I’m absolutely exhausted but I wanted to share a quick update and then go into more detail later on if need be.

We wore our KN95 masks and broke quarantine today for the first time in 173 days. That means we came into direct, sustained contact with other people for the first time since this all began.

The reason for this was vaccines. Elliott and Emmett each needed a vaccine. Elliott needed his MMR booster and Emmett started his HPV. Elliott had his MMR delayed for health reasons when he was little and he needed to get caught up. Gavin needed labwork and all four of us needed flu shots.

We visited Akron Children’s Hospital for the boys vaccines and Rite Aid for our flu shots. I wanted to make this the only trip that was necessary. Akron Children’s went to great lengths to keep everyone safe and I appreciate that.

I was able to make arrangements with Rite Aid so we didn’t have to go into the store. They were absolutely amazing and we are so grateful for their help.

Since we had already broken quarantine, we stopped by and visited my Mom. We all wore masks and were outside the whole time, which wasn’t very long. Before we left I gave my Mom a hug. She’s recovering from major surgery and I haven’t been able to hug her since late February. It was brief but important and an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.

I did call Lizze afterwards to let her know we had stopped by to see my Mom and that we gave her a brief hug. Lizze said she would have been upset if we’d not given my mom a hug and she was in total support of my decision.

Both Elliott and Emmett had therapy tonight and did really well.

At the end of the day, we all made it out safely and are back in quarantine. The plan is for the boys to visit their mom around the second week of September.

All in all, today was a success.