A COVID Summer

This summer has been, well, different.  There's no summer camp, no pool parties, no amusement parks, no sleepovers, and, so far, no vacations.  Perhaps the most difficult decision was to cancel (or postpone) our trip to Glacier National Park.  In July, we were going to go on an awesome 10 day trip of hiking, sightseeing, boating and adventure parks, but as the date grew nearer, we realized it would be too risky to fly and be in crowded spaces, especially since we have my 76 year-old mom living in the same house!

I can't say, however, this summer has been terrible.  We are still managing to visit friends and family (one small group at a time), and we've been spending more time outdoors than ever before.  Even more, we've added our puppy, Bruce, into the mix, and he's made life anything but boring. 

Here's Summer 2020 at a glance:

In June, we went strawberry picking.  We tried a new farm and loved it.  The social distancing was perfect so that neither of us needed to wear a mask, plus the strawberries were ripe, juicy, and delicious.  We even treated ourselves to a Dunkin' Donuts Frozen Hot Chocolate on the ride back home.  It was the perfect treat to end a perfect day outdoors.

We went to the lake house!  Friends of my dad invited the three of us to enjoy a day at Gardner Lake in Salem, CT.  Not only was the ride beautiful (we took back roads that brought us through Durham, Haddam, and East Haddam), but we had a chance to swim, relax on floats, jet ski, and go tubing.  It was a beautiful day spent outdoors reminiscing with old family friends.

We swam, lit a campfire, and made s'mores.

We hiked in new places...many new places...

And we enjoyed lots of puppy antics while watching Bruce grow!!

And so while life has definitely been moving slower, we haven't been doing less.  We are just having a chance to enjoy the simpler things...right next to home.