It's spring! I'm loving the longer days, the extra sun, and warmer weather. This past Saturday, my cousins and I met up at Garret Mountain Reservation, a huge local park with lots of different areas to see. It was so much fun and honestly, we mostly just sat around talking. Aside from my family pandemic pod, I hadn't really seen my other extended family members. Some of my aunts and uncles, I haven't seen in a year and then my other cousins, we had done pretty well with outdoor get-togethers during the summer but once it got cold, we had to stop. So this was the first time a bunch of us had hung out since September, if I don't count the 10 minute drive-by on Christmas day.
It was just one of those days that make you stop and appreciate the little things. That we're all healthy (okay, this isn't so little in light of everything!). That we can find a way to hang out outdoors safely. That we can watch the newest member of our family run around in his walker and squeal over how cute he is (I know I'm biased, but baby Ian is so freaking cute!). That we can catch up on life and talk about everything, from more serious stuff to the random ongoings of our day-to-day. Even though I had been missing our hangouts, this made me realize just how much I did. And like I said, it wasn't anything crazy. We literally just picked up Dunkin Donuts to eat outside, drove to the park, sat around talking, the boys had their skateboards, we all took in the views, and chilled. If there's one single takeaway from the pandemic, it's to not take moments like this for granted.
Then after we each went our separate ways, I asked my younger cousin if we could stop by the equestrian center in the park. I hadn't been there since Alexa and I went horseback riding back in 2014. I loved seeing them! Except I couldn't pet them because there were signs everywhere saying not to because apparently they bite?! (I think that was a lie but I wasn't going to chance it.) Between all the horse books I've been reading, watching Heartland, and this recent visit, I totally want to go riding again. Hopefully sometime this year I'll make that happen!
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What have you been up to lately?
And more importantly, one year into this pandemic,
how are you all feeling?
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