The Botanical Gardens

This post was written Sept 10, 2020. 

We have been trying to slowly come out of our shell. To be perfectly honest, we have been struggling with what a good balance is in terms of social distancing at this point. Because of the pandemic, we forced ourselves not to travel this summer, though we had many wonderful plans, and we are home schooling this year, as you may already know. We stopped visiting restaurants all summer, and Quijote did most of the shopping, while the children and I stayed home pretty much 100% of the time. We knew from the start of this whole thing that the summer was unquestionably going to be our hardest season, and that not everyone would be willing or able to do the same, but we accepted that, knowing that since it was in our power to protect our children (and others around us), then it was our responsibility to do so. I think summer was the time we knew it would be possible to be absolutely sure that our kiddos would be ok, and we didn't know if, or rather we hoped, that maybe things would go back to normal after that. If not, all we could do was keep the kids home from school, but then what? Would we continue to shelter at home indefinitely? For a year? We didn't decide that far in advance, other than "as long as we can." Fall is here, school has started for us all, Quijote's in person teaching included, and we are all feeling very claustrophobic. Our children, especially, are now showing signs of stress which have made me rethink our level of distancing. I do not think we can continue to stay home 100% of the time. Even though it is getting colder, we want to continue taking the kids outside as much as possible, but aside from that, we have also decided to slowly take steps towards a new normal that might be a little out of our comfort zone. 

We do want to minimize contact, aside from the exposure that by necessity Quijote will come across. But we will now actually start having a little contact. I told Miss E, whose birthday is coming up in early October, that while a full blown party is not possible, maybe she can have a friend or two over. She and Mr E are debating whether they should be birthday twins. (Quike side note~ maybe I should explain that they have decided that they are twins, ever since one of my friends told me there is a term, "Irish twins," which people use for siblings like Mr and Ms E, who are born only one year apart. So now titles, bedrooms, and even birthdays are being rearranged to fit this fun idea they've been entertaining.) Well, maybe it will be a double birthday bash. Who knows. We have also decided to very carefully start going to restaurants (though we'll be eating outside and during slow hours) and have actually already been to Blue Sky Burger for some hotdogs, burgers, and chocolate malts. And as I've mentioned before, we will be giving Girl Scouts a shot (mostly outside, with masks, and maintaining social distancing and overly cautious hygiene).

But all of that was to introduce a recent adventure we also had, in the spirit of being a little more fearless. Yes, I know that was a lot of explaining. But that entire thought process was an important part of our inner lives and, you know, posterity and all. In any case, though the A Botanical Gardens are outside, we did not visit before because we consider this place a high traffic public space. Still, I am so glad that we decided to scout it out last week! As it turned out, we only saw a couple once, and from afar, but the entire rest of the time, we were completely alone. The place is already a beautiful space, and the butterflies were everywhere! The kids had a great time running around and enjoying the wonderful weather. It was too short a visit. I want us to go back soon, as a family. The GS troop will have their start of the year ceremony there, too.

 

I apologize that this post is getting published later than its original writing date. Im not sure what happened. But I'll take advantage that Im adding this note, to also add some videos of the kids playing in the gardens. Quick reminder- if you're viewing this on a phone, you might have to click on the "view web version" option below (under the home button) to see the videos. Otherwise they dont show for some reason. Oh, or you could also just view this post on a computer web browser of course.

They are actually yelling "FREEDOM" whilst running amock in this one: 

 

They definitely had a lot of fun. But yeah... We gotta get them out more, before signs of stress go beyond a bad dream or two and a battle cry for freedom. Difficult choices...