A small snapshot of our summer at Casa Almanza.

On the day this was posted, June 26, 2020, the Texas state government ordered all bars to shutdown and restaurants to reduce capacity to 50% starting Monday. This order came as the state has seen a significant spike in COVID-19 cases. Since June 1, cases in Texas have doubled and hospitalizations have nearly tripled. The Texas Medical Center, one of the largest concentrated medical areas in the world, is at 100% capacity for ICU beds. One wonders how many lives would have been saved and how much fallout could have been avoided if we had done things right the first time.

All that said, as we continue to distance socially, remain at home, WEAR FREAKING MASKS when out in public, and look after each other, there is small comfort in knowing that we, as a family, are safe and managing through the pandemic as best we can. The kids will not know 2020 as the year of COVID-19. They will learn about it later, as well as much more, but for now, we feel our responsibility, other than keeping them safe, is ensuring their house continues to feel like a home, with some joy, many rainbows, some homemade pizza, gardening, and several backyard outings featuring various water sports.