Ah man. The decision to get out for one family vacation this summer was a difficult one for me. I spent most of June trying to decide if the world was going to implode while targeting a trip to the Midwest during the last week of July/first week of August. Then, half by accident, I got a promotion at work and they needed me to be available starting July 27th. Suddenly our window of opportunity for travel was closing up so we decided to go for it. When I say “go for it” I mean I got tested for COVID19 due to a lingering cold, we pulled the boys from daycare for a week, and hunkered down full quarantine style once again. To ease everyone’s anxieties my brother and sister-in-law also held their kids home from daycare the week before our visit and my parents stayed home save for one grocery store trip. We essentially created our own little bubble as best we could.
The week we spent at home prior to hitting the road was not wasted. I stocked up on some semi-permanent hair dye for the boys as a little end of summer fun and a surprise for Grandma and Grandpa in Wisconsin. Semi-permanent hair dye on kids in the summer is laughable–“lasts 30-45 washes”–they might have gotten wet that many times all summer if you count splashing in the pool. I had not dyed hair before but I only ruined one pair of shorts with the bleach (William’s) and Christopher was convinced the bleach was burning him so his color wasn’t as bold. The boys picked red (Andrew), blue (Christopher), and I talked William into orange. You should have seen the looks we got in gas stations along I-80! Needless to say the pictures from this year’s trip are memorable. I warned my brother in advance the annual cousin photo would look a little different this year, but left the surprise for Grandma and Grandpa. I think it worked.
We rented a minivan again this year which has worked really well for us in the past. This was our 3rd year driving. We had considered finally flying again this year before the whole global pandemic thing happened. Needless to say, flying was not compatible with my anxiety. The rental van (with black interior) sat on the black pavement all day on a 99 degree day in Utah before we picked it up. If that didn’t at least knock the COVID down a bit, the Lysol wipes I hit it with should have done the trick. Everything got sanitized before we loaded up and it felt like our own little rolling safe haven on the road. Rest stops this year were planned to be outdoors and as distant as possible. Drive, mask, hand sanitize, drive was the pattern. We made really good time for the most part, as there wasn’t any sightseeing and the kids were content to just drive and play devices, look out the window, nap, etc. The boys are REALLY good road-trippers, thankfully that part has gotten a bit easier each year as they grow older. It was interesting that as we were traveling, the other folks at rest stops along I-80 who were also obviously traveling were all cautious and masked, but at any small town gas stations all bets were off.
This year we stayed at the old Koenig house on the farm again. It’s been super nice to have our own space to unwind after a long day of fun. This year my dad had the kitchen all torn out, so as long as you don’t mind filling your coffee pot in the bathroom each morning, it’s perfect. The boys had lazy mornings and energetic nights. It’s hard to fall asleep after busy days on the farm.
This year was perhaps the nicest summer weather we’ve had for a visit in all the years since I moved to Utah. The last 2 years it was so hot and humid that going outside was almost unbearable. William still mutters about how bad the bugs and mosquitoes were on our trip 2 years ago. Every year I hope for good weather so the kids can make memories of something other than bugs and feeling sticky. This year delivered! Gorgeous! Funny thing since there was really no place to “go” per say. We cut out all sightseeing this year due to the virus, but spent more time exploring on the farm. The kids picked berries, climbed rocks, helped move cows, had a water fight with cousin Clara, and tried (unsuccessfully) to wear out the tire swing. Jason tried to take them for a walk in the tall corn but they were convinced they would be lost 2 rows in.
Jim and Jen came up the day after we arrived and we got some playtime in with cousin Clara and checked out how big littlest cousin Ellie was getting. By next summer Ellie will be trying to run with the big kids. Andrew and Clara are super cute together. They are only 6 months apart in age and he frequently talks about his friend Clara. Clara likes hanging out with my boys as they do cool things like play Kindle and watch shows she doesn’t watch. We don’t Facetime as much as we probably should, but Clara and Andrew aren’t at the age with much attention span for that sort of thing. It’s amazing how they just mesh with how little they get to see one another. Super fun.
Uncle Jim got out his potato gun from high school which was a highlight for the kids and deserves an honorable mention all of its own. Something about a potato hitting the sides of the silo or the roof of the barn really got the kids going. He even let them each take a turn flipping the switch to make it shoot. They were pumped. Uncles are the coolest.
Unlike last year when every day brought another severe weather warning, this year’s trip only had one rainy day, and a pleasant one at that. The boys enjoyed seeing how hard it rains in the Midwest. It may have been the only real rain we got to see all summer. Rainstorms are one of the few things I miss living in the desert. The day was spent in the house playing Battleship and being lazy. It was good.
With most of our visiting canceled, we did manage to pay a socially distanced visit to the DeBaets grandparents for lunch and Grandpa Carl in assisted living. The boys showed the DeBaets’s how their marshmallow shooters worked and got to see some VERY new kittens. Grandpa Carl mostly chatted with Jason through the window but got to see the boys with their crazy hair. The pandemic has to be rough for Grandpa with assisted living on lock-down and Grandma having passed away the month before our visit. It’s just a strange year in a lot of respects.
One of the more shocking parts of our trip this year is that a really good family friend passed away unexpectedly the weekend we drove in. He had something called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) and although he had been hospitalized for several weeks, they only reached his diagnosis within a day of his death. It was pretty hard as he was my parents’ age, a longtime neighbor and friend, and the dad of my best friend growing up. His memorial was nicely done outside in the city park. My brother flew up from Dubuque, and being in town, I joined he and our parents to pay our respects. As our significant others both stayed home with the kids, it was just Jim and I and our parents. I cannot remember the last time the 4 of us did something as just that family unit. A good reminder to hold family close. Like I said before, a very strange year.
The last day of our trip we planned to spend the day playing with cousins in Dubuque. Andrew’s tummy however, had other plans. We spent our last day on the farm tending to a 4 year old with a stomach bug. I guess better in WI than on the road. We did manage to get to Dubuque at nightfall and enjoyed a quick breakfast with Jim and Jen and cousins before hitting the road.
Very thankfully, nobody got COVID from our trip and the kids made some memories other than humidity and mosquitoes. We had bonfires, rode 4-wheeler, chased fireflies, and all of the things you can do with a week on the farm with no place to go. Probably one of the best trips we’ve had to the Midwest with the kids. Hopefully by the next time we travel the hardest parts of the pandemic will be over and we will get back to our usual sightseeing and make the rounds to visit all of our friends. Until next time WI!
-The Baxters
