The month of April, while busier than we might have liked, felt borderline normal for a change. Sometime around mid-month, we made the choice to allow the kids to go to school without their masks if they wanted to, with the stipulation that if COVID case numbers took a turn for the worse, we may have to go back to wearing them. On the first day, Ian chose to wear his, but by the time I picked them up after school he had ditched it and was roaming free.

Taking Grammy and Grandpa to Freddy’s.

The very first weekend in April, Grammy and Grandpa came to visit! They have it figured out – you come to Texas in the spring time. It’s cold still in Missouri, so they get a break from the last bit of their winter, but they sweep in before Texas gets miserably hot. Solid plan.

Because Maya’s first soccer game was canceled for weather and then she was sick for her next game, she didn’t get to play her first soccer game till Grammy and Grandpa were in town. It was a beautiful day, and Maya seemed to enjoy herself. Her favorite position is goalie / keeper. She readily explains to her coaches how much she doesn’t like running, and we have a notion the relative stillness of this position is part of why she enjoys it.

Goal keeper at work

There was a lot of discussion over several soccer practice sessions about what the team would be called. Maya, being Maya, was full-tilt on octopus being in the name somewhere. After much deliberation, the team was called Octo-corgis. And one of the coaches even bought a stuffed corgi and dressed it in an octopus costume so they’d have a mascot. Maya was very pleased.

Maya’s soccer team is called Octo-corgis. This is their mascot.

We went for a post-game lunch at Freddy’s, which is probably the kids’ favorite restaurant. After the success of Dr Pepper floats in Waco last month, they had yummy root beer floats after lunch.

Dad and Carol have been on a distillery visiting kick, so after a quick dip in the pool at their hotel, we drove everyone out to Garrison Brothers Distillery in Hye. The property is really nice, and after purchasing cocktails for the grownups and Dr Pepper slushes for the kids, we relaxed in rocking chairs and let the day while away for a bit.

Maya in her new Garrison Brothers hat

The flights of whiskey we worked our way through convinced us we needed to go home with a bottle of the small batch. And while the kids were in the gift shop, they convinced their grandparents that they needed distillery hats.

Ian with his new Garrison Brothers hat

The very next weekend was the kids’ Dolphin Fest at school. After not having it at all in 2020, and having sort of a masked, traveling Dolphin Fest in 2021, it was fun to return to normal. Maya and Ian played in bounce houses. They played games and won prizes. We all ate delicious frozen treats because it was hot out there. Maya and Ian each got a turn petting the recently hatched ducklings (who, not long after this, all went to live with their surrogate parent, a goose named Gustavo).

Dolphin Fest!!!

The next day was our friend Ruby’s 13th birthday! We all went out to Jester King and enjoyed spending time with friends, celebrating a very special birthday, and letting the kids be kids.

Ruby the 13-year-old super star

The next weekend, Ian went to a birthday party. This sounds mundane, but understand that we haven’t let the kids attend a group party outside of hanging with our bubble family friends for over two years. It was really fun seeing Ian bounce around with other kids his age, just running full tilt and having a good time.

Confetti hair, don’t care

That same weekend, we celebrated Easter. The kids love it! I’m sure that love has a lot to do with the goodies the Easter Bunny always brings, but I get the impression that they also have fun with decorating the eggs, bashing each other with confetti-filled cascarones, and hunting for eggs out in the front yard. I’ll be honest, half of me wishes they’d work out the truth about the easter bunny, but the other half of me knows I’ll miss it once the magic is gone.

It’s the best we could do this time around

We have been watching for signs of good bluebonnet spots, but I think our almost complete lack of rainfall this spring left the bluebonnet patches a little more bare than normal. After our Easter festivities, we loaded up the kids and drove out to our normal bluebonnet photo location and took probably the least impressing bluebonnet photos we’ve ever taken. We had considered driving out to Muleshoe Bend, like we did last year, but ultimately, that just didn’t work with our schedule. The kids were cute anyway, and at least we’ve kept the tradition going.

Suyo long cucumber plant is holding up so far

With some supplemental watering, our back yard garden is coming alive. Maya’s cucumber made some blooms (and now, in May, is actively fruiting). Our cannas have blossomed. I finally took the poor Christmas aloe, who has been diligently replicating in the little 8-inch pot I had it in for a couple years now, and split that single plant into I don’t know how many little “pups.” I chose the three most stable (including the “mother” on principle) and planted them in a nice pot. The rest I stuck around in the garden. They probably won’t survive the winter (or the stupid armadillos), but maybe they’ll flourish in the meantime.

The month of April went out with a literal bang for us. On the 29th, Maya had a roller skating field trip so her class could discuss force and motion. Maya had been looking forward to the field trip for weeks – it’s her first since first grade, before the pandemic. She wanted one of us to go as a chaperone too and was THRILLED when Sean agreed to go.

She did have a good lesson on Newton’s three laws of motion, and she enjoyed her lunch and some skating time. But, she took a pretty hard fall and apparently landed on her skate mate. Thankfully Sean was there to sit with her and assess the need for x-rays. She is now sporting a pretty massive bruise and wound up sitting out that Saturday’s soccer game because her leg was so sore.

Final Monarch Suzuki recital

That last Saturday was bittersweet. The kids participated in the final recital at the Monarch Suzuki Academy. This has been the kids’ music school since before Ian was born. They’ve learned rhythm, introductory music theory, perseverance, respect for others, self-respect, and a firm love of music while attending this school. They’ve even started to learn to play piano and guitar. Thankfully, they should both be able to continue on with their current instrument teachers, though we’re not entirely sure yet how any of it will be structured.

Rose-breasted grosbeak

We did have a new backyard bird visitor. He came by on both Saturday and Sunday morning – a male rose-breasted grosbeak. We haven’t seen him since, but it was nice to have the brief visit – a quick stop on his migration route, I guess.

About the post title … Maya one day was shaking her head around. I wanted to know what she was doing, and she told me it sounded weird when she shook her head. On asking her what it sounded like, she didn’t even pause before telling me it sounded like hummingbirds playing the accordion. It’s as apt a description as any I could come up for the noise that’s constantly going in my own brain, so thanks, Maya, for such fun imagery to accompany the noise.

I’m really struggling to continue with updating COVID stats. I feel like data isn’t reported as diligently as it used to be, and I don’t know how much I can trust the numbers I’m collecting. Here’s what I’ve gotten from screen captures I did right at the start of May. Percentage of US population that has been fully vaccinated (66% as of 4/1, 66.7% as of 5/1). Travis County – 3/31 237,325 cases and 1479 deaths – 5/1 247,244 cases and 1533 deaths. Texas – 4/1 6,683,298 cases and 87,549 deaths – 5/1 6,752,590 cases and 88,303 deaths. United States – 4/1 80,039,322 cases and 979,827 deaths – 5/1 81,260,672 cases and 992,010 deaths. The World – 3/31 488,524,257 cases and 6,143,724 deaths – 5/1 513,770,292 cases and 6,236,172 deaths.