July 2021 was a funny month for our siblings. It was going to be a big month for Little E. It was the month of celebrating her seventh birthday and finally getting the chance to perform in her dance show. Both siblings were preparing to say goodbye to their current school years which included preparing Ethan for his move into the senior side of the school. Instead in July 2019, our siblings experience school closures and even isolation.
At the start of the month, Ethan’s school had to close due to covid. There was a handful of children and staff who tested positive. The contact tracing got so complicated that they were advised to shut the school. All children and pupils then became close contacts of someone with covid. This meant that Ethan then had to enter a period of isolation. We also ordered him an NHS PCR test. Our first experience of giving him a PRC test was terrible and something I was keen not to repeat. Since then because of booking our Disney Magic Seacation we had been practising. This test experience was a bit easier ad thankfully he got a negative result.
With Ethan in isolation, Little E’s July was turned upside down. We had to cancel her seventh birthday tea. It was arranged for her actual birthday but that was the first weekend we had to keep Ethan away from people. Thankfully the tea was only with her grandparents and our friends so it wasn’t too much to cancel. But it was still upsetting news to break to her and I was so proud of how she handled it.
This isolation also caused disruption to Little E’s ballet show. I was unable to go and watch her perform as I opted to stay with Ethan. Darren went to see her show taking his parents along too. He recorded her dances and sent them to me so I could watch them. I was sad about it and did think about pulling her out of the show. That would have been totally selfish of me. The children had to postpone this show so many times due to covid it was only right that Little E got to perform it.
Thankfully Ethan came out of his isolation period before our trip to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour. Darren had taken me to visit the Harry Potter tour for my 35th birthday. I was excited to experience the Harry Potter tour with our children. We waited until we thought the children were old enough to enjoy it. Little E loved the Wizarding World in Universal Studios as a toddler without any knowledge of the Harry Potter films. We had a fantastic day and we visited before some of the covid restrictions were lifted. The reduced numbers really made the experience fantastic for Ethan and Little E.
Ethan was able to go back to school to spend his last three days in juniors. Ironically, Little E’s school closed due to a rise in covid cases. This meant her summer holidays started early. This did lead to some tears as I think all the children felt like they didn’t really get a chance to say goodbye to their teacher.
July 2021 did end on a high for our siblings as the summer holidays were able to start with another beach hut day. This time at Walton-on-the-Naze. We also did get the chance to celebrate Little E’s birthday at her rescheduled birthday tea.
