tickets, so it was just the wives and I for about 20 minutes.  Here's Danielle, Kris, Mees and Kelly.

Haven't had this since Florida, I think.  Not too bad for a frickin' porter.

Sent this one to the guys, telling them not to rush.

Shenanigans in the living room.

Sometimes it feels like all we do during these cold, winter months is sit around and drink and play cards.

(Don't blame us, the dads were downstairs.)

Kris and Samson, in 'weekend mode.'

Abby deemed it necessary to write our Commander in Chief.  Whatever floats her boat.  At least she's a Democrat.

So I started playing The Elder Scrolls Online recently, having purchased a Playstation 4 for the girls for Christmas.  This is an online game that's ridiculously massive in scale, and allows you to play with other users in real time, throughout a deep and open world.  Kimmel and BP - two of my closest friends, dating back to high school - also play, so we sometimes go online and battle bad guys, go on epic quests, and otherwise act like a bunch of f***ing nerds on a weekly basis.  Abby has watched me play this before and has expressed interest in making a character, so I helped her out get started with it one day towards the end of the month.

It's a bit advanced for her age - there's definitely a learning curve with huge games like this - but she got into it.  Maybe not as much as, say, Fortnite (which is, by the way, also an online multiplayer game, but popular with kids.)

Another day, another multi-dog snuggle session on the couch.

Towards the end of the month, Yours Truly finally got his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccination (Kris actually got hers a week before I did.)  My school district offered it to all staff and faculty, from superintendents to janitors, so I pounced on that shit.  This, as you can see on the card, was the Moderna varient, which doesn't need to be kept as cold as the Pfizer vaccine during transport and storage (so I'm told.)  My second dose is scheduled for March 6th.  So far no side effects, folks.

We had to replace the tubing out of the back of the dryer, since we unplugged it when clothing stopped becoming 100% dry during cycles.  While checking for backup (there was none), Kris accidentally punctured the tubing.  So that was a lot of fun replacing and installing.

Turns out there was a small clog where it exits out of the vent on the side of the house.  I had specifically asked Kris if she had checked that first before I removed the tubing, and she said she had, soooo. . . 

The last weekend of the month, Abby (at far right) went along with the Larson family to Caberfae for a weekend of skiing.  She had never tried it before, and, so I'm told, took to it pretty quick.  She absolutely loved it, which gets me excited because then we can start doing family ski trips.

Exhausted kids after a day on the slopes.

Abby's return home.

- Brian

March Randomness

If February was the Month of Snow, than March is most definitely the Month of Michigan Not Making Up Its Frickin' Mind.

We've had a roller-coaster of varying weather this month.  One day it's mid-60s and sunny, and the very next day it's forty degrees cooler and dumping inches upon inches of snow.  A few different times this month, we tried washing and packing away all of the winter clothes for the season, assuming the cold weather was behind us, only to find ourselves digging out the snow pants and thick coats a few days later.

We're totally over this bullshit.

Aside from the weather, this month was basically comprised of the following:  my grandmother's previously-discussed passing and the acquisition of loot from her house (which ate up a few different weekends the first half of the month), St. Patrick's Day (which again fell on a school day but was celebrated the following weekend, stretching festivities over the course of a week), and Spring Break (the last ten days of the month, which found me house-bound with both girls and a few different bouts of fever.)

But here's some other crap that happened. . .

I had to take the girls with me to vote in Michigan's Primary, as I could only go after work and didn't want to drive back out once Kris got home from her work (and deal with the longer lines and crazy locals.)  Before we went in I made sure to talk with the girls about keeping my political views and party affiliations a secret from those around us (they know I'm a Bernie Sanders supporter and a member of the Democratic Party. . . not something I wanted 'Make America Great Again' hat-wearing Joe Doublewide in the voting booth next to me knowing.)

Alayna came down with a fever the second week of the month, and was out of commission and couch-ridden for a couple days.  Consequently, she binge-watched Netflix 'til her eyes bled.

Some alternate outfits from Kris and Abby's dress quest for the Daddy Daughter Dance this year. . .

The third week of March was Alayna's 'about me' week in her 2nd grade class (it had a more clever name, but I don't remember what exactly it was.)  Kris helped her design a board full of pictures and facts about her, and she got to present it to the rest of the class.

Taking questions from the audience.

One day during the month, Dad and Cindy swung by for a visit, with their dog Bailey in tow.  While they were in tow, they figured they'd visit Jeff and Annie, too. . . but they couldn't necessarily take their dog with them.  This is how Bailey behaved the entire time they were gone.

Abby misbehaved at school - I forgot what exactly is was that she did - so when she got home I hit her where it hurt:  she lost Star Wars privileges for the weekend.  I found this note stuck to the fridge one morning. 

Goofin' around with a Star Wars app on my phone. . .

Green pancakes the morning of St. Patrick's Day, which fell on a weekday this morning.

This tree outside the girls' school is a fan favorite.   And apparently not just with my kids, either:  there's always a line of kids queued up to screw around on this tree after school when I pick the kids up.

Abby in her natural environment.

If this game teaches kids anything, it's that not going to college is much more gratifying than pursuing a four-year degree.  I mean, seriously:  you don't need a degree to be an entertainer, a hair stylist, or an artist.  C'mon.

Another day, another appointment with a child.  Alayna's eye exam once again verified that she has perfect vision. . . for now.  She, and her sister, are both totally screwed eventually:  both Kris and I wear glasses, and all four of our parents do/did as well.  Plus all of our grandparents did.  Our kids don't have a prayer.

What the hell is this?

March.  Totally not making up its Goddamn mind.

A sick girl and her dog. . .

I hate you, Michigan.

- Brian