Summer of '20/ Part Two: Life

After living here for 2 years, it is obvious the best views are the sunsets :)

Evening walks to chase sunsets are fun but honestly, the heat from the summer days coming off the roads makes us all sweaty. haha. 

Doctor visits were almost weekly to take care of everyone's well visits and get Lucy her shots and records sorted out for the Cal Poly Athletic Department. The doctor found a slight curvature in Audrey's spine. We saw a specialist and he gave us the good news of it being a very mild scoliosis diagnosis. We'll be back to follow up in 9 months to see how it looks then!

Shopping for dorm room stuff! We waited 45 minutes to get into IKEA...kind of felt like Disneyland but once in, it was a breeze. She seems set!

Home church! How handsome is he getting?

Day in El Segundo for haircuts

Fourth of July!

Picking up championship trophies from city basketball :) Go Splashers!

Gardening has been a big theme for us this summer. Chester checking in on his bell pepper plant :) I am grateful Clay started this hobby for all of us to have enjoy...or just water his plants when he is out of town...

I decided to let my gray come in. Long story short, after letting it come in and really not liking how dark my color was, I just kind of thought...what if?! Noone else likes it but Clay. And that is okay!

Tie Dye day

Finished product for Audrey...the rest wouldn't model for me :)

The pool has been our saving grace during the pandemic and our favorite thing to do in the afternoons. I keep telling the kids, you'll remember having this fun pool, so don't take it for granted!

The sad/ exciting part of the summer came around the last weeks of July as Lucy got ready to leave to train with the basketball team.  Saying goodbye to Jwamee was hard on her.

Goodbyes with Emma and Melissa!

And then the real rollercoaster came. Emotions were high when saying goodbye to the family. A LOT of crying from Chester and Lucy and maybe me :)Jokes by Dad and Henry. Stoicism provided by Audrey :)

Sent her off with a full belly. She checked in the next day, took her covid test, quarantined and has now been practicing the last 2 weeks with the team. She calls us for advice about food, haha. She has been living with teammates in apartments during this whole thing. Such a weird way (for lack of me knowing how else to describe it) to send her off to college. BUT, she is loving it more and more!

Self portrait of me at 49 after sending our firstborn out into the world :)

View from a morning walk in our neighborhood. I have been out almost everyday. I have been getting up earlier and earlier this week, so my walks have been cooler and I can sometimes get Clay to come with me!

Portrait of Audrey looking like she belongs on a surfboard :) 

Clay napping on the landing...as we get our house ready to sell, he has realized how out of shape he has become with his job...poor guy.

Picking up freshman schedules with her friend Rylee from church.

Fire season has begun and I am not a fan. Again, sunsets are the specialty here and the smoke makes some gorgeous ones. We have eaten from the garden with herbs and tomatoes. Clay must love me a lot because I could eat these little sweet 100's everyday if I could.You can see our summer has been here and there but not everywhere. It's been slow paced which I like and really needed. My format on my blog is all messed up, not sure what happened but maybe it's a sign to change things up a bit. We really are getting our house up for sale. It's a pretty one. We have been told it is a "sellers market". We shall see. But in my mind, I guess we should be prepared to leave sooner than I had anticipated. All I know is that on top of life looking different from the coronavirus, it is going to have a very different view in a few months. I think we all might like that very much:)