Four Birthday Parties and Easter

On March 13, 2020, our town, our schools, and our jobs all moved to the internet as we went into "lockdown." Now, one year later to a tee, the lockdown is lifting, and all of us are starting to live "life" again.  I don't dare say life is returning back to normal because I don't think it ever can... Instead, we are living a "new normal," a "normal" full of cautious optimism.

During these last few months, my mom has been vaccinated, and Hubby and I received our second dose of the Pfizer vaccine this week.  We're on our way...hoping that Little Lewie may be next in line to receive his does--he's 12 going on 13. 

Knowing my mom was the first to be vaccinated was uplifting.  Now we could say "yes" to social engagements without the fear of bringing anything home to her.  Sure, we would still use caution for our own safety, but we felt a little "freer" to leave our bubble.  In March, Lewie was invited to four birthday parties, and after careful consideration, we said yes to each.  The first was a friend's "Movie Birthday Party." Since there was limited seating for social distancing, there was room just for Lewie and the kids--no parents, which probably made the party more fun.  He had a blast acting like a typical pre-adolescent boy with his friends as they provided commentary and laughed throughout the entire movie.  (The interesting part about this birthday party is that it was for one of his friends he met online this year through another friend.  The kids at this party all "knew" Lewie from playing online games with him, but few of them knew what he looked like in real life.)

The next birthday party was his cousin's at an indoor adventure ropes course called IT.  In December 2019, I bought my sister-in-law and her family a gift certificate to enjoy IT, which oddly enough, is right inside a Jordan's Furniture store.  (You can shop for a new mattress and practice rope climbing all in the same place.)  The gift certificate was a Christmas present for them, but when the pandemic hit in March 2020, they still hadn't used it.  Now, a year later, they were finally planning a trip to IT, and we were invited to join them!  The building with the ropes course is HUGE, so I wasn't worried about social distancing.  The course itself glows in the dark and has two zip lines--one of them goes over a large fountain that shoots water up at you.  I think I was so mesmerized by the colorful light show and zip lines that I let my emotional side, not my rational one, take over.  "Sure," I heard myself saying when I was asked if I wanted to join Lewie on the course.  Hubby agreed, too.  

Our cousin, Elijah, celebrating his 9th birthday underneath the ropes course!

Before long, we were 20 maybe 30 feet up in the air trying to balance ourselves on tight ropes, wobbly swinging loops, shifty ladders, and all sorts of other gymnast type contraptions.  My heart pounded, and I found myself using every ounce of arm and leg strength to keep myself from shaking and losing my balance.  ("Do not embarrass yourself," my inner voice kept repeating over and over again; although after 20 minutes of this balancing act, every ounce of me wanted to yell, "Help. Help. Someone get me down from here!")

Somehow, I did manage to complete the course (both zip lines included), and hubby did, too; although, our bodies sure felt achy for the next few days.  Cousins Elijah, Brooklynn, and Lily all gave up (ages 8 - 11), but Lewie and his cousin Sarah stuck it through.  In fact, Lewie not only stuck it through, but he kept on going, repeating the cycle of zip lines.  I was shocked!  How was it that my kid--the kid that complains about walking and exercising being too hard--able to complete a ropes course?!  

"How did you do it?" I finally asked.

"Simple," he answered,  "I just took my time."  

And with that, I learned never to doubt the will power of my son again.  I had completely misjudged his abilities--bad Mommy!!

The next two birthday parties were equally interesting and entertaining.  One was at a friend's house where they played outside games with nerf guns and made tie dye t-shirts; another was at a place called SMASH Avenue, where you guessed it, the entertainment came from taking sledgehammers and smashing stuff--bottles, electronics, furniture...  Again, we dropped Lewie off at both parties, but I was able to snag a few pictures of the SMASH birthday.  Lewie came home from that one saying, "I learned that I'm not really that aggressive."   Evidently he did smash some things, but then he spent most of the time poking objects with a wrench--LOL.

The birthday boy letting off some steam.  "Take that Google Meet!!"

Lewie's in the background holding a wrench!

After the four-weekend birthday spree, it was time for Easter.  I spent a full week making sure the house was nice and tidy for the arrival of the Easter Bunny.  (The house gets amazingly dirty and "lived in" when we're all still working and schooling from home.) This year, in addition to hiding Lewie's plastic eggs and basket, the Easter Bunny also hid four "Buddy Biscuits" in the living room for Bruce to find.   It soon became a race between Lewie and Bruce.  Who would find their treats the quickest?  (Spoiler alert--Bruce won.  His sniffer gave him an unfair advantage.  If Lewie could sniff out chocolate the way Bruce could sniff out his treats, then they might have been on a more equal playing field.)

"Hmmm...What's in there?"

The holiday ended with a yummy ham dinner, which my mom, hubby, Lewie, and I enjoyed.  We didn't get to go out to dinner like years prior, and of course, we didn't have Aunty Kiki around to come over and search for plastic eggs--first my eggs as a kid and then Lewie's eggs. We missed her funny antics, but we made a promise not to become overly emotional.  No matter how many years go by, I'll never celebrate Easter without thinking of Aunty Kiki.  For years, I didn't want her finding my eggs full of chocolate.  Now, I would gladly ship them to heaven if I could...

Yes, life Post-Covid and Post-2020 looks different and feels different.  It's full of hope and optimism but also sadness and caution.  We'll get there.  We'll all get there.  Thankfully, life hasn't run out of birthdays or holidays to celebrate.