Quarantine: Month 3

Our church is currently doing a series called "God in the Darkness", which is very fitting for this third month of quarantine due to COVID-19.  These are dark times for the world, but we know that God is always working for good.  We see His goodness in the Fruits of the Spirit, and have been challenged to spread that good news and light with others. Each week, we've focused on tangible ways of sharing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control, and we are striving to BE God's light in the darkness.  This has been an awesome weekly challenge for our family, and we've had lots of fun with it.  In the above picture, L&L are holding packs of glow sticks that we distributed to all of our church and neighborhood families.  The Bible verse from Matthew 5:16 is inspiring us as we participate in the weekly challenges, and we hoped to brighten peoples' day with our simple gift:

We kicked off the LOVE challenge by participating in a car parade with other members of our church.  We drove by our Pastor's house and through his neighborhood, and this was the best afternoon, sharing love with our church family and waving from our cars: 

For another of the weekly challenges, Mark created and hosted a Zoom game show for the kids in our Life Group.  These kiddos miss seeing each other, and listening to their giggles and chatter while being connected during the online game made our hearts happy and brought us so much JOY:

Mark has a reputation at church for telling great Dad Jokes.  When our pastor mentioned in his sermon that one way to spread JOY in the darkness is as simple as telling a joke, Mark seized the opportunity to make yard signs with the kids and spread them through our neighborhood (and in front of our Pastor's house):

Meanwhile, remote learning has continued for L&L this month.  I've found a new hobby to occupy myself while the kids are logged in, and have enjoyed putting together several jigsaw puzzles.  This allows me to be on call/within earshot for them, but also distracts my mind from anxiety about the pandemic.  L&L like to help sometimes and compete over the honors of putting the last piece in each puzzle.  They also have fun posing for pictures with the completed puzzle.  This one of dogs eyeing treats at the bakery prompted us to bake a blueberry crisp and snap a photo of our favorite pup! 

All three of my little chickens. 

Leah did all the edge pieces of this one!

This puzzle was one of my favorites!

The kids found a new hobby, too, and have really enjoyed adult coloring books/markers lately.  We put on music, relax, and they color while I work on a puzzle.  I really feel like this slower paced time at home is teaching them to entertain themselves more.  They'll grab games and toys and play together or independently for long stretches.  It's amazing!

Another fun project was this DIY At Home Kit that we picked up at our local AR workshop.  This to-go kit was my Mother's Day present this year, and the kids and Mark sanded, painted, and stenciled the wood, and we all added our hand/paw prints:

I absolutely love the finished product!  It's one of my most special treasures and is prominently displayed in our kitchen:

Daddy, Luke, Leah, Mommy and Millie's hand/paw prints 💕.

In addition to celebrating Mother's Day this month, we surprised Bean with a Zoom call for her milestone birthday.  Family friends from their church in NY joined us later for this call, and it was wonderful for the cousins to see each other and celebrate Bean's special day with her:

There have been lots of creative assignments/projects for school lately, and Leah looks forward to her Specials classes each week (STEM, Art, PE, Music, & Media).  All of the teachers have done an amazing job engaging the students while at home, and we are thankful that learning is fun and meaningful:   

Submarine made from food items (AG Math Under the Sea Unit).

Manatee Diorama for Marine Life unit. 

Leah's sunflower for Art Class. 

Perhaps our favorite "At Home" school activity this month was Family Field Day.  You know how much elementary aged kids look forward to Field Day each year, and our awesome school adapted this so that families could do it at home together:

Underwater Treasures.

Sponge Lunge!

We competed Kids vs. Adults!

Clothing Relay Race

And because we have the most amazing PE teacher ever, she also came to each neighborhood in Oak Ridge for "Super Soaker Fridays" to drench the kids (from a safe distance): 

Leah's been taking lots of pictures with the camera that Mimi passed down to her this spring.  It's cute to see our little photographer in action, and most pictures she takes are of Millie:

The next few pictures are from our family movie night/camp out on the porch.  We blew up an air mattress and watched Aladdin.  Side note: the boys (and Millie) did not join us for the sleepover and slept in their own cozy beds, but Leah and I braved the "wilderness" of our screened in porch overnight:

This dog really does watch tv.  It's hilarious.

Millie continues to be her happy, fluffy self, relishing in all the bonus time with her family at home all the time.  She is the best snuggler and is never far from her people:

She also displays her silly, curious puppy side sometimes.  I found her in the bathtub one day... just because.  Life's never boring around here!

Cascades Preserve has been our favorite place to hike this month.  We love the falls there, and it's only a couple miles from our house.  Leah took her fishing net and caught a crawfish and several minnows last weekend, while Daddy embarrassed the kids by photobombing their picture:

Our favorite little fisherman also caught her first fish of the season at the lake in our neighborhood...

...and climbs trees at every chance that she gets:

Poppy created these bird house kits and mailed them to the kids to assemble.  L&L built their own bluebird houses and we put them on trees in our yard:

Sunny Saturday mornings are perfect for golf and we played at the nearby par-3 course recently:  

We came home and cooled off with some outside water fun (and are getting our $ worth out of these baby pools!):

We're happy to have so many options to entertain ourselves as we conclude Month 3 of Quarantine!

Buffalo Creek

We had a fun adventure at the end of May when we visited Buffalo Creek Ranch in the Smoky Mountains.  Pre-COVID 19, I was planning this as a surprise for Mark for Father's Day.  He often talks about taking trains to go places and has an idyllic vision of sleeping in a train car.  Buffalo Creek was featured in Southern Living for its caboose rentals, and when I read the article about the air conditioned, fully equipped, renovated train cars, I knew that this would be the perfect way for us to have an overnight railroad adventure.  Instead of camping, we called it "caboosing".  

We decided to move our trip up to May, as Buffalo Creek had just reopened after NC's Stay at Home orders expired.  This meant we had the place virtually all to ourselves, and we were able to explore the 65 acre bison ranch without encountering other people.  We hiked on some trails, checked out the playground and game room, and spent the afternoon enjoying our unique accommodations.  Oue caboose even had a back deck and charcoal grill, where we cooked hot dogs and s'mores for dinner:

We had a pretty view from the front of our caboose, too.  The bison grazed in the fields and Millie was quite curious about these large, strange creatures:

Here's a picture of the inside of our caboose.  It was so cute and cozy, with a full kitchen, heated floors in the bathroom, and a full size bed in the cupola that the kids accessed via ladder: 

All three kids climbed into Mommy and Daddy's bed, because it's not every day that you get to have breakfast in bed and watch cartoons in a caboose! 

Buffalo Creek had many animals at the ranch and we enjoyed checking out the llamas and turkeys and goats... Oh, My!

 

After 2.5 months of quarantine, this little trip was so good for our souls.  It felt great to be out of our house, doing something new and different, and in nature enjoying God's beautiful creation:

Always appreciative of a good theme, we enjoyed the Train Depot, cute railroad signs and whistle stop markers, and the rustic cabins/feel of the ranch:

Any place that has "W" signs is bound to become a favorite of the Winterhoff family!

Besides camping in a caboose, we had another fun family "first" while at Buffalo Creek.  We went horseback riding nearby, and this was the kids' and Mark's first time on horseback (I went riding once in college, so I'm not sure that even counts!):

We had a guide who led us on a 1.5 hour ride on paths and wooded trails through the mountains.  It was SO much fun, and such a peaceful, lovely way to enjoy the gorgeous scenery of the Smokies.  I was not very skilled at taking pictures while trying to hang on to my horse's reins, but managed to capture a couple photos of my family riding:

On our way back to the caboose, I had Mark stop so that I could take a picture of the sign for the horseback riding place.  When we pulled up and I saw that they also offered bear hunts, I almost chickened out.  I can honestly say that this was a very "authentic" western North Carolina mountain experience, and I'm proud of us for our sense of adventure and for trying something new.  We all LOVED horseback riding and I know that it will always be a special family memory:   

Another highlight at Buffalo Creek was feeding time.  The herd gathers each morning when the tractor dumps loads of oats in their troughs.  There were three brand new baby bison (only one week old), and we loved watching these sweet calves with their Mamas:

We had such a great time at Buffalo Creek and are so glad that we were able to have this fun adventure!