puff and huff

Another week in lockdown; even though this was a full week of holidays, there are no photos of note, as we spent the whole week at home, as is to be expected during lockdown. Dad is back to uni again for the final 10 weeks, the kids are doing some different screen-based activities and the occasional craft and chores. They have managed a couple of picnics with friends. Hopefully some more photos next week.

We’re on school holidays! The days are already more peaceful, although with the lockdown still in full effect (with some concessions to small gatherings) our life is much the same. A few highlights from the week.

Puff has had his first “jab”, in preparation for school going back later in the year. He didn’t seem to suffer at all, and was healthy the next day.

This is what term three looked like for him, by and large.

Huff had some kind of cooking assignment that involved making desserts; they were excellent.

Huff finally realised her ambition of having another fire in the backyard (although this was taken only moments before the rain started), and she was a bit distracted by the iPad.

Puff had that strange paradox of wanting to get back to doing homework but wanting to watch the fire.

And Dad and Puff have been for a couple of school holiday walks together so far, hopefully with more to come.

See you next week!

The last week of school term 3 in lockdown has arrived! Dad spent much of the week working and finishing a uni assignment so there aren’t many photos. Huff and Dad (photo from previous week, when her jacket for a now-cancelled music festival arrived) went for a walk together one afternoon which was excellent and all over too quickly.

Dad and Puff went out for a longer morning walk – he’s finished his maths exams as of today, so hopefully will have a quiet break over the holidays before the next set of challenges arrive!

The kids are still going well with the lockdown; if anything it’s the parents who are starting to miss going out and doing things!

Lots of celebrations for Fathers’ Day this weekend. Dad took the kids out for a bush walk within our 5km lockdown allowable exercise radius, so we drove to a near-ish-by park, stocked up on some sugary food (which was eaten in the car before we started).

Here’s Puff waiting for food.

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Here’s Huff waiting for food.

After walking for a couple of kilometres, Huff realised which park we were in, and then figured out that there was a sand-water interface at the edge of the park, and was delighted to be (more or less) at the beach.

We took a quick selfie to celebrate our adventure.

And then it was back home again to do homework and uni work. 

Mum made sure that there was lots of delicious food on the day, and we had church on the TV, called Doc for Fathers’ Day, and streamed various movies on the TV (Father of the Bride, Dolittle, and the Secret Life of Walter Mitty). So a pretty low-key day, but a good chance to celebrate being a Dad.

We have a teenager in the house! Despite the lockdown, we spent some time and energy making Puff feel loved and cared for; here we are in the kitchen for a rare group photo.

This is an indication of how well they’re still getting along even after seven weeks of schooling from home.

Hugs with Mum, even though the two of them are basically the same height now.

Hopefully he’s not too embarrassed by such things in the years to come.

Mum made him an apple custard cake. He blew all the candles out in one go, so perhaps he’ll be able to get back into playing music again when lockdown is over.

New computer cover to replace the old one that he’d actually worn out: no mean feat!

Oh, and it was book week in lockdown as well. Huff thought about it a bit, and wanted to be Hermione from Harry Potter.

Oh, and we bought a small fire pit for the backyard, and have had 2 fires so far.

We even managed to cook some minute steaks over a wood fire: a few more experiments to go. Huff was enjoying the photo bombing

Lockdown continues. Huff has coloured her hair again, and it looks pretty great.

When the kids are doing PE classes, they have to have photographic evidence to submit to class. Here’s one of Huff.

Dad and Puff went for a walk on Sunday; last day before the greater exercise restrictions came in. It was good to spend some time with him before he becomes a teenager, which will be this week’s adventure!

One highlight where we don’t have footage; a virtual pass-the-parcel with the cousins over Zoom.

Another week in lockdown, where despite being on screens all the week, there are very few pictures being taken of the kids. Hopefully there will be some more stories to tell from next week, but in the midst of term and uni, there’s not much that seems truly new.

Puff continues to do his pop-art unit in visual arts; this week was a forced-perspective with food box.

Huff continues to be in good spirits.

The kids keep laughing together and enjoying each others’ company, and seem to be staying on top of schoolwork. While there is much to be grateful for, it becomes harder and harder to answer questions like “what have you done lately?”

Another week of lockdown to document. The kids are getting into baking.

Dad and Huff went for a walk to deliver some of the baking to a friend’s house… I think that’s okay if we just drop it at the front door and don’t interact at all? Something like a delivery driver?

Puff had a couple of tries at making apple and cinnamon muffins, which were delicious. Dad helped him think through the process and improve his batter technique.

And Huff made meringues, and took photos of them.

They were pretty spectacular actually.

The finished meringues assembled.

Mum and Huff played some totem tennis in the backyard.

And that was about it. Another uni “residential” is over with: one more to go. Lots of zoom meetings, for everyone. We’re grateful for phonecalls and video calls for their contact with people from the real world, but the kids are still buzzing along okay, still getting their work done, and in good spirits for the most part.

Access to a library would be nice. Hopefully soon.

In Sydney the lockdown keeps getting more strict; we’re now limited to a 5km radius for home, and we now need to wear masks outside the house, even for exercise.

With the backyard sporting its own covid haircut, it was time to try and use the yard for some exercise: Dad played totem tennis with the kids for a bit of a break from online learning. 

Lockdown continues (and it seems will continue in Sydney for another 4 weeks).

Making the most of some good weather on the weekend, Dad took the kids out for a 10km walk. Here we are near the half-way point, where the kids were looking forward to a pause.

There was a bit more energy after stopping to eat and drink, and Huff was even keen to stand on some “heroic pose” rocks.

A local COVID outbreak saw us go for a family outing to get COVID tested – all results were negative, so that was a happy outcome.

Meanwhile, learning from home continues, church from home, work from home, everything from home.