I have been going to sleep-away camp for 8 years now, but this year I was sadly unable to go because of COVID. Instead of staying home all summer, my parents thought it would be more fun for us to go to Florida and stay at my grandparent’s condo. One of my three siblings decided not to go because he had the opportunity to work at a day camp in Pittsburgh. So my parents, my other two siblings, my dog, and I made the long drive to Florida. My mom and sister were there for about a month when they decided to go home to be with my brother. When they left they also took my dog, Phinn, with them.  

After they left it was only my dad, my twin brother, and me. There weren't any other kids in the whole building, but we had so much fun together that it didn’t matter. We would go for walks every morning and watch a movie every night.  My dad is a lawyer so he was busy a lot of the time. When he was working, Ben and I would go to the pool and swim. We were staying in a building with all elderly people so there were a lot of rules for the pool; we weren't even allowed any floats. 

Ben and I also became friends with a grandma who decided she wanted to take us to Serendipity in her Moke, which is a car that is a mix between a golf cart and a jeep. The car ride was very short and I had to wear a mask, but it was totally worth it because the frozen hot chocolate was delicious. There was also a really good smoothie bowl restaurant about a half-mile from us, and on our morning walks, we would go there. I always got a banana bowl and it tasted so good. 

My mom's cousin and her kids live in Florida, so we saw them about once or twice a week. She has two kids named Liv and Maddie. Maddie was born with one arm, and she is a very talented volleyball player. Last year she was asked to join the U.S.A. Paralympics volleyball team, which I think is super cool. Liv is also an athlete and plays soccer. On Father's Day, we decided to rent a boat for the day and explore the intercoastal with Liv and Maddie. After that, we went to their house to play some floor volleyball, which is what they use in the Paralympics. It’s like volleyball, but because most of the players have prosthetics, they sit down to play and slide around on their butts. We had so much fun hanging out with them. 

There were a few weeks that we weren’t hanging out with my cousins.  Coincidentally, exactly two weeks after we saw them their dad was diagnosed with COVID. My dad had to get tested, and luckily he didn’t have it. My brother and I weren't able to get tested because in Florida they didn't have testing for kids that resided out of state.

After a long two and a half months, we were ready to go home. Overall, I had a really fun and amazing summer, even though I wasn't able to go to EKC.