I think everyone back in February or March truly thought COVID would be on it's way out once Summer hit. I don't think anyone really expected this to be an actual pandemic, or be as crippling as it's been.
Needless to say... Summer hasn't really felt like much of a normal Summer, but we've tried our best to have some fun.
Here is how Summer started....
The boys took to wearing masks with no issues! They totally understand the seriousness of COVID, and understand there are new rules to follow when we are in public. They helped Neal and Poppa move all of Poppa's stuff out of his house (he officially sold his house and moved in with Karen down in Salem) and were rewarded with a McDonald's lunch.
Speaking of Poppa moving out of his house...it's going to be weird to not go over to Poppa's house anymore. He and Neal's Mom Angi built that house in the early 80's when Neal and Lori were very young. They grew up in that house.
There are so many good memories... I realized I loved Neal for the first time at that house, I realized he loved me too (Toni spilled the beans and told me before he did!!), I got my engagement ring in that house (since Neal proposed without a ring, he and his Dad when to pick it up while Toni did my nails), Austin took his first steps in that house, and we all lived there for a few weeks in 2015 before we moved into the house we're in now.
We all went there one weekend in June to go through items in the attic and closets.. and to say goodbye. Neal got a picture of his childhood bedroom. When we lived there for a few weeks in 2015 Austin slept in that window seat every night. He loved that cozy little spot!
Lots of memories (and empty boxes!!!! Why did you save every single box from everything Kyle???? haha) came out of the attic. Lori and I both got some of her Mom Angi's jewelry, and we shared some great stories and a few tears that day. On to a new chapter for the Glynn family...
Neal took the boys to the river one day and they had a blast! Well, until the geese figured out that the two little people had bread crumbs and started to congregate around them and get a bit more aggressive. Geese... seriously. Kind of frightening at times. Most likely that first picture is capturing the geese planning their next attack while the boys' backs are turned... but overall they had a really fun day out in the sun and water!!! It's hard to work during the Summer and miss out on days like this. I'm glad the boys get so much time with Daddy though!
I've seen a lot of memes and jokes about how dogs are LOVING the pandemic because their people have been home a lot more. Henry, I think, is slightly indifferent. He's very happy to be left alone to just lay about and snooze all day, so us being home hasn't really done anything for him. In fact, I think it's stressed him out slightly since the kids have been home and loud all the time. He's happy when he can escape for a little alone time in the sun!
Henry is slowly getting used to the kids more since they have been around. He's been wary of Owen for years... Owen is the smaller, quicker, more unpredictable kid... but has started to trust him more and more. This is very much to Owen's delight because he so badly wants Henny to be his best friend!
This is 2020's official Last Day of School picture. Little different than prior years. The classroom is our house, the dress code is Ninja, and the teacher was poor Dad who did 99% of the work during the Stay At Home school year. The last day of school was a relief to all of us. What a tough few months on everybody.
Honestly the boys did pretty good and we are very proud of them. Especially Owen... it's tough to get a taste of school and then have that taken away, and as a Kindergartner... he doesn't have the same ability to focus on online tasks. It was tough some days to get him to do what he was supposed to do, but overall both boys handled the transition really well.
Forts. Lots and lots and lots of fort building goes on in our house. We convinced the kids to make the whole playroom a fort (so we could have couches to sit on and living rooms to live in) and once they got the playroom all set up, they wanted to sleep in there. They ended up sleeping in the room-fort for 3 nights straight! My favorite part is that instead of us reading them bedtime stories, Austin reads to Owen. We can hear them giggling the whole time and we always let them stay up just a bit late because we don't want to end their story reading. I love it when they are sweet to each other.
One of the many little adventures the boys have been on have been hikes! Neal has been really good about finding new places and trails to explore and they found a really cool one near our house. I'm glad they love getting outside and finding new places... it's awesome when trees work as entertainment!
The weekend that we helped clean our Neal's Dad's house, Auntie Lori spent some extra time with us and played a mean game of Mario Kart (which you can see behind Owen)... all while Owen decided he was over video games and playing with pom-poms was way more fun. It's funny to see your kids do the exact same things with toys as you did. I remember putting pom-poms on my head and face and pretending they were crazy hair too. He is that kid that is always trying to make people laugh.
I went back to work in my office on June 1st. The strict Stay At Home order had been lifted, and my office is very small (3 full time people and 1 part time person) and we are all seated quite far apart from each other. We wear masks when we are walking around or standing and talking with each other, so we've been safe. It actually felt good to go back to work and be in a more normal routine. I missed my coworkers. Also... I'll be honest. It's a blessing and a curse to be married to a teacher. It's great that we don't have to scramble for childcare on school holidays and summer break, but being home working while watching Neal and the boys go and have fun really really sucked. They'd have days hiking, golfing, going to the river.. and I had to stay home and work. It really beat me up mentally and I cried almost daily. Going to an office makes it easier to "ignore" the fun I'm missing.
I'm proud of my career and what I've achieved, and glad I provide for my family... but thoughts of "the boys are only going to have memories of Neal" from their childhood absolutely wreck me. I hope that is not the case.
Speaking of memories with Dad.... he took the boys to play golf a few times when Summer began. It's the perfect outside active to socially distance, since you never come in contact with other people or groups.
The boys have really taken to golf, and Austin wants to take lessons. We will have to look into that once COVID has gone away some. Actual golfing aside.. courses are at least full of fun interesting things, like giant holes!!!
Oh lazy mornings... they used to be so rare, and now they are commonplace. If we do end up going back to school, I am NOT looking forward to getting these two up at 6:30am and hustling to school again. Ugh. That is going to really suck. Especially for Austin.. he's getting to an age where he needs a bit more sleep but going to bed earlier isn't always an option, so giving him more sleep in the morning is crucial. Plus I love how sweet they are to each other in the mornings before they get sick of each other. :-)
Ice Cream Man!!!! Nothing better on a sunny day than to hear that little bell jingle through the neighborhood. Austin of course picked the item that is the brightest and bluest and most like candy. Owen always seems to pick classic treats, and got a fudge bar. Good thing we happened to have some cash on us that day!
Happy Daddy!!!! After we tried (and failed) to buy a house in the beginning of June (more on that to come later) we decided to splurge and get a Traeger. We've wanted one for awhile but they are spendy... after the huge let down of losing a house we thought was our dream house, we decided to go for it and treat ourselves. Neal's first meal was a tri-tip steak and it turned out awesome!! We've been using it a lot ever since and it's really awesome. Fish especially turns out soooo good!!!
Growing like... whoa. Austin is just growing at a scary rate. He's already almost up to my shoulder, and while watching a movie one night he noticed his foot was almost as big as mine! He also likes to try on my shoes to tell me how they "totally fit" already. :-) Neal and Owen's expressions in the background really crack me up in this picture too!!!
We had a small celebration at home with some family to celebrate Owen graduating Kindergarten. I felt bad he never got the school celebration that Austin did. He worked so hard in Kindergarten and did so well!
His teacher would have given out personality awards.. so I emailed her and asked her what she would have given Owen. She said it would have been "so many awards... Hardest Worker, Peace Maker (he always tries to settle arguments and make friends feel better) and Nicest Friend" so I rolled all those together and gave him a Superstar Award! I got a blank certificate template off Etsy and printed it out.
The school had mailed every family the kids' Kindergarten diploma, and a "Honorary Teacher" certificate... so I purposely awarded it solely to Neal because he did 99% of the teaching while we were all stuck at home. He deserved it!!
Our little Superstar! I'm still sad he missed out on half of his Kindergarten year. He was happy though... a party, cupcakes, and some presents and he was just fine and dandy!
Oh the Quarantine hair.... Austin wanted to let his hair grow so we let it go for awhile. He finally got fed up with it when it was in this phase!!!
You know you have true Pacific Northwest kids when they go to a park on a cool rainy day without sweatshirts and claim they will be "fine." Well of course the rain came pouring down... so thankfully Daddy had a sweatshirt on that he could sacrifice to the kiddos... and then of course they found it hilarious to be wearing Daddy's big sweatshirt. :-)
Critter catchers!!! We got the boys critter nets for all their hikes during the long days of not socializing much... we (I should say Neal... he's really the one that figures a lot of this out) found some good trails and hikes near us that have ponds and lots of critter action! Owen was so happy with the newt he caught one day!
Finally the weather really really warmed up so it was time for the pool to go back up!!! That's always a fun exciting day. The boys didn't even wait for the water to warm up at all... they just dove right in!
Well, that is a wrap for Early Summer 2020!!
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