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I have been so busy working this summer that I have not had any time to blog about our activities this summer. Suffice it to say that this was NOT the summer we had planned! But we had fun nonetheless and I want to make sure that fun makes it into our annual book!
Summer started with the 4th of July. We really didn’t go anywhere but the kids in our cul-de-sac really wanted to have a parade so all of the houses were invited to send their kids out to be in the parade or they could hang out with the adults on the curb and cheer for the paraders. It was honestly one of the best parades I’ve been to in a long time. So much enthusiastic cheering from each driveway and the kids just kept going around and around feeling the love. So enjoyable!
In an effort to find something safe for our girls to do with their friends we purchased a set of stand up paddle boards. It was perfect! The girls could be out on the water with their friends and the boards forced distance while giving everybody something to do together. It was perfect! Allen and I enjoyed our turns out there too!
In late July Ellie and a couple of her besties from work planned a prom for the seniors they worked with at the bakery that did not get a prom of their own at school. They had such a good time planning all the details and Ellie spent hours pulling together decorations and fun touches. They were very thoughtful about how to keep everybody safe. All the foods were prepackaged and individually wrapped, as were the drinks. There was hand sanitizer everywhere, they had custom masks for everybody and they stayed outside all night for dancing and fun. I think the two girls whose prom it was felt very special and all the attendees (only 10 because that was the state limit at the time) had a great time!
Jill moved back up to Bellingham to start a new job in July. She was so happy to find this job and loves her co-workers. She is working the front desk at a Naturopath’s office. Totally up her alley! Because she wanted to keep her co-workers safe, and keep us safe too, she is not mixing her quaranteams. So we’ve only seen her once, for lunch, out on our deck where we could stay socially distant. She has had a fun summer though with many big backpacking trips with her Bellingham quaranteam. The pictures she’s sent make it look AMAZING!
For Christmas we gave the girls a trip to Sun Valley. My parents had a house there for many years and we used to go there for summer and winter fun but they sold it when Kate was 4 so it’s been quite awhile. Unfortunately the pandemic hit so the big family vacation for 10 (including the Harrison crew) ended up being a small trip for 4. Boo! We decided that we needed to go even if it was just a small group because we still needed to drop Ellie off at college on the way back.
We made the best of it and saw some of our old haunts. But we still didn’t go out for meals in restaurants. The nice thing is that forced us to get creative and we found a really great little park with dappled sunlight, a picnic table, and a river babbling nearby. It was so great we would pick our dinner up at the restaurant and bring it to that spot…more than once! Kate enjoyed her quiet sleep in mornings while Allen, Ellie and I would walk to town for coffee and a little sunshine in the park in the center of town. On our last day there we drove out to a beautiful lake that a shopkeeper recommended about an hour away. Unfortunately this was NOT an novel idea. The beach there was PACKED and we nearly jumped right back in the car and drove away. Fortunately we noticed an activities desk that rented water toys. We quickly rented a paddle boat for an hour and paddled out a ways to eat our picnic in peace. Such fun!
Allen has played a lot of golf this summer. I actually can’t remember a time when he played golf so consistently. Golf is one of the few sports that was allowed to start back up early on since it’s outside and easy to stay farther away from the other players. This pandemic has forced people to stick closer to home but it has also opened opportunities for us to reconnect with friends on a more regular basis. So happy there is SOMETHING good that can come out of this!
Thank goodness for Joelle’s huge patio! Since last spring Mom, Joelle and I have had socially distanced coffee or lunch almost every week. We’ve celebrated Stephen, Henry and Mom’s birthdays out there and we are even trying to figure out how to watch some Seahawk games out there this fall. It’s been such a blessing to have a safe place for us all to gather. We’ve had to work harder to see Allen’s family but we’ve done take out pizza with them in their yard or on our deck and we are so thankful for every moment we can get together with family!
We have no idea what the fall will bring. So far it’s brought a lot of smoke and rain keeping us inside. Ugh! Fingers crossed we figure out our new normal and settle into a good routine that can get us to Thanksgiving safely!