May 2021 updates

• May 24th, and the pandemic is really starting to release its grip on our daily lives. I'm getting on a plane tonight for the first time since Feb 28th, 2020, 451 days. Visiting WH for 3 days.
• We had a dads/kids dinner and play date two nights ago with Eric, Steve and the kids, with basically no masks or precautions, though we did stay outside the whole time.
• I've now done 7 volunteer shifts at the vaccination sites and it is encouraging to see thousands of people getting vaccinated each time I do that.
• Chase has a FUNNY bedtime routine now, though a bit annoying. He goes to bed (always wanting books and to be tucked in), and then about 10 minutes later he shuffles down the stairs, where Annie and I are always on the couch. "Guys, I need to tell you something . . . " Which is then followed by "I'm wearing not PJs" or "I need that dinosaur" or "I need these books" or "I need an eye drop", which he really doesn't. He ends up coming down 3-4 times. We were explaining last night that we didn't think he really needed an eye drop because he'd said that 3 nights in a row. "Sometimes when I come down and say I need an eye drop, I'm making it up."
• Maggie and I had a fun first backpacking trip to Salmon River a few weeks ago. We hike 0.3 miles in and set up a great campsite. Hot dogs for dinner, marshmallows for dessert, oatmeal in the morning. Then we went fishing at the Sandy Trout Farm on the way back and caught/kept 6 trout. "I caught a fish! I got one, I got one! Daddy I caught a fish!" She has been talking about how she caught a 16" trout for 3 weeks now. Cute.
• Chase currently loves nothing more than biking around Irvington and the park. Very cute.