missing out

Last year at this time we were celebrating Reggie's Little League 10U State Championship.  That experience was so exciting and we had high expectations for his team this year.  This year, Little League canceled regional tournaments and the Little League World Series.  Locally, our district and state tournaments were also canceled.  "Camps" were offered instead of a regular season at our ball club, and Reggie was invited to play in a AA league (not Little League) with 6 other teams (12 games).  It's something, and we appreciate it more than ever. But it's nothing like last year.  Reggie had games or practices 6 out of 7 days a week for three or four months.  I had to re-book our vacation because of baseball.  My garden was left to fend for itself. And I couldn't wait to do it again.

It wasn't just baseball.  Special Olympics and church camp, piano lessons and museums, bowling and rec programs, trips and spectator events were all crammed into our schedule and left little time for anything else.

We could, and do, grieve all the things that we are missing out on this summer.  But today's post is about all the things we missed out on LAST summer because it was over-scheduled.  The highlights of this summer are harder to find in the calendar app on my phone (which ruled my life until March 13th) but easy to find in my photo app.  

Here are just a few:

We camped with Grandma and Grandpa and their new puppy!

We went fishing with Dad.

I bought a new tent and tent camped solo plus kids for the first time. And second time!

The tent has a very small screen porch attached.

And *just enough* room for two sleep mats and two cots...because Lydia and I don't sleep on the ground. : )

I impulse bought inter tubes for the first time ever.

We had a spaghetti fight.

Bryan and I walked across the old Stillwater Lift Bridge

I finally finished Brett's duvet quilt - a three year project.

I impulse bought fireworks for the kids for the first time ever.  And the 2nd time. : )

We had a 4th of July Nailed It! Home Edition contest

Reggie drove Papa's four wheeler right through a ditch.

We camped with some cousins and Grandma and Grandpa.

So far I've accomplished my goal of weekly beach days and we've visited two new county parks.

We've visited 3 new state parks...so far!

The kids made cookies all by themselves!

We made homemade pizza over a campfire!

Lydia helped me make this beautiful cherry pie from cherries from our tree.  

(And she got glasses!)

I bought an inflatable raft.

The kids played in it for 4 hours!  Then it sprung a leak. 
It's been repaired and we're all set for it's next adventure!

Confession time.  Last year, I picked the cherries off our tree, put them in a zip lock, and they rotted in the frig before I had time to pit them.  

This summer has been filled with uncertainties and disappointments for sure.  But I hope what we will remember about our coronavirus summer is that it has also been filled with new experiences, taking a slower pace to life, and lingering in simple joys.