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.

Last Day of School

Our distance learning school year came to an end on June 5th.  This is usually a much anticipated day, but this year, it was rather anti-climatic.  We had already been home for three months, and we don't have much on the calendar for summer.  

To celebrate the last day of school, we went to a local bakery for donuts, and I took last day of school pictures without their backpacks.  The backpacks got cleaned out and put away months ago.  The elementary school also had a "reverse parade".  Buses, cars, and even a firetruck full of teachers drove around the neighborhoods with banners and fanfare as kids watched and cheered along the street.

Brett finished his first year of middle school at the charter school and shared-time with home schooling.  I'm very proud that despite the set-back of distance learning, we finished his reading curriculum.  We also made good progress in his spelling level.  Math was not quite as productive, but with Brett everything is a marathon, not a sprint.  Through distance learning, he received "A's" in Social Studies and Life Skills, and enjoyed joining in on the weekly middle school lunch zoom hangouts.  I notified the school that in the best case scenario, I will send him to 7th grade full-time in the fall.

Lydia finished up her sixth and final year (5th grade) at Castle through distance learning.  She missed out on her 5th grade overnight camp and didn't get to say goodbye to many of her friends and classmates.  Due to school boundaries, her class gets shuffled into two middle schools and she will not attend school with her best buds.  She has had the same girlfriends since 1st and 2nd grade, so I hope they can remain friends despite going to different schools.  Kid-friendly social media has helped them stay in contact.  

This week, Lydia did get to go to her friend's house for the friend's birthday.  When I dropped Lydia off, her friend ran up to the van to give her a hug.  Then, she stopped short, remembering to social distance as Lydia quickly put on her mask.  After weeks of shedding tears over my boys in the aftermath of George Floyd, my heart broke for my daughter in that moment.  Regardless, she had fun at the party and was not ready to leave when I picked her up.

Lydia is so independent, she excelled in distance learning.   I have always believed she could be locked in a closet and would still find a way to learn!  She loves writing and says she wants to be an author.  The elementary school didn't give out grades during distance learning, but in math she got an "A", an improvement from 1st and 2nd trimester.

Reggie's teacher is a strong believer in differentiated learning, even through distance learning.  Reggie didn't end up doing the 100-page packets of busy work.  Instead, he wrote a realistic fiction story about going to the Little League World Series, created a simulation project where he studied baseball statistics and came up with his own formulas to create a fantasy MLB team, and worked ahead in his math workbook.  I feel the amount of support students need from home to facilitate learning was largely underestimated by schools, but I am also thankful to the teachers who did what they could to make the best of a bad situation.

During the last week of school, Reggie became the teacher as he took us through his baseball simulation project.

You cannot separate Reggie from sports.  Brett and Lydia play sport.  Reggie is sports.  To not have sports for Reggie has been truly unbearable.  Lydia's softball has been canceled and the Special Olympics will not gather until further notice.  

But, there is good news!  In the last couple weeks, Reggie has been able to return to some practicing in real life.  He has started going to a very restricted wrestling workout.  Up to 10 kids can participate at the facility while the class is also hosted online.  The practice is no contact with social distancing.  They get temp checks and health screened at the door, and because it used to be a warehouse, they leave the big garage door open for ventilation.  It's not really wrestling, but it's something.  

Last week, baseball camp also started.  In MN, under the current restrictions, baseball game play is not allowed, but they are allowed to do drills in groups of ten players.  Again, there are the obligatory temp checks, social distancing, and sanitizing.  They are expected to wear face masks when they are not able to social distance. Even with all the restrictions, the pep has returned to Reggie's step!

On June 1, barbershops and salons opened at 25% capacity.  We couldn't wait!  The boys got appointments right away.  Everyone but the client must wait in the car, so here we are doing our distance learning as we wait!  Lydia and I finally got our turn at the salon this week.