So the summer came and went in the usual 2020 way! Once we merged bubbles with the family, there was so much fun to be had...and while we missed our usual travel and adventures, we had plenty of adventures of a different sort.
Linked below is a quick slideshow capturing some of what life was like the June to August 2020...our summer of quarantine.
We spent so many days on Coyote lake going round and round while Papa pulled us of "the sidewinder" which is like a love child of a couch and an water inter tube toy. It's just thrilling enough to get death grip and just safe enough that everyone can do it.
We spent a lot of time just hanging out with the families...eating and just enjoying having more people to interact with. Many nights that we're at Nana & Papa's, we've been telling stories, having dessert, and drinking wine around the gas fire pit on the back deck...which definitely hits the notes of...well, GLAMP-ing at the very least. And, of course, there's the family soccer games at Oma & Opa's. Guess that's not much of an adventure, but since these are the folks we adventure with, it somehow felt like we were at Big Basin or conversing around the dinner table on a cruise.
Of course, school starting has been (and continues to be) a ride all it's own. Our school is virtual in the moment and graciously, we've got all four of the grandparents as the learning coaches. We can't really express how lucky and thankful we are for the help...which doesn't express the feeling adequately. To have so many people sacrificing their hard earned retirement to help with phonetics or simple division demonstrates to the kids how families come together in crisis, how we can work together to make a hard situation one that makes all of us better people, and how much they are surrounded by love. Plus, if there's ever been moments to practice our grown up communication it's teaching 3rd grade social studies on a google slide to a kid that is learning how to use a mouse / keyboard. I've never seen a human randomly click that many times in a second.
Another one of the 2020 curveballs were the August wildfires the SAME week as school start. There was a freak storm the weekend prior with some where between 7,000 to 12,000 lightning strikes around the bay area, sparking 600+ fires. Theses quickly combined into some of the largest fires in California history. The SCU Lightning Complex burned close to 300,000 acres in the first few days just miles from my parent's house and became the 2nd largest wildfire the state has seen (of course, at the same time that the fire in wine country was the 3rd biggest and that the CZU fire consumed some of the most beautiful redwoods and towns in the Santa Cruz mountains between us and the coast). They received the evacuation warning on the Thursday of that week...which of course, came at like 2am and it was very difficult to even tell where the warnings vs. evacuation ORDERS began). The kids and Lisa left immediately to the safety of Oma & Opa's, while I stayed to help get all the irreplaceable paintings and photographs prepped by the front door and interpret the various announcements at all hours of the day & night. Finally, on Sunday, the evacuation order came. So Nana, Papa, & the all the dogs moved into our house. Luckily (?), Cal Fire has had a lot of experience recently and quickly created a containment line to protect the communities threatened by SCU and by Friday, the order and even the warning were lifted from their house and they moved back. I have to admit, it turned out to be like an extended family party with some school mixed in.
They dogs have loved it too. Many days they've gotten to beat the heat by a quick (and muddy) walk down to the shoreside. Though Penny HATES it when we have to leave her siblings if we're spending time up at home. When we're leaving Nana & Papa's, she'll lay down and becomes 'no bones' to the point where she actually is dragged out to the car. At home, sometimes she goes on a hunger strike and barely eats. It's so hard for the first day or so, though we do our best to bring her over to Oma & Opas to play with her other friend, the 55+ year old tortoise, Prudence.
For us, this 2020, as it is with so many others around the world, has been fraught with a 'new normal' that really feels like a constantly shifting 'new' and far from 'normal.' We've all had our dark moments of stress, friction, and anxiety. Yet, reflecting on this summer, what really shines in the memory is like so many other great summers: the fun, the love, and long days spent together.
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