Category Archives: William

Late Spring 2014—William Eats

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It’s almost Thanksgiving, so it seemed like the perfect time to post some pictures from, well, eight and a half years ago! This album features snapshots from May and June of 2014, when William was not quite one and Julia and Joseph were still in elementary school.

It includes some pictures from a fun YMCA Adventure Guides outing in which the boys launched homemade rockets; there’s even a video of Joe launching and chasing after the rocket he designed. It also features some photos of Julia napping with Felix; little did we know at the time that this would become a pervasive, recurring theme in our lives.

But the majority of the pictures focus on William’s trials and tribulations trying to maneuver finger food—in this case, Gerber Puffs—into his mouth. As you can see from the photos, he’s making a valiant, two-fisted effort at it, but his tiny fingers aren’t fully on board with the plan. He does eventually succeed, but it’s not immediately clear that the caloric value of the puffs he ate made up for the energy he expended consuming them.

The whole series reminds me of a much older sequence of pictures showing Julia attempting the same feat with Cheerios. Unfortunately, that photo album has vanished from the Internet for the time being, but here’s one sample:

Julia eating Cheerios

And here’s the more recent equivalent:

William eating puffs

The gallery closes with some pictures of William at dinner in a stunningly stylish outfit that’s even older than these photos. Somewhere out there, there are surely pictures of me in the same getup, but unfortunately, I don’t have any to share at this time.

Gallery: Late Spring 2014—William Eats

Disneyland and Fall Break

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It’s been a long couple years, during which we haven’t really had an opportunity to travel just for fun. We’ve had some plans, but Covid and other realities kept getting in the way. It was in this context that Julie hit upon a great idea: a short family road trip to Disneyland over William’s fall break. Here we present the photographic evidence of the fact that we made—and survived—the trek, with a few soccer and pre-Halloween photos thrown in for good measure.

William had the entire week off, which gave us a measure of schedule flexibility. On the other hand, Julia and Joe did not, which meant that if we wanted to take them along, we’d have to leave on a Friday evening so they wouldn’t miss school. With that in mind, we opted to depart on the Friday at the beginning of fall break; Julia chose to come with us, as Disneyland is one of her favorite places in the world, while Joe opted to stay home by himself: the same can absolutely not be said for him.

We got out of town at a pretty reasonable hour, which reduced our exposure to traffic: the last time we drove south, in 2020, it took us nearly two hours just to get to Interstate 5, whereas for this trip, it hardly seemed to take any time at all. We stopped for a quick dinner at Harris Ranch and drove more or less straight through to Anaheim, arriving sometime around midnight.

We spent all day Saturday and most of the day Sunday at the park, giving William a chance to ride all the rides he missed out on the last time we visited, when he was just two-and-a-half years old. He especially liked the Spider-Man ride, in which riders electronically shoot webs at bad guys while the ride keeps score. Perhaps unsurprisingly, William was much better at this than me, as was Julie; I consistently had the worst score in the family on this ride.

He even rode the park’s biggest roller coaster, Incredicoaster, and didn’t completely hate it, though he declined to give it a second go. It’s too early to say that he’s a roller coaster addict like his mother and sister, but it’s also too early to rule it out. He especially enjoyed the water rides: we rode Splash Mountain first thing the second day because the lines were short, and we quickly discovered why there wasn’t a wait: it was more than a bit chilly walking around the park in soaking wet jeans in the cool morning air.

Like many kids his age, William is keenly interested in all things Star Wars, and the ride we spent the most time on was the new-ish Smuggler’s Run, in which you get to fly around in the Millennium Falcon as a team, collaboratively dodging obstacles, shooting at enemies, and trying to keep the ship flying with timely repairs. I remember reading about the ride when it first opened a few years ago, and it was hoot to finally see it in person. Who doesn’t want to fly the Millennium Falcon?

Another Star-Wars-adjacent highlight was the opportunity for William to build his own lightsaber, which he had been looking forward to ever since Julie came back from chaperoning a band trip to Disneyland last spring with one she’d built. He undertook the task with great gusto, and the end result was both uniquely his own and exactly what he wanted.

For her part, Julia was in good spirits for most of the trip. She wandered the park on her own most of the time, meeting up with us for meals and a few family rides. She seemed to really value the opportunity to explore independently and make her own choices.

The only real wrinkle came around lunchtime on Sunday when, in a truly unfortunate accident, Julie’s wallet and phone ended up in the water bordering the waiting area for the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. It was clearly visible in the channel through which the ride travels, but just out of reach. We finished our ride—there didn’t seem much point in not going through with it, as we’d waited in line for nearly an hour and the phone didn’t seem to be going anywhere—and Julie explained what had happened to the attendants when we disembarked. After investigating for a few minutes, they told us that they knew exactly where the phone was, but didn’t have any way to reach it while the ride was running. Our only choice was to wait a few hours and hope that the phone and wallet would be dragged by the current into the boarding area, where they would be able to retrieve it. Failing that, they assured us that they would be able to pick it up and mail it to us after the park closed, when they drained the channel for cleaning.

This was bad enough: in this day and age, being without one’s phone seems almost unfathomable. But complicating matters was the fact that Julie had a trip to Nebraska scheduled for the following Friday, just five days later: if they couldn’t get her wallet back to her before then, she’d be forced to travel without her phone and her driver’s license.

In all honesty, I thought the phone was pretty much a goner. Companies like Apple have made great strides in terms of waterproofing in the last few years, but Julie’s phone was more than three years old, and the gaskets and seals that keep water out degrade over time. And we were talking about it spending hours underwater; as we moved on to our next ride, I was already trying to figure out how we could get her a new phone before her trip.

We planned to check back in at Pirates of the Caribbean toward the end of the day, but as we tried to enjoy a few more rides in the meantime, we could tell that the uncertainty was weighing on William. To allay his concerns, we headed back after just a couple hours to see if the phone had turned up.

And, lo and behold, it had, with Julie’s phone and the contents of her wallet soaked but intact. Just as the Disney folks had predicted, it had made its way downstream to the platform where they could snag it. Even better, the phone still worked. It wouldn’t take a charge until the charging port thoroughly dried out, but otherwise it was none the worse for wear.

Julia had classes the next day, so we didn’t stay too much longer, though we did stop at Portillo’s for a quick dinner before we got on the road for the long drive north. Despite the hiccups, it was a delightful trip, and it was a joy to share the experience with William now that he’s old enough to really enjoy it.

It also felt like something of a bookend to our thirty-month pandemic experience. Way back in February 2020, we road tripped down to San Diego and Legoland for the kids’ winter break. I’d heard from from some co-workers who returned to the U.S. from China at the beginning of the year that things were worse than we in the West knew, but we had no idea what was in store. While we’re not completely out of the woods yet—as I write, Covid cases are starting to tick up here in the Bay Area—this year’s trip, though short, was an opportunity to reflect on where we are and everything that we’ve lived through since then.

Gallery: Disneyland and Fall Break

Back to School 2022

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As has been the case for the last thirteen years, August brought the beginning of the school year and, with it, back to school pictures. This year, however, there’s one major difference: Julia isn’t featured. Although Joe’s year at UPA started on August 9, and William started at Booksin on August 17, Julia is off to college at Santa Clara University this fall, and her term doesn’t start until September 18. Nevertheless, the show must go on, so we have the traditional photos in front of the van, along with a few contemporaneous snapshots.

Joe and his friend Caitlin are walking to school together this year, so we asked her very nicely if she wanted her picture taken, and she graciously consented. In lieu of his school uniform polo, Joe is wearing a t-shirt that identifies him as a member of the Link Crew, a group of upper-level students who help eighth graders transition to high school. He and a partner were assigned a cohort of freshmen to reach out to over the summer, and they organized a day of activities the week before school started to help them acclimate and understand what to expect. They will keep in touch with their group throughout the year to help ensure they’re on the path to success in high school.

William dressed up for his first day; he’s working hard to define his “signature look,” as he calls it. He was a little disappointed that more of his friends from last year aren’t in his class, but we pointed out that most of the kids he’s missing now were strangers to him at the beginning of second grade. Considering his track record, he’ll almost certainly have no trouble making new friends in class.

Toward the end of the summer, William took several weeks of swim lessons, motivated in large part by a desire to catch up with his friends so he can join a swim team with them. The last couple weeks, he took lessons from Mrs. Whittell, who was Julia’s fourth grade teacher and has given swim lessons to all three kids. He’s made a lot of progress with his crawl and backstroke, and he’s starting to learn the breaststroke. On the final day, the lessons culminated with an exercise in swimming and keeping yourself afloat in the event that you find yourself in the water with your clothes on. Unfortunately, I don‘t have any pictures from that day, but it’s always fun for the kids in additional to being an excellent survival lesson.

Finally, last weekend, William was very excited to attend a birthday sleepover for his friend Bentley, including a trip to a San José Giants baseball game. He had a great time, but he was a little worried that Julie and I would get lonely without him in bed. To assuage his concerns, he set up a placeholder to keep us company. We all made it through the night, though he was a little worn out when he got home—I suspect sugar and frivolity conspired to keep the kids up later than usual, and they were all up early the next day.

Gallery: Back to School 2022

Mother’s Day 2014

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As we approach the end of summer—Joe and William are both already back in school, and Julia is just a couple weeks away from starting college—we have a quick trip down memory lane: a selection of photos from Mother’s Day, 2014.

We celebrated the holiday with our pre-pandemic tradition of visiting the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk. Some years, it’s been too cold or windy, and we’ve had to delay our visit until later in the year, but the weather was perfect for this trip. By the time we got there, it was warm enough for the kids to frolic on the beach and in the surf, and we even had a visit from a passing dolphin.

When we’d had enough of the sand and water, we headed up to the boardwalk to partake of its gifts, primarily unhealthy food and carnival rides. Pay particular attention to the look of abject terror on Joe’s face on the Rock & Roll ride.

Even William, then less than a year old, had a great time. There were plenty of new and novel sights, sounds, and smells for him to experience, and he has always been happy to spend a day out with the family.

Gallery: Mother’s Day 2014

Baseball and Band

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We have some very significant life events coming up in the next couple weeks for which I’m sure we’ll have a great many photos. In the meantime, we have this album, which presents a collection of pictures from April and May of 2014.

Eight years is a long time. But, looking back from here in the spring of 2022, the distance between then and now feels even greater. Julia and Joe were still in elementary school; William spent most of his time rolling around on the floor; and the world as a whole felt like a safer and saner place than it does today.

The gallery is interesting because it features Joe at about the same place William is today: in the home stretch of the second grade, and finishing up the season at the Farm level in Little League. It’s fascinating to look at these pictures of Joe and compare them to more recent shots of William: even though there’s a clear family resemblance, different aspects of their personalities shine though clearly.

(That said, it’s worth noting that, due to the vagaries of the school district’s academic calendar, Joe is actually close to a year younger in these photos than William is now).

Joe waits for the pitch

William waits for the pitch

Returning to the present, we’re approaching the end of the school year at alarming speed. Julia is effectively done: she finished up her last class this past Friday, and has nothing left but graduation practices. It’s been a difficult and challenging year for her on many fronts, and there are still challenges to come—including major oral surgery in just a couple weeks. Right now, though, she’s looking back with a sense of bittersweet melancholy that is all too familiar to me.

As I write, Joe is on the way home from a band trip to Southern California. The group left by bus Thursday afternoon and on Friday attended a band competition with other bands from around the state. Then, as a reward, they spent Saturday at Disneyland and are returning home today.

Disneyland probably wouldn’t have been Joe’s first choice of places to visit, as he hasn’t historically been that interested in amusement park rides, but it was a bit of a relief that he was able to make this trip: COVID-19 canceled two other school trips that he had been looking forward to over the last couple years.

Julie chaperoned this trip, so I’ve been left alone with Julia and William for the last few days. Miraculously, all of us have survived so far, and William and I even got COVID vaccine boosters on Saturday: my second and his first.

Speaking of COVID, transmission levels in the Bay Area are disturbingly high at the moment, and, in the second half of this month and the first week or two of the next, we’re looking at some the highest-risk activities we’ve faced during the entire pandemic. There’s the band trip, of course, and this past week, after not having heard anything for a couple months, we received a notification from Booksin that at least three people in William’s classroom have tested positive. Last week, Julia had her senior trip to a campground in the redwoods, which also involved a long bus ride. And, coming up, we have the senior awards banquet, which is an indoor dining event; and graduation itself, which is being held indoors with no restrictions on the number of guests each senior is allowed to bring.

All of us have made it through the pandemic thus far without getting sick; if we get past the next couple weeks without anyone catching it, it will be a minor miracle.

Gallery: Baseball and Band

Solid Food and Grandparents in Spring

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This album takes us all the way back to the spring of 2014, when William was a squawky infant; Joe was a carefree second grader; and Julia, our big kid, was all of nine years old.

The photos here cover a lot of ground, including a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Wong, baseball and basketball games for Joe, an overnight trip to the California Academy of Sciences, Julia oozing personality, and a few work-related pictures to top things off.

William was in a developmental phase in which he was getting used to eating solid food and rolling over, but he wasn’t yet crawling or saying even simple words. Those limitations didn’t stop his effervescent personality from shining through, though: even at this age, he was a joyful kid who loved interacting with other people, and that’s plainly evident in these images.

Joe had a busy March: basketball season was wrapping up, and his lone season of Little League at the Farm level was just getting started. A highlight of the month was an overnight stay at the California Academy of Sciences with his Adventure Guides circle, the Grizzlies. We had the run of the museum for the evening and slept in the darkened aquarium section, with the quiet murmur of the water pumps to lull us to sleep.

The gallery also contains a smattering of work-related photos. In March 2014, Airtime had just completed the acquisition of vLine, the startup I’d joined the previous July. To foster a greater sense of cohesion between the original Airtime team, which was based in New York City, and the vLine folks from California, the company set up an all-hands offsite in Miami. We stayed in a very nice hotel and worked through strategy discussions and team-building activities. I was especially taken by the outdoor bathtub on my patio, though I never got a chance to use it.

There are also a few pictures of our first post-acquisition office, which we rented for a few months while our more permanent home was being renovated. It was basically a long walk-in closet with doors on both ends and no exterior windows. We only spent a few months there but it was a startup experience to remember.

Gallery: Solid Food and Grandparents in Spring

Easter 2014

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This week, we’re going nearly eight years into the past to bring you a set of previously un-published photos from Easter 2014. As old as these images are—and bearing in mind that William was barely six months old at the time—their personalities shine through to an impressive degree. In particular, William’s expression of sheer joy at the experience of playing with empty plastic Easter eggs is a favorite of mine.

In more timely news, Joe and Julia are both preparing for the next school year, even though this one is only halfway complete. Joe has signed up for no fewer than five AP classes in his junior year, while Julia is still waiting to hear back from some of the colleges she applied to. She remains very happy that she was accepted by Santa Clara University, as the idea of staying close to home—and Felix—is strongly appealing to her, but it’s always nice to have choices.

For his part, William is very excited to have a very small speaking role in his school’s production of Peter Pan Jr.. He had actually planned to try out for a bigger part, but he somehow didn’t hear when the second graders were called in to audition. He was upset at the time—tears were shed—but he’s happy to have a role in the play.

Baseball season has started up again, and William was glad to learn that he’s on the same team as a bunch of kids he knows from school. It will be hard to top the experience he had last spring, but he’s having a great time so far. My only gripe is that we had a practice at 9:00 this morning, the first day of a long weekend. William didn’t have any trouble getting up for it, but I certainly did. I may have taken a nap when we got home.

Gallery: Easter 2014

Late 2021 Odds and Ends

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As we were going through photos for the fall post, I realized that we’d missed a few gems from the November/December timeframe. Because my personal quirks make it impossible for me to tolerate leaving a gap like that unfilled, we’ve put together a collection of odds and ends covering the second half of November and the first half of December.

As it turns out, quite a bit happened during that time. In November, Julie and Julia flew down to Los Angeles to visit colleges (and do a bit of sightseeing while they were there), including Scripps and Occidental, and William finally got his second dose of the COVID vaccine.

In December, Julia played the role of Lloyd in the UPA production of Noises Off. As it turns out, she didn’t get a role in the spring play, so this was her high school drama swan song. I’m told that opening night was a little bit bumpy—apparently there was quite a bit of improvisation—but by the time I saw it Saturday morning, things had settled down quite a bit, and it was a delight to see her on stage.

The next week, Joe performed in the winter band concert. Because of the pandemic, the performance was held outdoors in the early evening. As you can see from the photos, this made for a somewhat chilly experience for the audience, particularly as the evening wore on. Of course, Joe, flaunting his teenage metabolism, sat on stage in short sleeves, seemingly unaffected. He’s happy and proud that he’s been getting a chance to play the first chair parts of during these shows; it’s a testament to the hard work he’s put in during practice and his weekly lessons.

Finally, Joe passed the written driver’s test and picked up his learner’s permit. He is strongly motivated by his goal of being the first among his group of friends to get a license. Unfortunately, actual driving lessons have been on hold, first because of the holidays and later because of the Omicron surge, which saw case rates jump more than tenfold here in the Bay Area. He’s eager to get started again once things settle down. Our numbers seem to be falling just as quickly as they rose last month, so we’re looking forward to returning to a more relaxed posture in a week or two.

Gallery: Late 2021 Odds and Ends

Soccer, Halloween, and Fall Fun

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We had a busy fall in 2021: the school year was in full swing; William played on a soccer team for the first time; Grandma and Grandpa Wong came to visit; and, on a bittersweet note, Julia had the once-in-a-lifetime pleasure of applying to colleges. We’ve collected and posted some pictures that capture some of these experiences.

William had played soccer before, of course: starting in preschool, he took classes from Kidz Love Soccer and really enjoyed them. The teacher, Coach Scott, worked hard to make learning basic soccer skills positive and fun.

Until this year, however, he had never played in an actual soccer league, and now that we were settled back in at home, it seemed like as good a time as any to give it a try. He was fortunate to end up on a team with a number of his friends from school, baseball, and other activities, including his best buddy, Kai. Most of the other kids on the team had played before and were a little more comfortable than William with competitive games, but he adapted well. He tried his hardest, kept a positive attitude, and showed clear improvement as the season progressed. His coach adhered to the stereotypical I-yell-because-I-care philosophy, and I was initially worried about how William would respond to that style of teaching, but it didn’t seem to faze him.

In mid-October, Grandma and Grandpa Wong paid us a much-anticipated visit. If memory serves, this was the first time we saw them in person since the middle of 2019, thanks to the pandemic and other factors. They stopped by en route to their home in Texas, after first visiting Bill and Leah in Colorado Springs. Of course, San José isn’t exactly on the way to Georgetown, so we were very happy they took the extra time to stop in; we only wish they could have stayed longer.

Because Will has always been a big fan of dressing up in costumes, you might guess that Halloween is one of his favorite holidays, and you’d be right. This year, he celebrated with no fewer than three costumes: he wore his astronaut costume to school on Friday, and he switched to his Minecraft costume for late afternoon trick-or-treating on Sunday. Later in the evening, as it started to get dark, he switched to a light-up stick figure costume that garnered multiple compliments from neighbors as we went from house to house.

Julie and I split trick-or-treating duty—he was very diligent, collecting more candy than Julia or Joe ever did—and Joe spent the evening with his friend Lucas. Even they, at the advanced age of fifteen, got into the spirit of the holiday and did a spot of trick-or-treating, making sure to visit one of the nearby houses that was known to hand out full-size candy bars. As I write, at the end of January, we’re still working our way slowly through the hoard of candy they accumulated.

This fall finally brought something we’d been waiting for through most of the year: the opportunity for William to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He’s been extremely careful and conscientious throughout the pandemic, even switching to less comfortable (but more effective) KF-94 masks as the Omicron variant became dominant, without raising a fuss. Early on, we had to clarify to him that he didn’t have to wear his mask in the car as we drove from place to place: he was worried that the virus could get in from the outside and infect him.

In that context, he saw first Julie and Julia, followed by Joe and me, get our shots and feel the powerful sense of relief that came with knowing we were largely protected against severe illness. At the same time, we had to explain to him that doctors and scientists were taking the time to be extra careful to be sure that the vaccine was safe and effective in young, growing bodies.

When the Pfizer vaccine was finally approved for kids in his age range, he and Julie were almost the first in line to get a dose. The county converted a section of the vaccination site at the fairgrounds to make it more kid-friendly, complete with toys and a scavenger hunt, and William was pleased as punch to finally be vaccinated. The ice cream treat he got after the fact probably didn’t hurt, either.

Gallery: Soccer, Halloween, and Fall Fun

Christmas 2021

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We just wrapped up our trip to Nebraska for Christmas 2021, and it was something of a welcome return to normal holiday routine after two years of relative isolation. In fact, it was my first time going anywhere since February of 2020, which made the whole experience a bit jarring: I’d forgotten many of the petty indignities of air travel.

There was a flurry of activity before we left, which made the week we spent in Nebraska feel all the more relaxing. We put up Christmas decorations in and on the house for the first time since the remodel, including icicles on the second-floor eaves. We weren’t quite sure how to accomplish that, so we paid a team of folks to take care of it, and they made short work of the project. On the whole, they did a pretty good job—the lights look great—but they did leave the exposed end of our triple-trap extension cord in a place where it could slide into the gutter in the event of rain, which naturally, it did a few days later. After we realized the lights weren’t working, Julie and I spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out how to reset the GFCI for the circuit, which happened to be inside the garage, not obviously connected to the outlet the lights were plugged into.

We also added a light-up pig to our front yard ensemble—something that Julie has long desired—and we put electric candles (gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Wong) in the windows of Joe’s bedroom and the play room. When everything is turned on, it seems almost as bright as day in front of the house, but our setup pales in comparison to some of the neighbors’. We noticed this at Halloween, as well: it seems like many people have channeled pent-up energy from being stuck at home into creating ever more fantastic holiday displays.

We set up our Christmas tree at home around mid-month so that we’d have at least a little time to enjoy it before we left town. We debated whether to put it in the family room or the living room and ultimately opted for the latter, right in front of the picture window facing the street. That way, it’s visible from outside when we have the drapes open, and it feels a little more special because it’s in a room we don’t use that often otherwise.

Due to quirks in the San Jose Unified and UPA academic calendars, William’s holiday break started almost a full week before Julia and Joe’s: their semester didn’t end until December 22, while William was released on December 17. With that in mind, Julie made arrangements to fly to Nebraska with William ahead of us, giving the two of them time to bake cookies and otherwise prepare for Christmas while the big kids wrapped up their final exams.

Julie and William left the Sunday before Christmas, leaving the rest of us to fend for ourselves for a few days. Things went relatively smoothly, other than the fact that by mid-day Monday I was experiencing some mild sinus congestion and other low grade cold symptoms. After not having been sick—not even a sniffle—for twenty-two months, my mind went to the worst case scenario: what if we were stuck at home for Christmas while Julie and William were in Nebraska? Fortunately, Julie had picked up some rapid antigen tests for Covid-19 a few weeks earlier, and I came up negative both Monday evening and Wednesday night. A PCR test on Tuesday confirmed the negative result Thursday morning, so I felt OK with flying later that day.

Of course, feeling OK with flying didn’t make the process any less unpleasant than it always is. And flying in the middle of a pandemic made it that much worse. We saw the full spectrum of people’s inability to follow simple directions during our trip: people who “forgot” to put on their masks when they entered the airport; people walking around with their noses hanging out, uncaring or oblivious; people who took off their masks to talk loudly on the phone; and much, much more.

At the departure gate in San José, an older couple sat down a couple seats away from us. The woman was clearly unwell: she was bleary-eyed and sniffly, and looked as though she would have much rather have been in bed. That would have been fine—I wasn’t feeling great, either—but as she started a coughing fit, she pulled off her mask. We just got up and moved at that point; I have no idea what she was sick with, but there didn’t seem to hang around nearby.

Beyond those annoyances, things went smoothly. We were very fortunate that our flights weren’t affected by the wave of cancellations that swept through the industry over the holidays, and we made it to Omaha with no complications more serious than a bit of moderate turbulence heading into and out of Salt Lake City.

Julie picked us up at the airport in Omaha, and it was a nice change of pace to arrive during daylight hours rather than near midnight, as we have in the past. We made a quick stop at a Runza drive-though for dinner and headed up to Norfolk.

The kids were excited to see Grandma Flack and their uncles Bill and Andrew, and it was comforting to participate in Julie’s family traditions. We had roast beef on Christmas Eve and decorated the tree after dinner. On Christmas morning, we opened presents at 8:00 sharp—Julia and Joe are old enough that they probably would have been happy to sleep in, but William was having none of that—and, borrowing a tradition from Grandma and Grandpa Wong, had cinnamon rolls for breakfast. That night, we roasted a turkey that Julie had started brining the day before, and there were plenty of leftovers for soup and turkey sandwiches in the days that followed.

The rest of the visit was even more laid back and relaxing than usual: because of concerns about Covid, we didn’t go out much except for near-daily curbside pickup runs at the grocery store. This gave Julia and Joe some time to slow down and relax after finals, while William was happy just to have so many people around to entertain him. Julia made vast quantities of bacon for breakfast nearly every day, and all three kids ate prodigious amounts of Spaghetti-O’s at lunch throughout our visit.

Our one big outing was to visit Aunt Julie at her nursing home in Madison. To accommodate families who want to visit residents as a group, the facility allows you to book the dining room in the assisted living wing so you can enjoy a private family meal. You can choose between whatever happens to be on the menu that evening or bring your own food, which really didn’t feel like much of a choice at all. Julie and Grandma Flack ordered a hot pulled pork meal, throwing in some brownies as a treat, from the HyVee in Norfolk, and made plans to pick it up on our way to the nursing home.

Unfortunately, things went sideways from there. When we pulled into the marked pickup spot at HyVee and called the number posted on the adjacent sign, we were sent straight to voice mail. We tried a few more times over the next few minutes and couldn’t get through to a person; worse, we discovered the the voice mailbox was full, so we couldn’t leave a message even if we wanted to.

Frustrated, Julie called the main number for the grocery store and spoke to a very nice woman who told us she would put us through the kitchen. We then sat and listened to grocery store sounds for what seemed like an eternity before Julie gave up and called the main line again. This time, the nice woman told us she would walk over to the kitchen to make sure we got through and, to her credit, she did just that. Julie chatted briefly with someone on the other end who assured us that our order would be out promptly.

“Promptly” means different things to different people, but finally, after what felt like a pretty long wait, someone appeared at the car window with brownies and… nothing else. Julie pointed out that this wasn’t right—she had the original order confirmation on her phone—and the person disappeared back into the store leaving us to wait still longer. Finally, the store employee reappeared accompanied by someone from the kitchen who explained their systems didn’t show anything in our order except brownies; the rest of our items seemed to have vanished into the ether.

Out of patience and time, as we’d spent more than twenty minutes sitting in the parking lot, and Grandma Flack and Uncle Bill had already arrived at the nursing home, we took the brownies and audibled: instead of pulled pork, we would have delicious Arby’s roast beef sandwiches for dinner. We zipped off to the drive-through, put in an order for a pile of sandwiches and various types of fries, and finally started on our way to Madison. Luckily for us, they couldn’t start dinner without us because we had all the food.

All the drama aside, we had a very pleasant visit with Aunt Julie; because we had the dining room to ourselves, we could relax and move around without feeling rushed or like we were in the way. Aunt Julie and Julia really hit it off, as Julia regaled her with stories of cute things Felix has done over the last couple years, illustrated by pictures from her phone. Our one major regret is that, after all the excitement, I forgot to take pictures while we were there.

Our return trip on December 30 was blissfully uneventful. Getting home before the start of the new year left us with plenty of time to wind down and re-acclimate to life at home before William’s return to school on January 4 (the older kids, having finished later in December, don’t start again until January 10—this left us plenty of time for Julia to work on college applications). It also allowed us to enjoy one final holiday tradition: Big Fat Pancakes for dinner on New Year’s Day.

Gallery: Christmas 2021