big kids in the neighborhood

Leah said the other day that one good thing about this pandemic is, when the kids are out of the house playing with neighborhood friends, at least you know they're not actually in someone else's house playing video games. It's true, the forced outside time is leading to lots of energetic and imaginative play—and lots of sitting around on the porch together telling jokes and stories, which is good too. But the most exciting development is that the kids are now starting to go places together! A couple days ago Zion and Elijah went up to the library and playground with their friend from across the street (I went too as a chaperone, but I stayed decently far away the whole time). Then yesterday all the boys plus three friends biked to Chip-In to get candy. Neither of those were first-time happenings, but it does seem like outings like that are getting easier and more frequent. Seems good!