With summer come and gone I figure it is time to reflect on the time that has passed. It was another COVID summer which limited everything but that doesn’t mean good times were not had.
- We started doing family walks. Sometimes we walk to the local park. Sometimes we drive to a park and walk around there. Grabbing the stroller and the dog, the four of us just explore the space around us and get plenty of fresh air (and exercise!).
- Zoo trips are always a treat and we didn’t let the summer heat keep us away from our favorite spot. Our daughter got to interact with the giraffes and was a bit put off by the roaming peacock. We saw the red pandas play around and the new gorilla. We did miss out on the dinosaur exhibit but this is not the place to air that regret.
- At the hottest point, our neighbors pulled out their large kiddie pool and we all got to splash around to keep cool. We had a neighborhood cookout and just enjoyed getting to know one another better. Our daughter loves her new friend!
- For the first time in a year we were able to see my sister and her family. They drove several hours to come visit for the day. They saw our new home, they got to spend loads of time with their only niece, and we all got to enjoy time spent together.
- My daughter called me “mom” for the first time. She’s known how to say “dad” for a long time now. She’s just never needed to call me by my name before so she didn’t learn it no matter how hard my husband tried. But it was a truly heartwarming experience to have her name me finally.
I could certainly go on about the little moments we found that mean so much to us. Being forced to enjoy a simpler life has been a boon for all of us, I think, especially since we are also being forced to find the joy in it or else be swallowed by despair. I do look forward to spending more time with friends and family in the future summers but, for us, this summer was just right.
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