Essential Driveway Happy Hours
One of my favorite things to come out of this time at home has been driveway happy hours. I love that we get to see our friends and family while still keeping our distance and being in the fresh air. And I also love the simplicity of being together this way. Nothing distracting. Nothing entertaining. Just friendships, yard chairs, and maybe some good music.
We went over to see our friends last night after seven weeks of being apart! Quinn, Danielle, and their daughter, Layla, are some of our closest friends (you’ve probably seen us vacation with them a few times in the past). They are the kinds of friends that you really can just do nothing with and have a really great time. But they are also the kinds of friends who drink too much with you in the Keys and get tattoos… so, the best of both worlds, really!
Usually when we hang out with them, we are in our pools or we have game nights for the adults while the kids swim. But with everything going on we decided not to play games because everyone would be touching everything and we decided not to have the pool because neither of us were ready to have people in our houses yet. So, we did what we do best… we sat around drinking in the driveway. Chris and I brought the kids bikes and scooters and rollerblades, and so the kids played in the cul de sac while the adults caught up after two months of not seeing each other.
Another way we tried to limit physical interaction was by bringing our own cooler with our own snacks and drinks. I used my beach cooler, which is one of my favorite things ever. I’ve had it for five years now and it still looks brand new.
Another thing I love about it is that it wipes clean really easily and then folds down to fit into a small space in my storage closet.
Inside our cooler, I packed whatever beer I could find for Chris (which was nothing fun that night – sorry, pookey).
I packed an extra unsweet tea for myself to refill my cup, if I needed. And, no, I don’t normally have these individual bottles, but my grocery store has been out of my favorite Gold Peak tea for WEEKS and I had to take what I could get!
I packed water bottles for each of the kids filled with ice water, but they didn’t end up using them, actually.
For snacks, I packed Goldfish and veggie straws for the kids in my reusable sandwich bags. I’ve had these since Christmas and I LOVE them. We haven’t bought plastic sandwich, quart, snack, or gallon bags in five months!
For Chris and me, I packed some cheese, pepperoni, and Triscuits. I couldn’t have the Triscuits because of my keto diet, but the cheese and pepperonis were delicious and Chris ate his with the crackers, so everybody wins.
It was such a fun, simple night seeing our friends again. The kids rode bikes all over their neighborhood and stole mangoes from the neighbor’s yard (not really because no one lives in the house right now). It was good for them to be out of the house and playing somewhere different for a while, too.
Things look so different these days. We are all finding new ways to interact and socialize in ways that keep us safe and responsible. It’s hard not to run up and hug a friend or share an appetizer dip (Danielle and I love buffalo chicken dip like nobody’s business…) or even sit at a table together. But if you can get a little creative, you might find some new normals that can be just as fun as your old ones!
