Good-bye, July!

Our summer of COVID has remained slightly different from previous summers.  Instead of going on fun outings and filling our days with trips to the zoo, library, parks, playgrounds, and our other summer stomping grounds, we've primarily stayed home.  We've limited our activities.  We've enjoyed some outdoor play dates with friends, but have more often just filled our days enjoying each other.  I continue to feel so blessed that my kids truly enjoy playing together since playing together has filled most of our summer days.

Although Staley does enjoy playing outside, doing crafts, and playing with her siblings, reading has filled many of her at-home summer hours.

And while Staley has been busy reading, Adelie and Briggs spend hours (and hours and hours) making things out of paper and tape and objects they find in our recycling bins.  Clothes for dolls?  Check.  Paper swimming pools?  Check.  Stuffed animals and pillows?  Check.  Complete box houses full of furniture for the peas that they rescued from the garden?  Check.  These were the empty tape rolls I found in the art drawer of the playroom the other day.  And let's not even talk about the amount of computer paper that finds it way into the recycling bin at the end of each day.

All three kids got to take swimming lessons at Miss Lisa's house again this summer.  Briggs and Staley both did one week of lessons while Adelie did two.  (Here Briggs is working on some of his Kindergarten worksheets while he waits for Adelie to be done with her lesson.)  Staley was in the advanced class, working on her endurance and improving her freestyle and breast stroke.  Adelie mastered her freestyle, swimming the length of the pool without stopping by the end of week 2.  And Briggs is now able to do his front float and back float.  With all the pools closed, they all enjoyed getting a chance to spend time in the pool with Miss Lisa.

We have enjoyed other opportunities for water fun.  We have gone swimming in Aunt Bonnie's above ground pool a few times, enjoyed a friend's pond a few times, and, of course, spent time in our blow up pool on the deck.  Briggs got to meet up with a few of his preschool friends at the pond one day.

Adelie is a little fish and loved pond swimming with friends.

Staley conquered her fears and jumped off the platform into the pond two times.  Staley always impresses me with her perseverance in doing things even when they scare her.

We have had a few outdoor play dates with friends.

Even though my kids are quite content just playing at home together, it has been nice for them to resume opportunities to be with their friends as well.

We really enjoyed having my friend, Christie, and her girls home from Maryland for a few weeks.  We got together for multiple play dates, including this outdoor movie theater set up for a viewing of the DVD of the girls' Moana play.

Most of the play dates involved the kids practicing, costuming, and performing original plays.  I love that our kids have gotten to be such good friends, even only seeing each other a few times each year.  And I love that their imaginations rule the day when they are together.

Our summer has been different than most other summers.  We've stayed home more.  We've gotten together with friends less.  We've had less activities to attend and less outings to go on.  And although there are some feelings of loss, we have also embraced our family time and been grateful for those things we have done.  Walking to Uncle Bob's for ice cream, family movie nights, reading together, playing games, harvesting in the garden...it may not be like every other summer, but it is still a summer.  We are healthy.  We are together.  And we are grateful.