Our journey to Ohio this year was overlaid with the worry of the Covid-19 pandemic. Four months in, things were getting worse instead of better. We hesitated to make the trip, but our worries about contracting or spreading the coronavirus were outweighed by the idea that we should visit family when we had the opportunity, because you never know what might happen. So, like we have every year (except 2018) we loaded up the van and drove north.
On the drive there, Simon coined the phrase "the horizon distance mountains" and said it a gazillion times as we drove through the mountains. Once we got to Ohio, he pointed out every corn or soybean field, but especially the corn.
For the first half of the week, we stayed with my parents in Mansfield. On our first evening, the kids were excited to go fishing right after supper. Simon caught a catfish and Alice caught a wet bird.
We dodged an inordinate amount of goose poop to walk out to the point to look at the sunset together.
Simon, encouraged by his early catch, couldn't get enough of fishing.
The next day, we went for a bike ride around the neighborhood.
We stopped at a neighbor's to check on their dog that my dad was pet sitting, and Simon was very impressed by their cane, which resembled his beloved corn plants.
Later that afternoon, my sister and her boyfriend (Tony) and her daughter (Kaelyn) came up for a visit. We took a pontoon ride, and the kids were very thrilled to get a chance to drive the boat.
Later that evening, Nelson took Alice and Kaelyn on a fishing canoe ride. Alice caught a bluegill near a stump.
After they got back, Zac took Simon out for a canoe trip, where they visited several islands.
Later that night, there was more fishing and some fireworks. The kids especially liked this one that looked like a snake of expanding poop.
Kaelyn spent the night, and the next day after lunch we took a pontoon ride out to the beach.
The kids played mostly happily at the beach while the adults visited, and Zac went on the kayak to explore this part of the lake.
I always love having meals on the shady, screened in porch!
That evening, we bid farewell to Tener and Kaelyn, as my parents drove them back home/airport.
Meanwhile, we went on a little family canoe trip. I just love the alignment and colors in this photo!
The next morning, we walked out to crayfish point. This is an important ritual, as this was the path I grew up walking on (and later jogging a bit when I was trying to condition myself for tennis. I was never much of a runner, but trail running is fun.)
Family portrait at Crayfish Point. (Simon looked, but didn't find any crayfish.)
More fishing!
On our last evening in Mansfield, my parents watched the kids so Zac and I could go on a kayak trip up the river. It was really fun and beautiful.
Wednesday was our last day in Mansfield. I can't remember what we did, probably a little bit of everything. Simon wants to play with grandpa every waking minute, so here he is helping Nelson select pictures to share.
On Wednesday afternoon, we loaded up the van (lots of bags of hand-me-downs for the kids from Taesen) and headed south to Zac's mom's house for the second part of our Ohio adventure.
