The weather was excellent. Everett and Mom couldn't stop commenting on how nice it was that cooler spring weather was lasting so long. In fact we only had any humidity in the last 3-4 days I was there. Before that there wasn't any real humidity, and typically the weather was in the mid 60s to mid 70s. Maybe one or two days in the high 70s or 80, that's it. Best of all, there were thunderstorms maybe 5-6 times. I love thunderstorms so much. I love the smell and sound, and I love the nostalgia. They remind me a little of when I was a kid and a lot of Missouri summers in my young adulthood (late teens and early twenties).
One of my favorite moments of the trip was sitting on Don & Merlene's front porch with all three kids watching a huge thunderstorm roll in. It really was a little awe striking and beautiful watching the clouds swirl around each other. Clara observed the dark clouds coming in on her left and pushing out the white clouds on the white. The fishing-themed wind chimes were playing and the American flag was whipping around, as were the branches in the big tree in their front yard. Don & Merlene joined us after awhile too. I was glad to really get the most out of that thunderstorm.
It was cool to get to be in Missouri in the spring. I don't think I've done that since Easter of 2009. Mom's yard in particular had a lot of blooming flowers and the gorgeous Japanese maple trees out front, plus her Easter yard flag and other décor. Just super cute. And when we went on walks around Don & Merlene's neighborhood there were likewise a lot of flowers in bloom--even one tree that had white petals falling all around it which the girls stopped to observe. Also robins everywhere. Just kind of cute.
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It was great to see Eddie and Elisabeth a few times. I saw them three times in 4 weeks, which is about the same average as when we typically visit Missouri. In particular, the first time I saw them I walked around Don & Merlene's neighborhood with Elisabeth, each of us pushing our babies (Eva and Calvin) in strollers. Then we sat in the front yard (at least 6 ft apart) and talked longer, and eventually Eddie joined us because he got off work early. Elisabeth took Eva home for lunch and a nap but Eddie stayed and we chatted longer. I'm always happy to see those guys but in this specific instance it had been only a day since my lowest point of the quarantine, and I was so relieved to see and visit with other people. Felt like a bit of normalcy, and socialization can make a big psychological difference.
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Speaking of walks, I thought we'd be walking around the neighborhood all the time, but we ended up doing so only a few times. Still they were really enjoyable. The first time I took all three kids to try to give Jack some space, and I tried to make the walk last as long as possible. We walked slowly and stopped to look at everything I could think to point out: trees, flowers (especially dandelions), different types of mailboxes, robins and other birds, rabbits, squirrels, storm drains, cute porch décor, house numbers, the sun. The girls enjoyed making countless observations, and Clara picked a lot of dandelions. We walked around the block we usually do, but then kept going up into the coldasack just to keep it going. It was nice to spend peaceful time with them. I also thought a lot about owning a house someday as I considered what I liked or didn't on each porch. We saw one or two signs announcing that FZS 2020 graduates lived inside, and like so many other things in St. Peters, it was nostalgic. I thought about high school and how I have memories in this same neighborhood from that time.
Over the trip Clara and Jane also went on a few walks with Mimi and Gpa, which I think gave them some nice bonding time and change of scenery while also giving us (Jack and me) little breaks.
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It was great getting to spend so much time with Everett. We spent a lot of afternoons sitting in the basement, him playing Kingdom Hearts and me trying to get work done, but all while chatting casually with each other. We made fun of Kingdom Hearts a lot (Sora is kind of an idiot) but we also enjoyed the animation and soundtrack. And more generally it's nice to visit without feeling pressure to hurry and make the most of it. During other Missouri trips I would have packed the schedule with social events, but we couldn’t' do that this time, and while it means we saw fewer people, it also means I was more relaxed with a more flexible schedule. And in the case of Everett, social distancing from everyone else made it easy for me to spend a lot more time with him than I normally get to.
We also did go have cigars on the DuPre bridge, twice. I love that tradition. We talk a lot more there, I assume because no one else is around, there are no other distractions, and it's usually relatively dark which means we aren't even distracted by what we're looking at. Both times we had more substantial conversations than we do when working/playing Kingdom Hearts, of course, and I think the bridge & cigars tradition gives me an unusual change to really hear how he's doing. Plus we always talk about the memories with that creek and the path to it and the DuPre neighborhood generally. It's nice to have someone that remembers that shared history.
I also got to spend Everett's birthday with him, which is very unusual. We went with Mom and picked up sushi (Wasabi, but at the wrong location of Town & Country, oh well) and then ate it at a picnic table near the Missouri River in old town St. Charles. Mom laughs so easily she encourages me to try to joke more often which makes her laugh more often. And of course she thinks Everett is hilarious, and he thinks her laughing is itself funny, so yeah, lots of laughing. After we visited for awhile at her house, and then way later Everett came to Don & Merlene's with his laptop so we could play Catan online with Jack and Neil (Neil and I had figured out how to set it up earlier that day). Don & Merlene even sang Everett Happy Birthday. Catan was a blast. We played two games. Calvin stayed awake through all of the first but just sat on the couch between Everett and me and hung out. He really wanted to hit Everett's laptop but eventually got it out of his system. Poor little guy was exhausted by the end of the first game and fell asleep almost as soon as Jack took him. Then we played one more game, probably a mistake because we were up too late, but we were all joking around the whole time. Neil (the only one not physically in the room) kept playing the devil on the shoulder trying to get everyone to go after each other. I also had some candy and chips around to snack on while we relaxed. It was a fun evening.
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I'm glad the kids got to spend so much time with Mom.
We went to her house a bunch of times, and it was really helpful to me because it's an extra pair of hands, helpful to Jack because he gets a more relaxed break to study, helpful to the kids because it's a change of scenery and they love their Jama. We played in the backyard a lot, particularly with her hose. Clara liked to "paint" the entire back wall of the house with water. Jane liked to water the plants. And her back patio furniture makes it easy to just feed them outside, if we want.
I also love Mom's front porch. It's very cozy and well decorated. Once or twice I got to sit peacefully up there with Calvin in my lap as he watched cars drive by and cooed. And one time Jane and Calvin took naps at the same time, so Mom played with Clara in the house and backyard and Everett and I sat and chilled on the front porch for probably over an hour.
Mom and I also took the kids to All Saints twice. The first time we went to look inside the church. The girls were very impressed and at first kept calling it a castle, saying it was just like in Beauty and the Beast. We also took them to the playground, of course, and especially the 2nd time we went they had a blast. The weather was great and Mom and I took turns (mostly Mom) chasing them all over the playground while they giggled and shrieked "You can't catch me!!" I so enjoy how much my mom and my kids like spending time with each other.
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Also glad the kids got to spend time with their cousins. This took longer because we waited until we had been in MO at least 2 weeks, but then we had a playdate with the Jacksons all over to use Mimi & Gpa's new playset. There was also a kite, sidewalk chalk, and bubbles, and they loved it. It's so good for kids to get to spend time with other kids, and I'm glad all of our kid are roughly the same age.
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And of course Don & Merlene were fantastic hosts, as they always are. Paid for our groceries, made countless meals, clean every night (we tried to be better about cleaning up as part of night time routine, but it's still never the same as if there weren't a bunch of kids in the house), did laundry, babysat so Jack and I could go on dates, etc. They are ceaselessly generous and kind.
When we returned everyone was still napping so we read books on the front porch and played hide and seek in the front and backyards. It was really idyllic.
