March 2020, a cottage stay and COVID-19

In mid-March, the shelter-in-place state order went out, and we were all instructed to stay home from school/work unless we were an essential business. Rich is an RN, so there was never a doubt that he would continue status quo. My job required me to continue to working as well, given that we have many hundreds of employees that needed assistance during the economic shut down. Luckily, Ryan has his Aunty Rosie closely watching over him, and his grandparents/cousins as well. However, he's largely a shut in outside of family time, and hasn't been outdoors much at all.

Thankfully, Hawaiian residents of the Big Island are still permitted to access beaches/water so long as they are engaged in physical activity/wellness (and not sunbathing/socializing). Like other states, this could change if beaches/parks become overwhelmed with visitors, but for now, we're still able to enjoy the great outdoors with a few limitations.

Ryan kayaking with a friend before socializing became a big no-no outside out of the members of your household

Our little homeschooler in action

We got to enjoy a final family dinner out before our restaurants closed...and Ryan took some gorgeous photos of the meal.

A few nights prior, before the order went out, I flew back from Kauai, where I'd traveled for work. I landed, hopped in my car, and drove straight to one of the restaurants to meet my family for an amazing family dinner together.

With the kids all home from school, my father capitalized on the free labor, and has been having the three boys all help to pressure wash and repaint their house. They work seven days a week, until the sun goes down, so Ryan is getting to experience a tiny snapshot of my life for the first 18 years.

Sneaking a break from Grandpa on the roof with their cell phones

We also had to celebrate Rich's birthday solo this year, as we can't gather in large groups. Thankfully, work provided me with a beautiful haupia cake for him!

We were also given an opportunity to stay in one of the beach cottages my bosses own, which allowed us to both shelter in place, and enjoy the beautiful outdoors. It's set on a very historic and scenic acreage- near a gorgeous beach, in 1-2 mile proximity to a large brackish water Queen's bath, among petroglyph fields, stunning bays, jagged lava fields, etc.

The final destination- Queen's Bath...a large brackish water pond to cool off/rinse in.

 

The King's Trail