Well, today I’m usually recapping our fantastic after Christmas stay in Naples. Not this year though. This year I get to recap our Covid quarantine. Yep, covid invaded us! We really have no idea where we got it as we have been as careful as we could while still taking calculated risks. The boys got out of school on December 18th and we didn’t see anyone after that  as we were planning to head to Naples on December 27th. We even pulled Spencer out of a basketball tournament that was scheduled for December 18 to 20th because we weren’t comfortable with that level of exposure. Since we had no “known exposure”, after school was out on the 18th we followed the CDC’s least conservative guidelines of quarantine for 7 days with a test at day 5 or later. We all got PCR tests on December 23rd as the place we go to was closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We got our results that night – all 5 of us were negative! Hooray! We had a great Christmas with just the 5 of us – really and truly one of the best Christmas days ever.

On the 26th I was busy putting away all of the Christmas decorations when Maxwell came downstairs around 11am and I could tell he didn’t feel good. I was hoping it was just a migraine but took his temperature and it was 99. Hmmm. I took it about half an hour later and it was 99.5. Not good. I threw him in the car and we went to Urgent Care where we waited in the car over an hour to finally get a rapid test and find out he was positive. What?! Shocked. We had been so careful but this virus still found us. He had to have gotten it at school or basketball the week before. Trip cancelled. Lots of tears and even more disappointment. But, ultimately so incredibly thankful that his fever showed up when it did and we did not fly down and expose GJ and Daddo. So, so thankful. It is CRAZY to me that we escaped this virus for 9 months only to test positive one day before we were to leave for Naples.

Maxwell and I packed a bag and moved into GJ and Dado’s house next door. Unfortunately, two days later, Spencer had a headache and didn’t feel good. We all got tested again. Me, Samantha, and Robert were still negative. Spencer was positive. Boo. Spencer was then quarantined to his room and the playroom. We really did our best to keep all of us completely separated and masked – we even kept the boys separated. Even though they were both positive, the doctor told us it was still best for them to keep their distance from each other so as not to increase their viral load and symptoms. All I have to say is thank goodness for Fortnite!! Those boys played more video games over the next 10 days than they had in their entire lives up to that point…and that’s ok. Survival mode! Spencer really had no symptoms after that first night and felt fine. Maxwell ran a low grade temp – never above 99.5 – for the next 8 days. He became very congested and also lost his sense of smell and taste. Major bummer. Pretty sure my anxiety over the situation was worse then either of their actual symptoms!

We did our best to get outside daily for some Vitamin D and together (but distanced!) time. I hope we never have to go through this again.

The rest of us continued to get tested at the first sign of a symptom but never ended up with a positive result. Hooray! It hasn’t been fun and it hasn’t been fair, but we’ve made it. The kids are back in school today and everyone is feeling good. Praying for no long term effects on the boys and also that the rest of us stay healthy in 2021. Merry Christmas and a Happy Quarantine!