We arrived in Charleston on Monday night after two very short, uneventful, on time flights (and a surprisingly enjoyable trip to a random sculpture park in St. Louis before we dropped the car off). This week we’re having a ton of fun staying with my cousin, who has two kids that are close in age to, and get along great with, my kids.
The Laumeier Sculpture Park
It’s pretty crazy to me that my closest cousin and I had kids that are so close. It makes me very happy, and it’s not lost on me how lucky I am to have it. My cousin and I see so much more of each other as adults because our kids love each other, and my kids get to have a special bond with a set of cousins, just like I had. I just feel really grateful.
Our first day in Charleston we got up late and puttered about. My cousin and I went grocery shopping (I popped my Publix cherry and holy shit was it big), then we had lunch and headed downtown to walk around. We walked along the water, then through the old City Market (which was built hundreds of years ago to sell enslaved people), and then through some picturesque streets and finally though a cemetery (my daughter loved that).
Oh my god the Oak trees here! Swoon!The planter boxes (and landscaping in general) are beautiful hereI love the Spanish moss hanging on the trees.
At home we BBQed with my other cousin (he moved to a house down the street from his sister!) and the kids played on the trampoline and chased around the chickens.
These chickens crack me up. They just stand around on the back porch, loitering. Big Momma knows she shouldn’t come inside, but she sure wants to.
Yesterday we went to Bee City Zoo, which used to be an animal rescue/reserve and which still allows guests to feed the animals. The kids has a great time letting lemurs snatch snacks from their hands.
This lemur cracked me up.
At the end of the visit we went on a “safari,” where they pulled a couple platforms into a giant pen and all the animals came up to visit (and get treats).
Yesterday afternoon we swam in my other cousin’s pool. It was so nice to cool off.
The first two days have been super fun. The perfect mix of memorable activities and downtime with cousins. I’m looking forward to the next three days. This is a great trip.
My husband returned home Friday night to find the cats in bad shape. Tl;dr – a lot of clean up was required and Panther was hissing at Serval, who has a bad cut under his eye. They have never fought before, not seriously, and we were pretty worried about them both. The good news is that 24 hours later they were both a lot better. The bad news is we’re not sure how to avoid a similar incident when we’re all away again in Hawaii. We need to find someone who wants to stay at our house, and we just don’t know anyone who is interested in that.
It was a really stressful 24 hours before we felt certain the cats were going to be alright. I didn’t sleep much one night and was very distracted the next day.
I’m so glad these two love each other again. Look at these sweet snuggles.
Our final days in St. Louis have been low key. We’ve had two events with my mom’s side of the family, which is very big. She was one of 12 kids and most of nine who are still alive live in St. Louis. Gatherings with her side of the family are loud and somewhat confusing for those of us who only see people once a year.
We spent yesterday at fun community pool with a couples slides, diving boards and a little lazy river. Yesterday the high was only 80 and it threatened to rain all day, so we came again today because my only other idea was 1.5 hours away and my kids play together great here.
I’ve gotten to see one of my cousins that I like a lot, but who has younger kids and has been pretty unavailable the last few years. This year we got to talk a lot and the was so nice.
Tomorrow we fly to Charleston. I love St. Louis but when every one is busy it’s hard to keep my kids occupied. I’m ready to head out on a new adventure, especially since their favorite cousin friends await us there.
[I worked out four times this past week and I’m quite pleased. The weather has been pretty cool so I got to run in 68-72* temps on two different mornings, which felt like heaven. I also did two strength training videos. I don’t think I’ll get to work out as much in Charleston but we’ll see.]
St. Louis has a lot of really fun things to do, especially for kids. I’ve always been very grateful that there are so many choices for ways to spend the day when I’m in the area to visit family. And many of them are free!
The Missouri Botanical Garden and the City Museum are not free, but both are worth the price of admission IMO.
We went to the Botanical Garden on Wednesday evening, after we got back from the farm. It actually was free to get in after 5pm, and there was a free concert at 7pm. We met my cousin and her two you kids at the start of free admissions. It was a beautiful evening and we loved seeing some of the new Chihuly scattered around the park as part of a summer exhibit.
Same installation, on the way out and wide angle. The whole entrance is new and this is part of it. This is not new, but I love it. All not new, but also a favorite.
The Botanical Gardens are a lot of fun, especially the kids area, which they revamped several years ago. That is where we hung out with my cousin for most of the afternoon. By the time the music started we were ready to leave. But the whole set up was really cool. People brought in entire tables to eat full course meals or play cards with friends. I’m sure the fact that it was a Wednesday after a holiday, and that the weather was gorgeous, meant we got to see the event in its full glory. I definitely want to go again next year.
Yesterday we went to the City Museum. It’s always been a favorite, but last year we didn’t go because of Covid (it’s crowded and mostly inside) and we weren’t in St. Louis for two years because of Covid too, so it’s been a while since we went. The kids remembered it immediately and were very excited to be there.
It’s hard to capture the insanity that is the City Museum. Everywhere you look there is something you can crawl into or climb. It’s sprawling and in a massive space and it just feels like you’re always missing half of what’s around you and you’ll never discover all it has to offer.
My son has been swallowed by a giant octopus!
About half way through the visit we watched the Harmony Circus kids do their act. It was a perfect excuse to sit down and have a snack. The kids were really good!
My family from the back. The ball balancing act was my favorite.
The area I liked the best this year felt new to me. It had lizards (so many bearded dragons!) and some cool fish installations. I could have hung out there all day, watching the chameleon walk around the enclosure.
Bearded dragon vs chameleon?!Axolotls!These fish eat the dead skin off your fingers and it feels like tickling.
It was cool enough out that we even got to spend time outside.
That kid in the tube under the plane’s wing is my son.
And. Is we’re heading to the zoo, which is incredible AND free. So much fun stuff to do in St. Louis.
We’re back from the farm. It was so fun. Being there, with all my family, is the best. It’s truly my favorite three days of the year. We all just get along so well. We enjoy each other’s company. We take full advantage of this incredible place that my uncle owns and loves to share with all of us. We laugh so so hard at all hours. It’s the best.
And I take a million photos (actually I take 1000+ photos) and most of them have people’s faces in them so I can’t share them here. But I will share a few that I can.
The quarry lake. It’s so beautiful. A pano – it’s hard to capture it in its full beauty. A group of kids swimming in the middle of the quarry (taken from the lawn behind the house.)A giant grass carp we saw swimming at the end of our final trip to the dock. The dock where we spend most of our time.
Last night they set off a ton of fireworks. My uncle buys about $500 worth every year and we get our own personal show. This year was kind of crazy. One adult got hit in the head with something (and it bled A LOT) and a small fire broke out (but it was contained almost immediately). Needless to say, it was a nuts finale to the weekend.
I love this shot of the chairs in the foreground. The fire. They just kept going after all the drama!What a way to end the weekend.
It’s hard for me to convey how special this trip is for me. I love seeing my cousins, who were (and are!) an important part of my life and I love that my kids get to spend this special time with their cousins. I create a photo book every year and make copies for every family so all the kids can remember how incredible these 4th of July trips are. It’s just the absolutely best and I’m so glad we could all go this year.
We’re in St. Louis until Monday, when we fly to Charleston to stay with my cousin. My husband flies home on Friday. I’ll keep posting with any other fun stuff we do.
Everyone made it to St. Louis. The kids and I got in at 3am after a delay in Minneapolis and my husband got in at 9am after a shorter delay in Chicago.
The Great Salt Lake. Fluffy cloudsOne screen of the “guess the movie with emojis” game my daughter and I played for over an hour.
By 3pm we were at the farm. It was a nuts 24 hours. The wait for our second flight was nuts (a closed restaurant was belting super loud music and it was driving me crazy). The line for the rental car was nuts (soooo long, soooo slow). The crowd at Culver’s was nuts (so big, so boisterous). But we made it and the afternoon was awesome.
The only shot I had without a cousin in it.
Last night we finally got to sleep for 8 hours and I feel so much better. Two nights of 3-4 hours was not working for me (my one night in my own bed I couldn’t sleep! It was awful!)
Today is going to be a good day. The sun is out and the quarry is waiting.
On Wednesday I got a negative PCR test and decided I was done worrying that I was going to get COVID. A negative PCR test six days after being exposed made me feel very confident that I had avoided infection.
That is the good news.
This morning my husband tested negative. He tested negative against this afternoon. I can’t really believe it. I was building a shed for my friend when he took the test. I squealed with joy when he FaceTimed me. I cried (hard) with relief when I hugged him later that day.
That is the better news.
I had the shed built by 1pm and then went for a run. The sun had finally come out (after a solid week of misty rain and highs of 59) and it felt so good to get out and stretch my legs after finishing the shed and getting the good news.
When I got home with the kids from camp, I immediately took apart the couch bed. I am so excited to sleep one night in my own bed before I’m gone for two weeks. I have not been sleeping well in the living room.
So now we’re definitely going. All of us. I packed myself and the kids earlier this week, but I’m not very confident that I packed us well. I guess we’ll see. I’m feeling more excited about the trip, but I’m definitely decompressing from this week. And I’m also pretty nervous to fly tomorrow. I’ve been hearing horror stories about flying this week and this week and I’m worried we’ll miss our connecting flight for some reason.
The family just watched Nimona, a Netflix adaptation of one of our favorite graphic novel that came out tonight (we liked it a lot) and my husband is doing dishes in the kitchen (Hallelujah!) I’m so excited to sleep in my bed tonight. Have I mentioned that? Because I am.
Yesterday was a hard day. I cried in the car. On two different occasions. I was kind of a wreck.
After I wrote the post on Monday evening, I did some stretching and I swear when I was doing a downward dog I felt a burning deep in my nose like water freeing itself. And then my head hurt much less when I crouched down! I was feeling so hopefully that my neti pot drama was resolving. But then that night I work up with the worst headache across the back of my head. I haven’t felt anything like that. It was awful. I took two Motrin Migraine pills and lay still until it subsided enough to fall back asleep.
The headache stayed away most of the day but started coming back in the evening. By bedtime I had taken more pain killers, but I was spiraling that I had other symptoms. I was sure I had gotten COVID. By the time I went to bed I just wanted to give up. I was so mentally and physically exhausted.
This morning I feel better. There are still echoes of the headache, but no other symptoms got worse over night. I’m testing now. And I made an appointment for a PCR test later today, since I have to go to Kaiser anyway to pick up an allergy Rx that took forever to come available. I’m so relieved I can get a PCR test. If it’s negative today, at day 6 (5.5?) I’m going to assume I’m good to go and stop wasting RATs on myself unless I develop new symptoms.
I’m realizing that I’m going to be sleeping in my living room and living out of clean laundry bags until I travel. This is part of what broke me yesterday. I’m just so tired of this whole arrangement. I’m just so tired. When I think about our trip I’m not even that excited anymore – all I can see is the work involved. This has all just been really stressful.
I’m so over living like this!
But I did get into the unit yesterday – windows open, husband away, double masked – to grab what I needed to pack myself. That helped calm some of my anxiety. I was really appreciative of him going to the backyard for so long, especially since it misty rained all the goddamn day!
I’m sure I sound like I’m blowing this all out of proportion. And that I’m not nearly appreciate enough of our unit, which allows us to isolate someone with COVID so thoroughly – I promise I am! Also, I’m not even working right now! And my kids are at camp! So why is this leveling me? I suppose it’s the uncertainty. And the loneliness. And the feeling that we’re dealing with this when no one else is even thinking about it anymore. It just sucks.
And while I wrote this on my phone my RAT got its 15 minutes. Only one line. Whew. Hopefully that will get me to my PCR test later today. In the meantime I gotta get these kids up and ready for camp. I also gotta get this cat out from inside my robe.
So I broke my brain with a neti pot. I’m not sure what exactly I did wrong but now, when I lower my head at all, I feel a searing pain across the back of my skull. It sucks so bad! I was using the neti pot in an attempt to ease my allergy symptoms, which have been driving me bonkers this year. I was using it daily, and I think initially I used it twice in the first day, and while I had a little bit of ear discomfort, it resolved quickly. Whatever I did the last time it is not resolving quickly. Tonight it will be 48 hours and the pain is not abating. The only positive is that I only feel it when I lower my head – but even when I crouch down (with my head upright) it hurts! It’s driving me crazy and I’m so frustrated that a supposedly non-invasive way of managing allergies backfired so badly.
{I do have wonky Eustachian tubes – I have to gently clear my ears a few times every day, and airplanes (and scubba diving when I used to do it) can cause serious problems. So I’m not surprised that I’m one of the “few people” the can experience adverse effects when I use a nasal saline rinse. I just hope it resolves and that I can find a way to use it that doesn’t cause this, because it really was helping to manage my symptoms.
Oh, and I forgot to update – my husband remains VERY positive, and my kid and I still remain negative.
So so positive! And on one of the shady tests they give out of work! I thought these things never showed a positive!
I got 10 more tests at Costco today ($10 off a box!) so we’ll have enough to test before we fly and before we get to the farm (the morning after we fly). I think if I don’t have symptoms by tomorrow evening I will let myself really believe we’re going to go. And of course every day after that I’ll feel more confident. My husband was exposed on Tuesday and felt awful by Thursday night. If we were following that same trajectory, we’d have symptoms by now (I slept next to my husband Thursday night and we started isolating him Friday morning). I’ve been taking Umcka and Airborne every day, just in case. At this point I think we probably avoided it, but we’re still in “the wait.”
The kids and I are not flying with my husband, so if he does need to cancel his flights, it won’t affect ours in any way. I really hope he gets to join us, but he would be the least disappointed to miss this trip (we’re visiting my family), so I’m just not as worried about him right now (I also feel fairly certain that he’ll be testing negative by then, but if he’s not, he’ll be okay bowing out).
Meanwhile I remain totally unmotivated to do anything around my house. I’m just doing enough to keep the chaos at bay. But my friend needs help putting up a shed and I told her I’d help her with that. She’s really good at organizing, so if I can help her lay pavers and build this little shed, she can help me with my house in August, when I hopefully have more time and energy. I actually really would like to do some work downstairs, where all my clothes are, but of course I can’t this week. I can’t even pack myself! That is driving me crazy. I may ask my husband to open all the windows and then go into the backyard for a couple hours so that after an hour, I can go down with a mask on and put everything I want to pack into a bag. If the weather weren’t so foggy, cold and windy, I wouldn’t feel so bad asking him to do that.
{For real though, when is summer going to start in the Bay Area!? It’s been so unseasonably cool this year!}
One thing I’m trying to figure out for my trip is how I’m going to work out. I know some people love to take time away from their workout routine while they travel, but I am not one of them (I know you see me SHU!). I really love having a little time to myself, and raising my heartbeat delivers much needed endorphins. I’ve also had some of my best traveling experiences on a run, because I saw something really unforgettable on a route I wouldn’t have ventured if I weren’t trying to cover a certain number of miles (a before dawn run up the Seine to the lit-up Eiffle tower in January – after the first snow in seven years! – is something I ill never forget). That probably won’t be the case in St. Louis, where the temps and humidity are so high, but once a herd of cows ran with me for a good quarter mile (behind a fence in their own space thank god) and once I got back early enough to skinny dip in the quarry, which felt AMAZING! So who knows, maybe this year I’ll have a memorable run in St. Louis too. But mostly I want to do inside working out – little 30 minutes strength training videos – and I’m not sure how to manage that now that I cancelled my beachbody digital membership (they were doubling the price so I shut it down). I got the DVDs (for $20!) of the classes I used most of beachbody, but my old shady way of ripping DVDs is not working on my new computer. So now I’m not sure what to do. I may try a free month of the pelaton app and find a couple things on there. If anyone has any recommendations please let me know. I need classes that don’t require weights, but I could bring my resistance band.
Speaking of working out, my time on the elliptical is almost up, so I’m going to shut this down. I hope you’re all enjoying your start to summer!
Lest you think, from my last post, that I’m capable of taking all this one como si nada, please know that I can’t. 48 hours in and my house is a disaster and my brain is a dumpster fire. I’m kind of losing my mind.
I don’t know how I’m going to make it to mid-week. I think by Wednesday I’ll feel confident we either have it or we don’t. In the meantime… the wait.
The kids and I made it to the de Young to see the Ansel Adams exhibit. It was good. But they were distracted and not that into it and I didn’t have the energy to keep us in there very long.
My son and I walked across the promenade to check out the new dinosaur exhibit at the Academy of Sciences (I have a teacher membership and can only bring in one of them at a time). It was small and interesting, but more about how their bodies worked when they were so big (like the amount of food they would have to eat, and how far their heads were from their hearts) and less about different kinds of dinosaurs. He had been wanting to see it, so I’m glad we went really quick.
We got hot pretzels in the promenade before the de Young and paletas after the Academy while we waited for the bus.
At home we hung out in the back yard for a while. I finished my book (a Spanish language thriller) and tried to get the kitchen picked up enough that it didn’t make me panic every time I walked into it. We ordered a bunch of pizzas to get us through the week, and watched Howl’s Moving Castle. I got the kids to bed way too late.
I’m not the parent in this family who likes to stay home all day with the kids. The prospect of doing that today is kind of terrifying to me. I have a list of things we need to get done – clean out the car, make lunches, do laundry, cut both kids’ hair, work out (me) – and things I’d like to get done – pack the kids (which I can do a week before we (maybe) leave because it still hasn’t hit 70 here and it will be hot and humid where we’re going), finish The Emotional Lives of Teenagers (it’s due back to the library soon) – and I will write down when I plan to do these things so the day feels like it has some structure.
After a rough first day with Covid, my husband was feeling much better by last night, so I’m assuming he will feel even better today. That doesn’t mean much for me as were keeping him isolated downstairs, but at least I can just give him food to prepare for himself in the downstairs kitchen, instead of making stuff for him.
Right now I have to kittens in my lap so the day will have to wait.
Well, today was one for the books. Without my husband the afternoon was an insane game of Tetris. But I made it work!
– At 2pm I left to pick up my daughter early from her camp, which is in possibly the worst location in the city (for us anyways).
– We got her blood drawn. They took 11 vials! And she had to pee in a cup.
Why so many?!
– We picked up my son across the city at his camp.
– We hit up Safeway for some snacks because they would both be having long afternoons.
– I dropped my son at the dojo, found an incredible parking spot, then walked my daughter to Dolores Park for the Trans March (which she was walking with a friend).
– I walked back down to the dojo to assist (I would have nixed the dojo on a day like this but my son’s best friend was trying it out for the first time and I thought we should be there). My son and I wore masks and my son HATED it. It’s been a long time.
– I picked up pupusas from my favorite vendors in front of the church across the street. They are only sometimes there and I almost always get them when they are. Three for $10 and so good! You can’t beat that.
– I drove my son home. Put my husband’s pupusa’s on a plate and brought them to his den of germs (with a mask on of course), started my son’s dinner, then high tailed it out of the house to head to BART.
– I took a BART train downtown to pick up my daughter from the end of the Trans March. I for a train there and we caught a train back quickly, which was no small feat.
– I made the kids dinner and did the dishes. I brought my husband stuff and cleared stuff from his space. I made the couch bed up to sleep in the living room.
I will be sleeping with kittens tonight. We’re going to get SO MUCH SLEEP!
– And now I’m having a drink and watching the new season of Black Mirror.
It was a nuts day but I made it all happen. Some days I even surprise myself.
This weekend we have tickets to the Ansel Adams exhibit at the de Young on Saturday (which were free because members, but the exhibit will be gone by the time we’re done traveling, so I’m not sure yet if we’ll go). And the Pride Parade on Sunday, though I haven’t thought enough about how to pull that off with only one parent. We shall see.
We’ll obviously be sticking close to home and wearing masks when we’re out. I definitely need a couple days of down time after today and I think the kids need the same. I’m hoping my husband’s man-COVID eases up over the weekend, because I don’t really have the bandwidth to take care of him on top of everything else.
