We have come to Berea as a family every summer since Sophia turned four.
This was Alannah's second trip and her Dad's first.
It was also Jada and Jayden's second Berea Summer. The first year they had joined our family only a week earlier as three month olds. And there was nothing to better bond us than sharing a cabin.
Due to the pandemic, Berea was not able to open this summer as a camp but instead offered family get-a-way weekends. We enjoyed three of these to one of our favorite places in addition to our usual week in August. I was also able to spend some time there in September and Joshua had his own cabin for a few days in August.
Drinking coffee while watching the mist rise off the mountains. Kissing hair that smelled like campfires. A week where phones only operated as clocks and cameras.
And winds from a hurricane, which took our electricity, but gave us waves.
Similar to how she won't recall a time in her life before we were a fostering family, I love that she won't remember a time without Berea. This year, we appreciated it more than ever. While her birthday trip to visit her Nana and Bop-bop had to be cancelled this year due to the pandemic, we were still able to go that same weekend for our first Mother-Daughter weekend. We are already looking forward to celebrating Sophia's 8th birthday there in May!
