Venturing Out

On Friday, I wrapped up my last full week of working from home. There are still a few more days left in the semester; we have a four day week following tomorrow's Memorial Day holiday and then a final workday on June 1st. I will make one last trip to Pilot Mountain to be sure things are in place in my room and to turn in my keys. Then summer will officially begin! Between a 12-week maternity leave and a global pandemic, this year has been one for the books. I'm sure I'll never forget the 2019-2020 school year! As we close out this time of "working from home," there have certainly been some challenges, but there have also been some really sweet moments that I have cherished, like nurturing Emmy's love for reading...

...making an impromptu science lesson about caterpillars...

...seeing the special bond develop between Eli and Emmy...

...playing dress-up on a rainy day...

...cuddling in the mornings...

...doing "schoolwork"...

...and having our mother-daughter runs around the neighborhood. 

I am looking forward to more of these moments over the next 8 weeks of summer. On Friday, Governor Cooper announced Phase 2 of the re-opening of the state. Restaurants and "personal care" businesses will be allowed to re-open but under capacity limits or by appointments. Much to our disappointment, museums, gyms, libraries, and playgrounds will remain closed for a little while longer. With some of the restrictions loosening, we have slowly started to add events to our calendar again. This past Sunday, Boomer and I went to the Forbush Baccalaureate Service. This annual service recognizes the graduates and includes student testimonies and Scripture readings. Since large indoor gatherings are still not permitted, this year's Baccalaureate was a "drive-in" service in the parking lot of a funeral home. Everyone in attendance was to remain in or around their vehicles, and there was a speaker set up so that you could hear the service. It happened to be the hottest day we've had in May so far with temps in the mid-80s - thank goodness my parents had a handheld fan we could use! Boomer and I made a date out of it, with McDonalds before (and after!) the service. Although we were just staying in the car, I even put on make-up - the first time in two months! 

We just got back from our second big outing - visiting Boomer's family in Star. We had not seen his parents since February, and they have certainly missed the grandkids. The original plan was to go to the lake as we usually do for Memorial Day Weekend, but Boomer's dad called on Saturday morning to say that they had lost power overnight due to a storm. Since they did not expect to have it back on until much later in the day, we all headed to their house in Star instead. With their pool, it's not such a bad alternative. I wasn't brave enough to go in the water (it was quite chilly after all the recent storms!), but Emmy and Granny didn't seem to mind. They had fun splashing around and making her Barbies swim. It was our first night staying away from home as a family of 4, so I was a little nervous that I wouldn't remember everything. Luckily, Eli was flexible with the new environment and slept well in the pack-n-play. With all the fresh air and sunshine, we had two tired kiddos on the way back to Kernersville today. I am glad for the opportunity to go away, but it's always wonderful to come back home. 

 

As we plan more outings in the weeks ahead, it will be an adjustment to be in public places again and to be with people outside of our family unit. Emmy is prepared with her custom-made Minnie mask!