Per our Morgan Family summer tradition, we had all been SO looking forward to our annual trip together with my parents, siblings, and cousins. This year's summer vacation was even more special than usual, because my parents had booked an extended stay in Lake Tahoe as a fun and new venue for us to explore together. Unfortunately, Covid-19 had other plans.
As we approached the end of June, it became clear that we wouldn't be able to enjoy our Morgan Family summer trip as we had in years past. But we couldn't let the summer go by without reuniting in some way. That's when we activated the Backup Plan - a long weekend at our house in Katy. It wouldn't be the same at all, but we were just so thankful that we had an opportunity to see everyone for an extended weekend. Jeff and I (and the kids) couldn't wait to get the fun started!
MeMe and Grandaddy arrived on a Thursday in late June, and the fun was underway. That meant late night games with Grandaddy as well as a hot day on the golf course, while MeMe and I shopped for grocery essentials for the upcoming weekend. We were ready!
The next day, it was time for the Morgan aunts, uncles, and cousins to arrive. Connor and Kaitlynn were beside themselves with excitement. Of course, we knew that things would feel very different on this visit due to the precautions everyone was taking to protect themselves from Corona. To be honest, we weren't sure what to expect, and we were all trying to be respectful of each other's feelings about said precautions.
Somewhere along the way before anyone arrived, Connor and Kaitlynn came up with an idea to try to trick their cousins into thinking that we were being extremely strict about our virus prevention rules in the Courtright household. Kaitlynn made a sign for the door saying "Masks Required!" and we gathered all of our face masks to cover our faces. When Uncle Jeb, Aunt Alli, and their 3 girls arrived at our house and ready for long-awaited reunion hugs, they pulled up to find Connor in the driveway wearing his mask and holding out his arms to request social distance and prevent the usual family hugs and greetings.
Uncle Jeb and Aunt Alli seemed a little caught off guard and definitely had some surprised looks on their faces. But, ever the respectful family members, they calmly turned around and walked back to their vehicle to find their masks and put them on before approaching the house. I would've loved to have been a fly on the wall to hear the comments they must've been making about the thought of spending their weekend with us in masks and PPE inside our house! We didn't make them suffer for long, though. As soon as they walked in, we couldn't contain our laughter and we let them in on the prank. What incredible sports they were! We laughed and laughed!
We had so much fun pulling off the prank with Jeb's family that we decided to try it again when Michelle and her girls arrived a couple hours later. This time, we ALL got into it. We had the sign on the front door, Connor wearing his mask in the driveway, and all of us were inside maintaining social distance waiting to greet Michelle, Renee, and Ryah.
When Michelle and the girls arrived, they were indeed caught off guard when they were greeted by Connor in a mask, asking them politely to grab their masks and keep their distance instead of the usual welcome hugs. Renee and Ryah seemed to go with the flow, while my sister Michelle promptly replied, "Wait, what?! I didn't drive all the way from Dallas to wear a mask inside the house!!"
Oh my word, she was NOT happy and she proceed to get more and more frustrated as she walked inside the house and saw how "serious" we all were with our social distancing. We carried the prank much farther this time, it was GREAT!! Finally, we let her in on the joke, much to her relief. It took her a minute to realize she had been PUNKED, and we all got the biggest kick out her reaction!
To mark the occasion of this very strange and surreal Morgan Family / Cousins weekend, we had our neighbor take some photos of our new "normal." Masks and social distancing were the name of the game in summer 2020.
All jokes aside, the cousins quickly fell right into step and began enjoying the long-awaited time together. Swimming, game-playing, Tik-Toking, and planning/choreographing for the annual Morgan Family talent show were at the top of the list of cousin activities for the weekend. It was so refreshing to have everyone together again, even if under less-than-ideal circumstances.
It seems like every summer that we reunite, there is always one of the cousins who has experienced a growth spurt which has caught everyone off guard. This year, it was no contest - Connor had achieved the biggest growth by far. Most of us are looking up to him now, and he even challenged Renee in the height category. Of course, anytime the height discussion comes up, we have to do a quick check to see how the Father vs. Son situation is progressing. Not quite there, but SO close!!
One of the highlights of every Morgan Family summer vacation is the long-awaited talent show, years ago dubbed the Morgan Freeman Talent Show. Kaitlynn and Marissa worked for hours and hours to choreograph several dance numbers, and this year they even added coordinating outfits to the mix. Of course, we later learned that the true winner of the "long game" was Ryah, who had been perfecting a suite of characters for months to introduce to us. Among the favorites were Jason and Christina, and to this day I can hardly keep a straight face when remembering them! Despite her best efforts, however, no one can ever seem to beat Kaitlynn and Marissa in the talent show. Their cuteness wins every time!
Side note: we take our talent show very seriously. Injuries may occur!
Besides the talent show, the other popular activities included pool time and food time. We had all the favorites on hand, including the long-time family Mexican staple, Lupe Tortilla. One of their gigantic party packs was just the perfect amount to feed our hungry crew and enjoy yummy leftovers for days on end.
As the weekend drew to a close, no one was quite ready to say goodbye. Connor, in particular, had missed out on some quality time with everyone due to previous baseball commitments. Due to the last minute tournament schedule, we ended up spending much of the weekend at the baseball fields, and Connor was super bummed to be missing out on that time with his cousins. We felt so bad about it, and we began wondering if we could find a way to extend the family fun.
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