Midsummer Brush with COVID

Written on August 3, 2020

The background

During this time of COVID, our family has been sticking pretty close to home.  From March 16 until the end of May, we rarely interacted with others in person.  We got our groceries and supplies from curb-side pickup.  We baked and painted and played on our phones and dyed our hair wild colors.  Almost every day, we would go for walks in our neighborhood, and as the weather warmed, we explored city, county and state parks at least once a week.  To really get away from home, we enjoyed camping trips to Dells of the Eau Claire and to Wild Cat Mountain State Park. It’s so nice that there are areas we can explore and play while staying 6-feet apart from others.

As the COVID regulations changed in late May, we started engaging more with the outside world.  I started sometimes shopping at the grocery store in person (while masked).  We started having socially-distanced get-togethers with friends in the driveway or backyard.  It felt amazing to connect with people in real life and not just over a screen.  Bryan started meeting friends for kayaking.  The kids resumed their orthodontist and dentist appointments.  Photos from our spring 2020 days are online.

In June, Andrew, Sylvia, and I bubbled with my friend Heather and her family, who live in Indiana.  We talked through our exposures and social distancing protocols, all the adults got tested, and from June 12-16, we thoroughly enjoyed getting to hug and interact with people outside of our family.

Throughout June and July, our activities expanded: outdoor yoga 6-feet apart; trips to Menards and Reptile Rapture; going out for ice cream; getting the oil changed; meeting my family for a socially distanced evening at the park.  Pictures from our summer 2020 activities are available online.

In July, my brother Joe (who lives in DC with his partner Reema), my brother Michael (who lives in Madison with his wife Lisa), and I started talking about having Joe drive out to visit us. Michael and Lisa hadn’t left their house much since mid-March (just to get takeout once a week and to do curbside grocery pick-up).  Joe and Reema live in an apartment in DC, and they have instituted high standards for avoiding COVID contamination.  Reema has asthma, and Joe has been quite concerned about Reema not getting COVID.  From wiping down groceries and take-out food to spraying down phones and keys when returning home to just being very diligent about keeping the 6-foot distance and not touching things in public spaces – he’s been most careful.  I find myself thinking back to when Joe lived in New York City, and because he doesn’t like germs, he was able to travel throughout the NYC subway system without touching anything with his hands.  

Through a couple long phone calls, Michael, Joe, Lisa, and I created an agreement for our bubbling.  We put together a document to help us all be clear on what activities felt OK and what felt dangerous or anxiety-inducing.  We talked through our current behaviors and our fears about what could happen if we did get COVID.  And in the end, we all agreed to bubble.  I canceled a couple planned activities, and we began our Bubble contract on July 10.

Joe arrives!

On Friday, July 17, Joe picked up a rental car in DC in an N95 mask.  Early in the morning of Saturday, July 18, he left DC and drove straight through to Madison.  Armed with disposable gloves, an N95 mask, a bottle of hand sanitizer, and a single bottle of water, he cruised across the country.  At gas stations, he used the bathroom without touching any surfaces and sanitized his hands and credit card after pumping gas.  He got fast food for lunch, and he arrived in Madison around 6pm.  Michael came over and we all greeted Joe with great joy and started our group bubble.

Dizzy

Joe had been staying with us for a week when we got an inkling that everything wasn’t alright.  Joe, Michael, and Andrew were having an uncles and nephew gaming weekend at Michael’s house.  Around 11:30pm, Joe walked upstairs from the basement to use the restroom.  While there, Joe felt his vision narrow, and he caught himself as he briefly blacked out.  Soon after, they all went to bed.  On Saturday, July 25, Joe was Pokemon-ing with Michael and Lisa and Andrew throughout the day.  Joe said he felt a little dizzy…maybe a little fuzzy in the head, but he wasn’t sure.  The temperature outside was close to 90 degrees, so it seemed like maybe he was a little dehydrated.  That evening, Joe and Andrew came back home to the Dotzour house.  On Sunday the 26, Joe noted to me that he thought he was a little off.  He didn’t feel sick, just a little light-headed.  We looked up COVID symptoms, and dizziness alone is not considered a symptom of COVID.  Our air conditioner had stopped working on Saturday, so the house was pretty hot on this 92 degree day. He said he didn’t feel bad, just not good enough to go rollerblading.

Late in the morning of Monday, July 27, Andrew came downstairs complaining that he felt lightheaded and a little out of breath.  He had gone to bed the night before complaining of a headache, and then he had slept for 12 hours.  With both Joe AND Andrew expressing symptoms, we got on the phone with doctors.  Reema’s dad, Joe’s partner, is a doctor, so he was an easy first call.  He asked about symptoms, temperatures, and after looking at tongues, decided that they both were on the dehydrated side.  We started giving them electrolyte drinks and decided to go into the Alliant COVID drive-through testing just to be careful.  Andrew had had very little out-in-the-world exposure, so we decided that Joe, Andrew, and I would all get tested.  By the afternoon, Andrew said he felt fine and had no more dizziness – it was just when he first came downstairs.  

Still assuming we were dealing with a heat/dehydration issue instead of COVID, we hung out at our house and played games throughout the day. 

COVID!?

Life proceeded pretty normally up until mid-afternoon on Tuesday, July 28.  I had gotten an email from the testing site in the morning letting me know that Andrew and I had gotten negative COVID tests.  The air conditioner serviceman was working on the air conditioner and had just told me that the air compressor had died, and we would need a new air conditioner.  When I walked into my office to check on my files to find out the square footage of the house, Joe was on the phone and told me to “GET OUT.”  Wow. Touchy.  Must be an important call.  

I arranged to purchase a new air conditioner and heck, a new furnace too since ours is also 26 years old, and I don’t want it to break in the middle of winter.  Oof.  Delivery was scheduled for August 13.

Joe texted me and told me he was out in the front yard.  That seems odd.

When I went out, he was wearing a mask.  Oh no.  The testing site had called him to tell him he had tested positive for COVID.  Blah.

So distressing

The remainder of Tuesday passed in a bit of a blur.  I started by contacting all the people and businesses I had been in contact with over the previous 9 days.  Just saying straight up that that was not fun.  People were very kind, but it’s a distressing call to get.  

Joe moved all his belongings and bedding to the basement, said goodbye, and shut the door.  He reached out to Reema’s family (in addition to her dad being a doctor, her oldest sister and brother in law are doctors and her middle sister is a nurse anesthetist).  Joe also scheduled a video call with his doctor for Wednesday morning.  He called family and friends to let them know. 

Michael and Lisa headed to the Aliant testing site to get tested.  

And upstairs at our house, we cleaned.  

Have you had experience with lice?  We have several times.  The first time my kids had lice was so hugely distressing, and I cleaned the house with a fervor that has yet to be matched…until Tuesday.  Despite temps in the 80s, the kids and I cleaned and bleached and scrubbed like people possessed.  My neighbor’s dad is a janitor, and he brought me a two gallon container of Lysol, a container of Clorox wipes, and a spray bottle of janitor-level cleaning spray.  

I felt overwhelmed and sad.  Joe was visiting us, but we wouldn’t get to see him for a week.  We’d had to worry lots of people.  We wouldn’t be able to take our weekend Wisconsin River camping trip we had planned.  We wouldn’t get to go visit Jack’s place together.  My brain felt like it did when Sylvia was little and had been crying a lot…like I couldn’t create a coherent thought.  

How do we divide up?

It wasn’t clear to us if Andew, who had also been dizzy, also had COVID but had a false negative test or not.  Andrew and I had had the most exposure to Joe while he was potentially contagious on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  Should we treat Andrew as sick and send him down to the basement with Joe or have him self-isolate elsewhere?  And had I had a false negative as well?  Even when displaying early symptoms, almost 40% of people who actually have COVID test negative.

Given all the information online about COVID, there is very little info I could find about how to manage a household when there’s been a COVID exposure.  The nurse who called me back from our doctor’s office was no help.

We decided to go in for a second round of testing on Wednesday afternoon (48 hours after our first test) to see if any Dotzours came back positive since that would change how we isolated.  In the meantime, we contemplated but decided not to:

  • have Bryan move over to Tom’s empty apartment to keep him away from the rest of us.
  • have Bryan sleep out in the yard in a tent.
  • have Andrew go to the basement with Joe since viral load can make cases worse and even if Andrew was actually sick he might become more sick if he was exposed more to Joe.

Instead we decided to social distance at home until we got the results of our second COVID test (expected on Thursday afternoon).  We divided up bathrooms, created a regular cleaning/handle & lightswitch wiping plan, said one person could be in the kitchen at a time, and I moved to the guest room so we were all sleeping in separate rooms.  We decided not to wear masks, but we did decide to stay six feet apart, and we had all windows open and fans on.

We agreed to not leave our property until the end of our isolation.  Andrew wants to go for bike rides or walks.  I say no.  Reema’s dad, Dr. Singh, said he thought it was unlikely that we would have gotten COVID from Joe since he hasn’t been coughing.  Fingers crossed.

Second testing

Wednesday dawned and we all began to settle into this new socially-distanced-at-home reality.  Bryan had moved his office from the basement up to our bedroom, so he began working there.  Joe talked to his doctor.  He continued to feel fine other than mild dizziness/lightheadedness.  We ordered a pulse oximeter and another thermometer.  I placed an order for contactless grocery delivery.  I also happily learned that Reptile Rapture can deliver crickets and worms for our gecko and chameleon.  Thank goodness for ample delivery services since we don’t plan to leave the property for 13 days.

It was pretty odd to social distance within our own home.  The kitchen was spotless.  We were all a little subdued.  Worn out.  

On Wednesday afternoon, we all went to the Aliant testing site for another round of brain probing.  We stayed apart from each other.  We cleaned.

Michael and Lisa had gotten tested on Tuesday afternoon, but their test results didn’t come back at all on Wednesday, which made for a long and stressful day for them.

A positive development – negatives!

First thing on Thursday morning, Michael texted us that he and Lisa had gotten negative test results.  Hooray!  Andrew and I got our second round of negative results before 2pm.  A couple hours later, we still hadn’t gotten Bryan and Sylvia’s results, and we were all trying not to feel worried.  But then at 5pm…negative!  Excellent!  

We decided that since we were all feeling OK and not exhibiting any symptoms that we could stop social distancing within the four of us.  We hugged and snuggled and enjoyed sitting next to each other on the sofa.  Still keeping things extra clean, but I moved back to my bed and we resumed pretty much normal interactions within the four of us.

Down in the basement, Joe continued to feel alright.  Maybe a 3/10 on a lightest cold to worst flu scale.  Joe had dug through the costume bin, and when he retrieved the meals I left him at the top of the basement stairs, an elegant elbow-length gloved hand or a werewolf hand would reach out. Joe’s symptoms continued as some fatigue and mild lightheadedness.  Wednesday night, he experienced some lower intestinal issues for good measure. 

I was feeling thankful that our air conditioning had gone out when it did.  If it had been working, we would have had the windows closed over the weekend and Monday and Tuesday, and our chance of breathing Joe’s COVID-breath would have been much higher.

Bryan and I have been taking our vitamins, we are all washing hands and being cautious.  Joe’s stomach doesn’t give him any additional trouble after Wednesday night.

The kids don’t seem to be very concerned.  When I asked Andrew if he was worried about Joe having COVID, he scrunched up his forehead and looking perplexed asked, “Worried?  Why?”

Shortness of breath

When I woke up on the morning of Saturday, August 1, the air was cool, and I was sitting down to write in my journal, when I heard Joe call through the window, “Hark!”  He wasn’t just calling to say good morning.  He had been having a little trouble breathing in the night.  As he was trying to fall asleep Friday night and then again in the morning, he was feeling like it was hard to get a full breath.  When I talked to him at 7:15am, he had already consulted with Reema’s doctor-family and his insurance company, and he was ready to drive himself to the ER.  Since breathing problems can progress really quickly with COVID, Joe was wanting to make sure he was addressing the issue right away.  Unfortunately, Joe’s high deductible health insurance estimates an ER visit to cost $2,600 for the day out of pocket.  It seemed obvious that this was a situation that needed checking.

At the UW Hospital’s emergency room, Joe had a battery of tests…vitals, EKG, blood work, chest x-ray. Everything came out normal.  They gave him an IV of saline (I assume out of ER reflex more than anything) and discharged him at 10:30am.  He came home, shot down to the basement, and after updating everyone on his condition, took a nap.

Waiting to reconnect

Joe continued to feel some shortness of breath or tightness when he took a deep breath through the weekend.  By Sunday night, he said he thought he was feeling better.  His voice sounded chipper.  He was bored of the basement.  However, despite the encouragement of everyone he talks to, he hasn’t felt comfortable leaving the basement to spend time alone in the backyard.  Cautious kiddo.

We got the game Star Realms for the iPhone and could play together apart.  We chat by phone or FaceTime.  We say good morning and good night.  I stand in the sunroom and can see and talk to him in the basement.  I get to make him meals, which makes me very happy.

My doctor said that we Dotzours should isolate for 14 days since our last exposure to Joe, which was Tuesday, July 28.  So on August 11, we will be free…or at least as free as any is during the pandemic.  She also said she didn’t think we needed to do any further testing before leaving isolation.  She said the high false-negative rate is high enough that testing isn’t super helpful.  “Let symptoms be your guide,” she said.

Meanwhile, according to the CDC, Joe can come out of isolation at least 10 days after symptoms first appeared (and 24 hours with no fever, which he hasn’t ever had).  To be conservative, that lets him leave the basement on Tuesday, August 4.  And at that point, he can re-enter society even though the rest of us Dotzours are in quarantine.  

We still don’t know how Joe got infected.  Reema got tested, but her results aren’t back yet.  It seems like either Joe got it from the rental car or maybe the fast food on his drive out.  My only other hypothesis is that I had it asymptomatically, but I’m not sure why Joe would be the only one to get it from me (not the rest of my family or Michael and Lisa).  I’ve certainly been the one most out in the world, though I’ve been careful.  It’s a mystery.

What’s next?

Joe gets to come upstairs tomorrow!

All the Dotzours are holding steady on feeling healthy.  Really, really hoping that continues for the next week.  We have a backcountry camping trip planned to Pictured Rocked on August 15, and I don’t want to miss it.  Or get COVID.  I also just don’t want to get COVID.  It’s a strange thing to be quarantined.  I keep checking on myself.  “Do I have a headache?” “Was that the start of a sore throat?” “Am I sleepy tired or sick tired?”  I was up in the night and unable to sleep a few days last week, but now I’m resting easier.

Joe is planning to stay in Madison through August 14, so we’ll still have lots of time to spend together in person even though we missed a week.  He was originally planning on heading home on the 8th.

Thus ends my narrative for now.  It’s been a rather wild ride.

Blogging hiatus

Dotzourfamily.com has been live for seven years.  My blog dashboard says I’ve written 1,241 posts and have received 2,143 comments (oh, how I have loved getting comments over the years).  When Mom was sick, this blog was such an important tool for sharing news of hear health journey.  It was where we shared news of both babies being born, major family milestones, holidays, sickness and injury.  This blog was one of my main tools for maintaining sanity after Sylvia was born and I was home full time.  I am SO thankful that I could take the rough, long, or hard days and spin them into stories that would make people laugh.  I used this blog as a plantform for reflecting on life.  It helped me live more intentionally as I relived moments by writing them down.  Now I have a record of my early parenting years.  It feels good to know it’s there for posterity.

Sometime in 2010, I started blogging less about what I was thinking and more about what we were doing.  Then in 2011, I found myself switching gears in my blog writing.  I no longer felt the compulsive need to write.  I wasn’t composing posts in my head.  I didn’t have that itchy, “Must write blog post before going to bed” feeling that had been my close companion over the previous years.  In the second half of 2011, nearly all my blog posts were annotated photos.  They were more a record of our days.  I just wasn’t feeling need.

So after finishing up our Christmas trip blog posts, I decided to take a break.  I thought about posting an “I’m taking a break” note, but I wasn’t sure that I would actually stick to it, so I just left things hanging.  and in the following six months, I haven’t even contemplated blogging.  So I guess it was time for a break!

While I’m not posting at the moment, I am uploading new photos to my Flickr photostream on a very regular basis.  I’ve maintained my compulsion to edit and upload family photos before the sun sets on the day.  So if you want to see what the Dotzour family is up to, that’s the place to look.

To see my photos, you’ve got a few options.

  1. Bookmark http://www.flickr.com/photos/adotzour/sets/  This is the home page for my photo albums.
  2. Subscribe to the rss feed for http://www.flickr.com/photos/adotzour/  This will have every photo I upload shoot into your rss reader.
  3. Visit the photo page of DotzourFamily.com https://dotzourfamily.com/pictures/ This just pulls all the photos from Flickr into my website.
And if you’re interested in my photography work, you can see my site at http://www.altheaphotos.com/

For the time being, these are the best ways to see pictures of the kids and to see what’s up in our lives.  And until further notice, this blog is on hiatus.  I imagine that at some point, I’ll be back:)

Cheers!

~Althea

Lorraine Davis, rest in peace

It feels like a subtle era has shifted in my life.  How did the dinosaurs know when things had transitioned from the Palaeozoic to the Mesozoic era?  Maybe it was some similarly quiet passing.

My maternal grandma, Lorraine Davis, passed away yesterday at the age of 93.  She’s was my last living grandparent (although Bryan’s Grandma Jo is still with us and is doing well!).  I’ve been thinking about it, and it feels really odd to not have my grandparents around.  They’ve been such a constant my whole life.  So many memories from my growing-up years included them.  And now, one by one, they are all gone.

My grandma’s husband, Grandpa Joe, passed away four years before I was born.  Mum (which is what I called my grandma) missed him every day, as far as I could tell.  The last thing she said was that she would get to see her husband soon.  Mum had so valued being married, and she didn’t like being a widow.  I asked my mom about that once, and she said that sometimes bad things happen and people adapt and move on; but that sometimes bad things happen, and for that person, life isn’t really ever OK in the same way again.

Mum had elegant, refined taste.  She loved interior design, beautiful furniture, well-crated items.  My mom grew up amidst fabric samples and paint swatches.  Mum’s interior design busines, The Eloquent Touch, allowed her to share her lovely sense of style with others.  Mum was proper and liked things just so.  She grew up in the Milwaukee during the depression, and she spent much of her adult life looking toward a level of comfort that she keenly missed during her childhood.  Butter had been hard to come by… margarine was more affordable, and as an adult she wouldn’t consider using margarine.  I think that was only in part because butter tastes so much better:)

Mum made her way in the world for decades after losing her husband.  She was 54 when Grandpa Joe died, and she worked hard, with lots of courage, to support herself through the years.  She tutored a wide array of students, sometimes working with prisoners at the local jail.  I don’t think it was easy, but she did it well.

I grew up an hour from Mum, and I spent a number of weekends visiting her as a child.  These last days, memories of some of those visits have come trickling back.

  • I loved Mum’s dogs.  Her black poodle, Mutzi, and her white poodle, Carrie were good playmates.  When Mum would tell Mutzi that they were going to visit Margot (my mom), Mutzi would leap high into the air.
  • Mum would come to Madison to visit us, and as a newly speaking toddler, I would look at her and say, “shop-ping?”   Mum loved to shop.  My mom loved to shop.  My sister and I love to shop.  It’s hereditary.  Shoes, coats, and handbags are particular obsessions.  One day in high school, I noted that I thought I might have maxx’d out my storage space for shoes.  I said that I thought I’d work on my coat collection next.  Mom laughed and asked if I’d ever noticed the closets of coats that Mum had.
    I imagine that in prehistoric times, grandmothers, daughters, and granddaughters would get together to pass along wisdom about the powers of medicinal herbs or the best way to fillet a mastodon.  My grandmother and mother taught me how to find stellar purchases at Marshall Fields or TJ Maxx for 75% off.
  • Mum showed me how to polish her silver.  She loved her silver flatware and desk set and took pride in taking good care of it.
  • I learned about quality fabric from Mum and my mom.  Natural fibers (especially wool) were esteemed.  Good tailoring was inspected.  The fit, the drape, the details were examined with a thoughtful touch.  In later years when stokes and age had clouded her mind, she would come back into sharp focus as she remarked on my flower-embroidered winter jacket or the leatherwork on Sylvia’s baby shoes.
  • When I spent the night at Mum’s, I would fall asleep in the deep dark (no night lights!).  It was a bit unsettling.  So was the sound of the whippoorwill singing into the night.  In time, I came to love that song, and the stillness of her home in the woods.
  • Mum’s home was near a cold spring, and on several occasions, the two of us would walk down to the stream, roll up our pants, and wade into the icy water.  We’d pull up watercress by the fist-full and take it back home to wash off the dirt and critters and make it into a very sharp-tasting salad.  I liked the picking part much more than the eating part:)
  • The paths near Mum’s house were sprinkled with walnuts, chestnuts, and acorns.  I remember her encouraging me to taste them, and the bitter taste still comes to mind when I smell fallen nuts.
  • Sometimes Mum would take me out on a nighttime walk.  I remember walking along the twisting roads in the woods near her home, petrified contemplating all the creatures lurking the the woods.  I didn’t want her to know I was afraid, so I decided to put all of my fear into one side of my body and to keep the hand that was holding her hand calm and relaxed.  When she asked me what was wrong, I realized I’d gotten it backwards, and the hand that was gripping hers was tense with my unspoken fears.

Mum wasn’t what I’d call an easy person.  She had a strong will, a strong sense of what was right, and she in my experience, she didn’t hesitate in sharing her convictions.  Over the years, there were times when Mum and I clashed and there were times when we got along famously.  Not an easy person.  I think, though, that in some ways, I always sought her approval.  I was just remembering an intense term in college when I had taken physics with calculus without the prerequisite courses (dumb, dumb, dumb).  Having just failed another quiz, I called my mom from the phone in the computer lab.  Choking back sobs, I asked her just not to tell Mum or my grandparents (like that would have been her first inclination!).  I wanted them to be proud of me.

Mum was very conservative.  Her Lutheran faith was one of her defining characteristics.  Until her generation, there had been a Lutheran pastor in the family for many generations into the past.  Things relating to church and to piety appealed to her soul.

****

I miss my mom in some way every day.  With the passing of my grandma, I feel like the earth has lost an important person who knew my mom.  I also feel like the conveyor belt of time has notably moved forward.  I’m now an adult with kids of my own.  Grandparents are moving on, and everyone I know is moving inexorably away from birth to death.  It’s odd to contemplate.

My mom worked extensively on our family genealogy.  Here’s my entry (somewhat dated…it’s missing Sylvia!).  Mom created our genealogy heading back in several branches to the 1400s.  Thinking of our family as a tree, I feel like I watched my grandparents go through the autumn and winter of their lives.  At the time, I was a new spring branch.  Now I’m in my summer, and my own kids are growing their own spring branches.  The seasons change, the eras shift.  Time goes by.

For a slideshow of pictures of my grandma, visit this link.  A gallery with the option to download images is here.

Finally, here’s Mum’s obituary.  Rest in peace, my grandma.

Lorraine C. Davis, age 93, of Waukesha and formerly of Janesville and Beloit, died on Monday, Feb. 20, 2012, at Virginia Health & Rehabilitation Center, Waukesha, WI. She was born in Milwaukee on Jan. 24, 1919, the daughter of Henry and Tekla (Loeber) Bergmann. She graduated from South Division High School and UW Whitewater in 1940. She married Joseph L. Davis in Texas in September of 1942. He preceded her in death in 1973. Lorraine taught classes in High School, Vocational School, and tutored Math students throughout her life. She was also the sole proprietor of “The Eloquent Touch”, an interior decorating service in Janesville. Lorraine is survived by 3 children: Peter (Marci) Davis of Port St. Lucie FL, Kate (Greg) Brand of Lynnwood WA, and Kirk (Susan) Davis of Plano TX; 7 grandchildren; 2 great grandchildren; and 3 siblings: John (Lois) Bergmann of Milwaukee, Edgar (Helmi) Bergmann of Germany and Carol (William) Lamm of Oconomowoc. She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; daughter, Margot (Kim) Babler; brother, Robert Bergmann; and sister, Mildred Klumb. A Funeral Service will be held at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012, at OUR SAVIOR’S LUTHERAN CHURCH, Beloit with Rev. Erik Jelinek officiating. A visitation will be held on Thursday from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. at the church. Interment will be in Eastlawn Cemetery, Beloit. In lieu of other expressions of sympathy please send memorials to the Heart Association or The Time of Grace Ministry. SCHNEIDER APFEL SCHNEIDER & SCHNEIDER FUNERAL HOME & CREMATORY is assisting the family.

New Year’s Eve on the Riverwalk

On New Year’s Eve, Bryan made us reservations for dinner at Acenar on the Riverwalk.

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I was so excited when our server led us outside, through the crowds, and to a little secluded table on the balcony overlooking the Riverwalk.  So cool!

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Just look at those pretty lights!

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It was a delicious meal, and a great way to celebrate the end of a terrific year.

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After dinner, we wandered amidst the Riverwalk crowds until we came out at the Alamo.

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Last time we visited during the day, so it was neat to see it at night.  While you couldn’t get inside, they had the facade all light up and glowing.

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Exciting people that we are, we headed home early.  At midnight, Bryan was asleep, but as I lay in bed reading, I heard the fireworks for quite some time.  Sounded like fun…but maybe not as much fun as being cozy in bed.

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On January 1, we headed home.  We drove from San Antonio to College Station, stopping for lunch at this great restaurant in Bastrop.

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I don’t know if you heard last summer about some of the big fires in Texas.  Bastrop contained an area known as the “Lost Pines,” a beautiful pine forest.  During last summer’s drought, fire took out 34,000 acres and burned over 1,600 homes.

Bryan and I drove through Bastrop State Park, and we were awed at the extent and thoroughness of the fire damage.  Really impressive, sobering destruction.

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We drove the rest of the way to College Station, then flew to Dallas and finally to Madison, where the weather was in the teens.  Burr!  Bryan had off work on January second, so we sat around the house and enjoyed pretending like we were slugs.  It was so nice to have a little down-time at home before Granny flew the kids up on the 4th.  Thanks oodles to Granny and Grandad for giving us this lovely time together:)

Kicking back in San Antonio

We arrived in San Antonio late in the day on Friday, December 30.  Our hotel was a few blocks off the River Walk, and we set out to see the sights.

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We hadn’t anticipated how heavily crowded the River Walk would be.  Apparently it’s a pretty popular place to visit around New Years.  In the restaurant district, we shuffled along through the thick crowd.  The trees sure were lovely, all lit up and magical!  After a few failed attempts at finding a restaurant, we left the River Walk and got ourselves dinner at Texas de Brazil.  The drinks were good, and the salad bar (and the cheese bread!!!) was so good that I filled up before the meat course.  We were entertained by a crazy aerial “wine angel” who flipped and spun and retrieved wine bottles for lucky patrons (see here for a video I found on YouTube).

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On New Year’s Eve morning, we had breakfast at a wonderful place called The Gunther House.  So glad that Bryan’s mom suggested it for us!

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Our wait for a table was really pleasant as we sipped our coffee in the sunny courtyard and then browsed the restored home and the cute gift shop, full of Texas cookbooks and baking goods.

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I seriously could not get enough of these trees.  They are so beautiful it makes my heart ache.

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After breakfast, we wound our way through the King William Historic District.  So many pretty homes!

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The Riverwalk extends through most of San Antonio, and it seems like it’s become a wonderful way to connect the city and to help people get outdoors.

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One of my main goals for our time in San Antonio was to eat at a restaurant where we’d have guacamole made at our table.  We did this when we visited San Antonio back in 2001 (photos here!), and it made quite an impression.  After a little walking, we stopped at Boudros for some drinks and guac with chips.

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There’s our waiter making me happy with avocados!

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Oh, what a day!

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We wandered down the Riverwalk until we came to a little park where we sat and read for a couple hours.

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Ahh, a day spent walking and eating and reading.  Pretty fun stuff!  Now back to the hotel to change for New Year’s Eve!

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Exploring the Hill Country – by horseback and stream

On Friday, December 30, we woke up early, packed our bags, said farewell to Barron’s Creekside, and drove down to Bandera, Texas for a horseback ride at Dixie Dude Ranch.

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I’d called around, and our trail ride was actually arranged by Marci and Russell Tiner from Cross T Ranch.  They bring their horses to Dixie Dude Ranch and offer rides on their land.

I felt like a kid, I was so excited to see the horses when they pulled up.  I sold Cold Snap back in 2002, and I don’t think I’ve ridden a horse since then.  Made me oh, so happy to be near them!

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I was on a steady, smart thoroughbred named Earl, and Bryan was on a half-Percheron, half-quarter horse named Archie.  They were both sweeties and needed almost nothing from us as riders:)

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We rode for around an hour through scrubby woods and rocky gullies.

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It was windy but sunny and very pleasant.  I’d love to come back and do an overnight ride someday!

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Signs of the longhorns.

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There’s me and Earl!

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After our ride, we drove down toward San Antonio.  On the way, we took a scenic road (thanks to a book we got for Christmas) and stopped at a nice little nature park.

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We wandered down to the stream and saw some beautiful Cypress trees.

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Prickly Pear Cactus grows everyone here in the hill country.  As we drove along, it was as common as thistle is up here in Wisconsin.  So cool!

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During this walk, Bryan and I spied a Scarlet Tanager.  I don’t think I’d ever seen one before, so that was a bit of high for me.  I used some of my iTunes gift money to buy iBird for my phone so I can more quickly ID birds.  Fun fun!

Hill Country, Texas romantic get-away

On Wednesday, December 28, Bryan and I packed our bags, said goodbye to the family, and drove west for a week of vacationing together.  After a stop in Austin for a delicious lunch at Z Tejas, we drove on to Fredricksburg, TX, a beautiful German town in the heart of the Hill Country.

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We stayed in a cabin at a beautiful little resort called Barron’s Creekside.

First thing we did was to stroll around the grounds.

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I love this shadow picture of the two of us!

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The cabins are made of timber from a tabacco barn and the windows and doors and some furnishings are from a home in Switzerland.  The owner, Daniel, is Swiss and splits his time between here and there.

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There’s my handsome sweetie.

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And there’s me, feeling quite relaxed and happy.

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Our cabin was named Wasserfall.  What a wonderful place!

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Our first morning there, Bryan brought me breakfast in bed and then we lazed around and read for half the day.

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We enjoyed some delicious dining in Fredricksburg (the Navajo Grill was super yummy), but my favorite meal was the steaks and mushrooms and asparagus that Bryan made on the grill.  We moved our table out to the porch to eat by white Christmas lights.

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Ahh, and the fire in the fireplace!  So cozy!

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This was one of the best trips we’ve taken together.  We visited Becker Vineyards (bought some port and lavender honey), went to Wild Seed Farms, drove past the very crowded Enchanted Rock State Park, and wandered up and down the adorable shopping street in Fredericksburg.   I loved it here, and highly recommend both the location and also the solo vacationing sans kids!

Hanging out in Texas

After Christmas, Bryan and I spent a couple days hanging out with the family before venturing out on our own vacation.  I thought I’d share some pics from our fun times.  There’s a video at the end of Sylvia playing with an electric car that’s pretty cute.

This is actually on our flight to Texas on the 23rd, but I had to share these pictures because the kids were looking so silly.

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Andrew had a “blue raspberry” lemonade.  He was so proud of his blue tongue!

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After Christmas, Melanie gave us all some new holiday beer toppers.  Reindeer and santa hats:)

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A perfect poker combo.

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Bryan got sick on Christmas Day and he was out of commission most of the 26th, but by the evening of the 27th, he was back in the game…the poker game.

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I don’t know if I can count the number of “tubbies” that Sylvia took while at Granny and Gradad’s.  I’m guessing it’s around 4 per day.

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Bryan and Mark went golfing in the balmy Texas weather.

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Here’s a cute video of Andrew and Sylvia playing with a motorized car.  I like how she gently pats it when it stops and then runs gleefully away.  So cute.

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Christmas day

LuAnn played the piano at the Christmas Day church service this year.  It was so fun to watch and listen to her!  Great carols and hymns:)

When we got home, Sylvia dressed up (outfit #15) into Granny’s Belle costume.  I thought she looked so sweet playing on the piano!

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Our Christmas Dinner was in the evening.  Granny made a beautiful crown pork roast with an amazing cranberry pecan stuffing.  I’ve got to get this recipe.  That stuffing is the stuff that dreams are made of.

Here’s the main course, coming out of the oven…

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What a beauty!

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Oh, yummy, yum, yum.

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And fresh rolls!

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Mark and LuAnn’s friends BJ and David joined us for Christmas Dinner.  They were both a lot of fun!  Note, they are sporting the necklaces Sylvia made:)

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Here’s David and Mark carving the roast.

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Sitting down at the beautiful Christmas table.

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On the outside, looking in…

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Christmas lights from the street.  Sylvia was a bit concerned to know where I was going.  You can just see her head peeking around the open front door.

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“Come in, Mommy!”  She’s jumping up and down:)

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After dinner, Sylvia got to eat some of her gingerbread house for dessert.  Note, it’s become heavily more decorated!

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Thanks, all for a wonderful Christmas feast.

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