On Saturday, we took yet another step toward something that feels like a relic from “the before time.” We took the kids to their first post-COVID birthday party.

Amelia’s friend down the block had a birthday earlier in the week, and there was a party at the local community pool to celebrate. As is the custom in Colorado this time of year, the weather was perfect…the day before the party. Hot and sunny on Friday, but for the party on Saturday, unfortunately things were quite a bit cloudier and chillier.

Not that it stopped any of the kids from being the in the pool and having fun. The water was pretty warm and Amelia and Henry shuttled back and forth between the kids pool and the regular pool, literally shivering and saying, “I’m not cold!

After some time in the pool, we gathered with the group for cake and an actual birthday party. I admit, it felt more than a little weird to actually be with a group of people, having actual party conversation with people we hadn’t seen in over a year. It was surreal at first, and then as I got a little used to it, it was REALLY nice.

So kudos to our friends for putting on a nice gathering and reminding us what it felt like to be around other people for a little while. It does make me think that while a lot of the stops forward in the coming days, weeks and months are going to feel both weird and fantastic. So many of the little things we took so much for granted are going to feel so much more incredible after being gone for a year.

We are still being careful and trying not to get too far out ahead of ourselves, but we are hopeful to be engaging in more normalness in the months to come.