2020 Summer Recap

The Summer of 2020 will be remembered for years to come. This summer was full of things we’ve never experienced before as a generation. We were at home with our family in order to keep them safe, everything was closed and then opened again, but not really open open. Parents were working from home while simultaneously being the caregivers to their children.

When all of this started I was extremely bummed out. We had been planning a vacation over Spring Break for six months that got canceled. Trips to Disney and Virginia were unknowns at that point and everything seemed bleak. How would we keep our children entertained for days on end—-no school or camps to occupy them? How would I stay sane, working even more to handle the effects of COVID in our business? It was a scary time with a lot of apprehension but we got into a groove and to be honest, it ended up being a decent summer after all, just changed our expectations.

School ended during the first week of June, right when Florida was moving to the first stage of being more open (I have no idea the official name, I just know around this time, we started doing some additional activities out of the house). Both girls started gymnastics again and Henley was asked to join the competition team. Temperatures were being taken at the door and they were social distancing to ensure the kiddos safety. The girls were both really happy to be active again and to see their coaches. Once a week, sometimes twice, one of us would drive the kids to their class and sit in the car. It was an hour of quiet, fully uninterrupted time to read, watch a show on my phone, or mindlessly browse Instagram.

One of the best Quarantine purchases we made was this snow cone machine, the Little Snowie. We’ve purchased at-home snow cone makers before but they chunks of ice are always still quite large and don’t give that same shaved ice texture that we all love. After reading some reviews, I found this one on Amazon and ordered, despite the price tag. I also ordered some Tiger’s Blood syrup and a few others flavors. Let me just say that this machine is worth every penny! The girls have had enough snow cones to fill any kid’s summer dreams. We ended up ordering more flavors from Amazon and they were able to mix and match, as if they really were having Kona Ice. We all highly recommend—-I may have made them today and snuck some Tiger’s Blood myself.

Venice Beach 2020

When things were still mostly closed, the beach was one place we could go to get out of the house and have some fun. There were beach days here in town, in Venice hunting for Shark’s teeth, and in the Keys. We do visit the beach quite a bit being only 15 to 20 minutes from the beach but this year the beach was even more an escape. It was serenity in an uncertain time full of uncertainty.

Sanibel Island, June 2020

During the month of July we were able to get in a trip to the Florida Keys. We rented an AirBnB with another family, practiced social distancing, and enjoyed the scenery. Everyone loved going on the boat, swimming, and playing with dolphins. It was a great trip and a nice break from reality for a bit and we learned that AirBnB or the like really are the perfect COVID vacation.

Just before school started, the girls and I had a free weekend while Ted was out of town so we decided to try out Disney under the COVID precautions. We had heard the lower capacity was great and Disney was taking everything pretty seriously. We are annual passholders so we figured it wouldn’t cost anything and if it wasn’t safe, we could always leave. Once we got there, we were surprised at really how empty everything was. Lines were short and spaced. We wore masks the entire time and while it was hot, it was manageable. We had a blast and got a little Disney magic to wrap up out summer.

This has been a hard year and despite all of the above, there were many days of stress, frustration, and even just sadness. I hope you were able to find nuggets of sunshine this summer in all of the mess. Let’s all hope and pray this fall can bring even more normalcy.

Mere