During this weird time of social distancing, birthdays and celebrations have been transformed.  In this episode we discuss many new ways you can celebrate - and some of these ideas just might stick even after things get back to normal.

We organized the celebration ideas into these categories:

Activities for your family or quarantine group (06:54) Surprises you can deliver to someone’s home (16:47) Virtual celebrations and recognitions (22:53) (Safe and quick) Drive-bys & yard visits (29:44)

1. Activities for your family or quarantine group (06:54)

Make a list of activities you can do together and then let your special person pick several from the list - maybe make a whole weekend of it!  Keep reading for lots of ideas that you can put on your list.Bike Ride or Hike on a Trail.  Check out the beautiful trails at J.R. Alford Greenway... many of the trails are wide, allowing people to stay distant from each other.Canoeing or Kayaking.  If you need to rent equipment, check out Wacissa River Canoe & Kayak Rental.  850-997-5023  (They were open as of 4/15, but make sure to double check before you go.)  Others might be open too so call around if you know of other places close to you.  Bake a cake from scratch!  When was the last time you baked your own cake?  Or some else’s cake, for that matter?Cook together with the people in your household - try new dishes.Order Take-out dinner and eat somewhere fun.  Check out OEV's Open for Take-out map to what's open.  This is a great way to support local businesses.Yard Game Trifecta or Board Game Trifecta.  Pick three games.  Whoever wins 2 of 3 is the champion.  Works best with 2 people or 2 teams of people.  My husband and I used to play against each other before we had kids and now we each pair up with one kid and play 2-on-2.  So fun!More Games!  Our family's favorite board games right now are:  Catan, Taboo, Ticket to Ride, Pictionary, Chess.Gift Treasure Hunt. We hid gifts all over the house and made my son find them on his birthday morning.  Since some were pretty hard, we gave him three life-lines:  Phone a Friend, Hot/Cold, Hint.  *See bottom of page for the clues we used.Create a Garden.  Perfect for this time of year.Start the day with Doughnuts! And support a local business at the same time... we recently got to-go from SoDough on my son's birthday... yumm!And now a few activities especially for kids:Water Balloon Fight!  When’s the last time you’ve had a water balloon fight with your kids?  For us, never until quarantining but now this will be a new tradition because it was so much FUN!!“YES” day.  This is where you try to say "Yes" to whatever your kids want to do, eat, etc. (Within reason, of course! Safety first, always!)Embrace the Quarantine Theme.  This is especially fun for 1 year olds who won’t know the difference, but might appreciate some memorable pictures later.  I've seen pictures of babies in cribs with signs that say “None of you are invited."Bounce house – just for your kids.Magic show by Silly Philly!!!  We hired Silly Philly the Magician for my daughter's 5th birthday and it's still one of our all-time favorite parties.  He can set up a magic show outside and far away from people.

2. Surprises you can deliver to someone's home (16:47)

Make a meal to drop off or order takeout.  Check out OEV's Open for Take-out map to what's open.  This is a great way to support local businesses too.Drop by for a surprise driveway visit and sing Happy Birthday from out of your sunroof or window.Lofty Pursuits is doing to-go and delivery – send someone a surprise sweet treat from Lofty!Smallcakes is offering DIY cupcake decorating kits.Redemptive Love does goat grams or llama grams!!!  Or their unicorn and llama will lead your birthday parade.  Or the llama will join your zoom meeting!!  The llama even has a graduation suit to celebrate your graduate.