Spring Break 2021

 

Almost an exact year after we made the reluctant decision to cancel our travel to NYC/DC/Philadelphia, this past week we took a trip together so Gracie could visit two of the colleges at the top of her list. (A trip! Woo hoo! It's been a LONG time.) We rented a nice house in Beach Park, Illinois and used it as a great home base for day trips to Lake Geneva, Milwaukee, and Chicago. 

It is tradition that we each list our favorite moment of the week as we end a trip. As we drove home yesterday, I loved hearing that the majority of the favorite moments of this trip were focused on family time. You'd think after a year of nothing but time together, the answers would be a little different. Favorites were looking for and skipping rocks together at Illinois Beach State Park, sitting on the patio of a tiny little restaurant with the yummiest Mexican food we've had in ages, waking up early to go watch the sunrise, cuddling around the huge U-shaped couch of the airbnb for a couple of movie nights, and doing so. much. giggling. I can't count the number of times Kate had the hiccups this week.  We spent lots of time wandering around, getting coffee and browsing through book stores, record stores, and vintage clothing shops. To Drew's excitement, there were also many chances to shop shop; how that boy loves clothes and shoes! 

Illinois Beach State Park was near our rental home and we enjoyed the chance to be outside a bit, despite weather that wasn't quite spring weather yet. It was a bit chilly, but still a great place to collect and throw rocks, take in a sunrise, and appreciate the view. 

Kate spent a while seriously sorting her collection, locating post it notes in one of the kitchen drawers to label the categories. This sweet girl just makes me smile. 

Ben took the younger three to buy Luke a longboard while Gracie and I were touring colleges. They found a good spot to practice and Drew gave them each a little lesson. Drew showed patience in teaching and Luke was open to being taught by his little brother. Ben said it was a "these kids are really growing up" kind of moment. We are crossing our fingers that skateboarding could become an activity the two boys do together. Their common interests are few.

One of the highlights of the week was our Escape the Room Chicago experience. It was a challenging room with an advertised 35% escape rate. My kiddos not only escaped the room, but now hold the record time for that challenge. I helped a bit, but mostly I sat back and appreciated how smart my children are, a really wonderful feeling for a mom. When the time was up, the moderator who had watched us commented how cool it was to see everyone contributing and to see a family working together so well. He also said he was amazed at how easily the kids solved a couple of clues that usually stump groups. We talked about the different clues and the experience the entire drive back to the house. It was a fun experience. 

Our college tours were not as good as the other two college tours we've taken. At Milwaukee we had a very mediocre tour guide who gave a pretty generic overview of campus. Gracie walked away feeling like it's just not her place. I guess in that regard, the tour was helpful. We enjoyed the city of Milwaukee, but Gracie said she can't see herself there. At Loyola we were, unfortunately, not able to take a tour because of the pandemic. We walked all around the campus after giving ourselves a virtual tour, trying to match in person all of the information we'd seen on the computer the night before. Even with this, Gracie walked away with sparkles in her eyes about living in Chicago to go to college. She has a hard decision to make over the next month, choosing between Mizzou and Loyola. 

Milwaukee architecture did not disappoint. I really loved spending the afternoon walking around just taking in the vibe of the city. We visited the Public Market, got coffee at Colectivo, ate German food at the Haufbraus House, and did a little shopping. We took a tour of the Sprecher Brewery after a recommendation from a friend and we really enjoyed it, especially the all-you-can-drink soda and beer after the tour. The root beer was delicious!

Milwaukee was still a little shut down in general because of the pandemic. The few things we did felt safe. Actually, in general, there were very few times on this trip when we felt uncomfortable because of Covid risk. We were able to mostly stick to ourselves, mostly avoid crowds, and remain masked. We also went through about a gallon of hand sanitizer over the past week. In our family we have different levels of comfort surrounding being outside of the house these days, so we worked hard to be sensitive to all members of the family while still enjoying our trip- a tricky path to walk. 

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