Back when COVID hit in March, we had no clue what we had in store for this summer (did we seriously think it was going to be over in two weeks?! Here we are in September now. Sigh) We had a few camping trips planned, a trip out to Yosemite, and I had a slew of weddings booked. After March passed, then April, and we started creeping into May… I knew we were in trouble.

First Things First

The first thing I did was get on walmart.com and ordered a 14’ round intex pool. If my kids were going to be home all summer long, then we were going to at least stay cool! THANK GOD I did that when I did because right after that pools were completely wiped out!

Shortly after, our Memorial Day camping weekend got cancelled and then our trip to Yosemite quickly followed. I had already rescheduled 3 weddings at that point and the immediate future was not looking too promising. It was really quite disheartening (as I know you can relate since everyone was in the same boat).

Improvising

With nowhere to go and a “new to us” pop-up camper we were itching to use, we decided to improvise a little. It doesn’t take much to make my kiddos happy and create a little fun, so we hooked up and drove 45mins to my parents property in Huntington. As the unofficial kickoff to summer, we spent Memorial Day weekend “boondocking” on my Parents farm and had a blast!

(Boondocking is a term used by RVers to describe RVing without being connected to water, electric, or sewer. Because you’re not connected to any services it’s also called dry camping.)

Fingers Crossed

Next up on our Covid Summer checklist was our Vermont trip. As some of you may know, every year my family rents cabins on a lake in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom at the end of June. When June arrived and things were still pretty dicey, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I had my fingers crossed our Vermont trip would not get cancelled. It really came down to the wire, but thankfully we were able to go and it was a life saver for all of us!

All the Time in the World

I have never had so much extra time during the summer months! Typically I’m working a wedding almost every weekend and doing multiple shoots a week, not to mention all of the time I spend at my desk doing all the backend business stuff. It was a little bit of an adjustment at first, but I’m not going to lie, having my weekends free has been kinda wonderful! We planted a garden this year and I’ve spent a lot of time reading and enjoying our backyard!

Camping, Camping, & more Camping!

Our annual camping trip in August crept up quickly and we lucked out again with CT being a state that could travel to Maine without quarantine and/or a negative COVID test. Unfortunately the rest of our group couldn’t join us due to all being from MA, but we enjoyed our time at one of my most favorite places none the less!

Last but not least, we wrapped up the summer with a Labor Day weekend camping trip to Franconia Notch in the White Mountains NH. We visited the Flume, the Polar Caves, the Old Man Historic site, and also hiked along the Pemi Trail.

All in all, I really enjoyed actually having a summer for a change. Even though there were definitely some frustrating moments with my kiddos and times where we could really use some space, it was really nice to spend so much time with my family doing the things we love. Maybe this COVID summer has actually been a blessing in disguise?? Perhaps!

Thanks for reading!

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