Summer 2020 in Virginia

It's been a crazy year for our country and the world, but our little family is doing great. Summer 2020 has been all about finding our rhythm in a new home, new state, and new routines. Matt is grooving into his new job, Lydia loves her preschool, Luke is weaned and sleeping through the night, so he and I are doing better than ever, and my work is going strong. We're happy to be together, out of the newborn stage, done with our moves, and past Matt's deployment. Life is good!

Matt graduated with his mater's in Supply Chain Management in June! He's spent the last 2.5 years taking classes while working full time and through an overseas Army rotation, and he still managed to graduate at the top of his class.

He also officially took command of his unit! It just so happened that Jenica was on the east coast this summer with Jordan, so she drove up for the ceremony at Ft. Lee. It was amazing to see her and such a coincidence that it worked out! After the ceremony she spent the day at our house. We miss her already!

Lydia's new preschool is great. Her mornings there add the perfect structure to our days, she loves playing with friends, and I've been amazed by the fun science experiments, art projects, and activities they do. She even memorized The Pledge of Allegiance! Meanwhile, Luke and I have quiet mornings at home, including uninterrupted one-on-one time, and an opportunity for me to work while he naps. Lyd's teacher, Ms. Nita, sends us pictures every day. Here are some of the highlights!

I feel like they're doing a great job staying safe in the pandemic, from taking our temperatures every day at drop off to making hand-washing a regular part of their school routine. But I'm glad the kids don't have to wear masks at school. 

In the afternoons before nap time, we usually go into Lydia's room, dump out all her toys, and she and Luke play (somewhat) quietly while I read chapter books. So far we've read the first 3 Laura Ingalls Wilder books, Ramona Quimby Age Eight, and The Trumpet of the Swan. Lydia loves listening, and Luke loves crawling around, climbing and chewing on things. It's nice when you find an activity you can all enjoy, and as I tell Lydia, "reading makes you smarter!" 

Father's Day was the day after my birthday (which I wrote about in an earlier post), and we celebrated with a spread of some of Matt's favorite foods and Lydia made him adorable crafts. 

We've done some fun, local, socially-distanced exploring this summer. One of the best was a trip to Charlottesville for u-pick peaches (and apple cider donuts) at Carter Mountain Orchard! It was a gorgeous day for it! Lydia wanted to see horses while we were there, so Matt found an equestrian center we could walk around. One of the trainers even came out and gave us a little tour! Lydia was in heaven and now she keeps asking us to buy her a horse.

Also HOW CUTE is Lukey in this picture?? He suddenly looks all grown up!

We love Charlottesville and can totally see ourselves living there one day.

We've also been to Yorktown Beach, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, new playgrounds (Luke loved filling his mouth with wood chips), the Tuckahoe Plantation where Thomas Jefferson grew up, and a nearby farm to pick sunflowers.

The craziest thing that happened this summer was experiencing a mall shooting. We're totally fine, but here's the story: both kids and I were at one of the big box stores attached to the outside of the main mall, so to get out of the mall you had to go through it. We were walking around when a crowd of people ran through the store toward the exit, yelling that there had been a shooting! I grabbed the kids and got out of there as fast as I could, shaking all over. By the time we were driving out of the parking lot, there were 10+ police cars and ambulances flooding into the area, sirens blaring. We read about the shooting in the news that night. Crazy!! Our area is usually really safe so this was totally out of the blue. 

Our 4th of July was pretty laid back since everything was cancelled (thanks, pandemic). Matt BBQed ribs (YUM!), we watched Hamilton, bought some fireworks, and after dark a bunch of neighbors came out into our cul-de-sac and all lit them off together. Luke loved watching them! Lydia had some fun patriotic art projects from school, too.

In July someone did a u-turn and side swiped my car, denting it so the driver's door would hardly open, then drove off. One of our neighbors saw it happen, but the driver got away before they could get their license number. The giant gash and dents on my car are repaired now, but it was in the shop for 6 days. We've never been more grateful for good insurance with rental car coverage!

My big project this summer was getting our house all situated. Even though we're just renting, moving from a two-bedroom apartment into a 4-bedroom house with a yard required a lot of new stuff! The house still felt pretty much empty even after we moved all of our things in. It was fun - and sometimes frustrating - dreaming up what our house could look like and making it happen. A friend from our new ward came over and helped me - she's an interior designer and made suggestions I never would have thought of, like putting our big book shelf in a closet to make a 'library.' There are still more projects to tackle, and it will never be Pinterest-perfect, but after living in so many short-term rentals, this house truly feels like ours. (It's funny how this 2 year assignment doesn't feel 'short term' after our 6-month/1-year assignments).

Now, more than ever, our house feels like a haven - away from the pandemic, safe from political and social unrest, the people rioting and tearing down Civil War statues in downtown Richmond, only 20 minutes from us, mall shootings, and crazy Virginia summer heat, humidity, bugs, snakes, and thunder storms. It's our safe little haven and we love it! 

Our ward has been super welcoming and I already have a calling, Matt spoke in (socially distanced) church (he took Lydia and I stayed home with Luke), and we both have ministering routes and have done porch visits to meet them. We feel welcomed and safe.

Looking forward to fall and all of the holidays - together in our new home!!