A "POSITIVE" Time

 Well, we had a major change of plans for this upcoming weekend and the next 10 days.  

Ry started to complain of a headache and a runny nose on Wednesday.  I thought it might be smoke related because we had spent a lot of time outdoors the last week in hazy/smoky weather (zip lining, river rafting, paddle boarding, swimming, eating outside, evening walks).  I was being optimistic. 

The boys were supposed to leave on Thursday to take Logan back to school.   They didn't actually fly out until Friday morning but had an early flight out of Seattle and were staying the night on Thursday, parking at the hotel, and using the hotel's shuttle service to get them to the airport.  We opted to have Ry tested because we didn't want him to unknowingly expose anyone to COVID on an airplane across the United States and we didn't want his mild symptoms to worsen and for him to not feel good while being so far from home.  The testing site was so busy--when we travelled in January, we just drove up and was tested right away--but when I took Ry we had to go back home, call for an appointment, and come back.  We did that and he started quarantine that same day. 

After a few long phone calls, Dave was able to have one of the flights reimbursed and the other flights cancelled and able to be used at another time. 

Dave and Logan left for Seattle on Thursday afternoon. 

And  a nurse called to tell on Friday morning (about 16 hours after his test) to tell me that Rylan had tested positive for COVID.  

I made the necessary phone calls to anyone who may have been exposed to Rylan during his asymptotic time, including his football coach to let him know that he'll miss the first practices due to a positive COVID test and 10 day quarantine.  I placed a pick up grocery order and we stayed home.  

Thursday evening, after his test, but before we knew it was positive. 

Presley helping me bring Ry food.  

Masked up and ready to deliver. 

Ry really did stay in his room, almost 24 hours a day, for 7 straight days (by that time, he was symptom free and still wore a mask upstairs with us). 

He played a lot of computer games, watching movies and YouTube,  and texted us when he needed/wanted something. 

If there was any kid who could be okay with that much time alone, it'd be Ry. 

Luckily his symptoms stayed pretty much the same--slight headache, congestion and runny nose, and a low grade fever.  The headache went away first.  He had some tummy upset day 9 of quarantine but that went away by the next morning.  He did tell us on Day 10, Saturday, August 21st that he couldn't taste anything. 

The progression of texts over that week.  It started so sweetly with m'lady and breakfast was a delicacy to a pretty demanding "a boy is hungry downstairs".

Presley stayed in her room for 3 days straight, eating meals in her room too.  

Harper never had a symptom but stayed home for that 10 days. 

Time alone in the hot tub. 

Going back downstairs after a quick visit with us. 

We played Five Crowns masked up. 

This was before Presley was really sick.  

She had a headache, runny nose, and body aches. 

Meanwhile in Pittsburgh and West Virginia...

Dave and Logan flew back on Friday, and had a couple of fun things planned for Saturday. 

The took a walking tour of the Pittsburgh Pirates Stadium. 

They had wanted to do another tourist train ride, but they were talking to a street vendor who told them that the Pittsburgh Steelers were having an open practice and they could walk to that stadium and watch. 

They weren't sure what to expect or if there were limited seating, but they gave it a try and were able to get in.  

So they sat 4 rows up behind the goal posts and watched a practice. 

Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger on the sidelines. 

He was running practices and doing drills for a while, but then he sat down and the back up came in. 

On Sunday, they drove from Pittsburgh to Buckhannon (about 2 hours 15 minutes). 

Logan could move into his room on this day, meet his new roommate Pedro, and had some team meetings. 

Dave and Logan had a few hours to walk around and tour the campus. 

Logan's name under President's List

Plant Dad in the greenhouse.  

All the plants that Logan helped grow this summer.  

Monday was Logan's first 2 practices on the field. 

Dave watched both practices--one was mostly conditioning and one was scrimmaging.  

It was good to get to see him play in an 11 v 11 game. 

Dave made it back home on Tuesday afternoon, day 6 of quarantine.

He didn't have anything for work for the rest of the week.  All elective surgeries have been cancelled because of the hospital being full with COVID patients.