Fourth of July in Austin!
Thursday, July 2-Monday, July 6
I typically go to visit Mom on the East Coast for about a week around the 4th of July holiday, since it's a great time to be near the beach. This year, of course, everything is different... Since she wasn't comfortable with having visitors in her hours right now, I instead headed off to Austin to spend time with J, B, and C. Mr. E and I had missed our usual C birthday visit earlier in the spring due to the pandemic and the Texas travel restrictions, so this was a great way for me to have some long-delayed family time.
I took a vacation day on Thursday for travel purposes and had time in the morning for yoga and my swim workout at the CAC (so glad it's open again!!!) before heading to the airport for my 10:15am Southwest flight to Austin via Phoenix. All was just fine with the travel experience, and I arrived 30 minutes early so was at J's house before 6pm. She was still working, unfortunately, so I unpacked and then hung out with B and C. Once J was wrapped up for the day, we all got into our swimsuits and made our way out to their new backyard pool. So awesome!!! C and I were the fastest to make our transition, so we got a little play time on our own. Then J, B, and I put together some snacks and drinks to enjoy poolside (C had already eaten his primary dinner) and spent the rest of the evening outside on the pool deck. It's pretty amazing how the heat and humidity aren't so bad when a pool is just steps away!
J and I both had to work on Friday, but she was able to go to morning yoga after she dropped C off at his camp. I did a Zumba workout in my room and then swam about 1/2 mile in the pool to stretch afterwards. It wasn't much of a "cool"-down since the pool is quite warm, but it was still just so lovely to have such immediate access to the water. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. J did some errands on her way home from yoga so we had plenty of food for dinner, and we again spent the evening out by the pool.
Saturday morning followed a similar pattern except that there was no camp drop-off for C. I chose that morning for my run, since the forecast showed it to be the coolest day during my visit. J needed to fit in some work time, so C split his time between me and B. In the mid afternoon, we started to get ready for our evening guests, a family with three kids who have come over almost each weekend to hang out ("COVID-crew" aka "pandemic posse" aka "in the bubble"). I had met them previously at C's birthday parties, so it was a very comfortable and enjoyable gathering for pool time, dinner (grilled steak, salmon, and veggies), and fireworks. Quite a few of the neighbors also lit off fireworks, giving us a nice display all around.
On Sunday, we spent the morning in a similar fashion, and my pool time included some clean-up of the fireworks debris that had landed in the water. Then more family time and some J work before more pool in the late afternoon. After we got cleaned up, we pulled out leftovers for dinner and watched "Hamilton" while we ate. C got a little grumpy and tired, but we still managed to make it through the entire production, although he did miss some of it while spending alone time in his room.
My return flight on Monday wasn't until mid afternoon, so J, B, and I all worked for most of the morning. Luckily, my schedule wasn't too full, so I was able to take some breaks for some final time with C, especially while J was at yoga. Then back to the airport for my return to Sac via LAX, arriving home to Mr. E and the kitties around 6:30pm.
So absolutely wonderful to see family! And that pool is fabulous!!!
I typically go to visit Mom on the East Coast for about a week around the 4th of July holiday, since it's a great time to be near the beach. This year, of course, everything is different... Since she wasn't comfortable with having visitors in her hours right now, I instead headed off to Austin to spend time with J, B, and C. Mr. E and I had missed our usual C birthday visit earlier in the spring due to the pandemic and the Texas travel restrictions, so this was a great way for me to have some long-delayed family time.
I took a vacation day on Thursday for travel purposes and had time in the morning for yoga and my swim workout at the CAC (so glad it's open again!!!) before heading to the airport for my 10:15am Southwest flight to Austin via Phoenix. All was just fine with the travel experience, and I arrived 30 minutes early so was at J's house before 6pm. She was still working, unfortunately, so I unpacked and then hung out with B and C. Once J was wrapped up for the day, we all got into our swimsuits and made our way out to their new backyard pool. So awesome!!! C and I were the fastest to make our transition, so we got a little play time on our own. Then J, B, and I put together some snacks and drinks to enjoy poolside (C had already eaten his primary dinner) and spent the rest of the evening outside on the pool deck. It's pretty amazing how the heat and humidity aren't so bad when a pool is just steps away!
J and I both had to work on Friday, but she was able to go to morning yoga after she dropped C off at his camp. I did a Zumba workout in my room and then swam about 1/2 mile in the pool to stretch afterwards. It wasn't much of a "cool"-down since the pool is quite warm, but it was still just so lovely to have such immediate access to the water. The rest of the day was pretty uneventful. J did some errands on her way home from yoga so we had plenty of food for dinner, and we again spent the evening out by the pool.
Saturday morning followed a similar pattern except that there was no camp drop-off for C. I chose that morning for my run, since the forecast showed it to be the coolest day during my visit. J needed to fit in some work time, so C split his time between me and B. In the mid afternoon, we started to get ready for our evening guests, a family with three kids who have come over almost each weekend to hang out ("COVID-crew" aka "pandemic posse" aka "in the bubble"). I had met them previously at C's birthday parties, so it was a very comfortable and enjoyable gathering for pool time, dinner (grilled steak, salmon, and veggies), and fireworks. Quite a few of the neighbors also lit off fireworks, giving us a nice display all around.
On Sunday, we spent the morning in a similar fashion, and my pool time included some clean-up of the fireworks debris that had landed in the water. Then more family time and some J work before more pool in the late afternoon. After we got cleaned up, we pulled out leftovers for dinner and watched "Hamilton" while we ate. C got a little grumpy and tired, but we still managed to make it through the entire production, although he did miss some of it while spending alone time in his room.
My return flight on Monday wasn't until mid afternoon, so J, B, and I all worked for most of the morning. Luckily, my schedule wasn't too full, so I was able to take some breaks for some final time with C, especially while J was at yoga. Then back to the airport for my return to Sac via LAX, arriving home to Mr. E and the kitties around 6:30pm.
So absolutely wonderful to see family! And that pool is fabulous!!!
posted by jms | 4:23 PM
|
0 comments
