Between our family, neighbors, and church, we are so grateful to be surrounded with community. I don't know how we would otherwise stay sane in the midst of social distancing. We are in the middle of our sixth (!!) week of sheltering in place and the new normal still doesn't feel normal, but having these threads of connection to other people is part of what's helping us through this strange time.
We have weekly happy hours with our neighbors, a social distancing approved Easter egg hunt--hiding eggs in each others' yards (along with a not-social distancing approved visit from the Easter Bunny). We've had birthday celebrations, a water balloon fight, and just this evening, we had a neighborhood block party (with 6' of spacing, of course).
With their Easter haul
The kids were so delighted to see the Easter Bunny (one of our neighbors in costume), that I couldn't bring myself to tell them to stay 6' away. Jad, however, was terrified. He wouldn't let Nik put him down for a good long while after the bunny had left, and he will still say "scary" and look towards the front door when he remembers the bunny
Water balloons!
Couldn't trust our kids to stay away from everyone else, so we picnicked on our front lawn..
.. while other folk socialized while 6' apart
Our kids have made themselves right at home on Jack and Kaye's front lawn and stop to roll around on their lawn almost daily, and occasionally the couple pop their heads out to chit-chat. We even had two neighbors drop off masks. We've also been doing group take out orders and picking up groceries for each other. This type of kindness and neighborliness is seemingly rare nowadays and makes me feel so lucky to live where we do.
They just love Uncle Jack's yard
Jack and Kaye. The kids love their yard and always end up bringing lemons home.. we have at least 10 in our fruit bowl -_-
Our church has also been an integral community. The Sunday service livestreams have helped me stay grounded and give some semblance of routine in a time when every day is pretty much the same and it's easy to lose track of the days. The Slack chats and random drop offs of food are wonderful, keeping us feeling connected even while staying apart.
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