Our life pre-March 15 was full of hustle and bustle and our summer was set to be very much the same. Our normal June is filled with swim and dive practice and long nights spent dodging thunderstorms to get in the meets. Friday nights spent with friends grilling at the pool and staying up too late. Then in July ballet camp kicks in and Carter spends his days working on his summer helpers business and coding. But this summer, life has changed. I choose to look at this unexpected summer as a gift.

For years we have talked about spending weeks in North Carolina. We are lucky enough to have a beautiful place on the water bustled away in quiet eastern NC and access to my brother’s beach house in Nags Head. As we started planning our summer we decided it’s time to take those weeks and enjoy life at a different pace. A pace best described as morning rush hour is getting stuck behind a piece of farming equipment on a winding two-lane road with double yellow lines.

This year our summer days will be….. Days spent on the pier fishing and checking our crab pots. Days spent deciding if we paddleboard or kayak. Days spent exploring new places around us and revisiting our favorites. Days making precious memories.

The greatest gift of this is weeks with my parents – the kids have named it Camp GiGi and Gramps. This is time we would not have taken in our normal hustle and bustle but time we will cherish.