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summer 2020

 oh my goodness, it's been awhile.  

2020 has been happening, with a strange cast of characters including masks, ubiquitous hand sanitizer, elbow bumps, mute buttons, take out containers, and amazon boxes.  

and while the months have been moving past, life has also been happening.  right under our noses.  

as you may know, our family has a long tradition of making a "summer bucket list" each year, complete with items we'd like to accomplish in a summer.  some of the things are annual traditions and special events, while others are foods we want to try, or new experiences we'd like to explore.  in the past we've done our best, but we've never quite crossed all the things off our list.  this year, however, what with a distinct lack of camps and events, provided a bit more time to tick things off the list.  and we completed every item, including making our own potato chips and ice cream, and trying poutine and pavlova.  we picked blueberries, hiked many trails, and made (and destroyed) a Covid-19 pinata.  we celebrated birthdays and anniversaries, went on trips, replicated paintings, did chalk art, camped in the back yard, had a yard sale, and much more!  it was a busy summer, but it served to highlight one of the silver linings of this dark cloud that has been 2020: a renewed commitment to, and benefit from, extended family time.  we've had moments when we've wanted to wring one another's necks, to be sure, but we've had many more moments of laughter, of serious discussion, of playing, and of just being a family in the middle of a crazy season.  maybe we can't quite check off "surviving a pandemic" from our bucket list, but making the most of the season, and blooming where we are planted?  check.  

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