We decided to leave on Saturday night so that we could spend the day packing up the car (hello, kids require so much stuff, especially when you're going to the beach!). We left a little later than planned, but we were still pretty excited to get on the road!
The kids did SO great and slept through the whole night (not even really waking up for gas stops or driver switches). It was a small miracle!
Check out this beautiful view in Iowa as the sun was starting to rise!
And of course a rainbow sighting!
About an hour after Avery woke up, we stopped for breakfast at little-known place called McDonald's. ;) Kids ate and stretched and we hit the road again!
And sometime mid-morning, we arrived at Mimi and Papa's house!! The kids were in awesome spirits an we all survived the overnight drive.
Benjamin wasted no time playing legos with dad and Papa! Mimi and Papa have a TON of legos. Maybe a literal ton.
Some of Mimi's family came over to play, and both Benjamin and Avery were thrilled with all the attention :)
Great Grandma Bev:
Auntie Brenda:
Auntie Emma:
Auntie Cindy:
Great Grandpa Jack:
Uncle Jacob!
That night, the siblings all went to Surly, because how could we not?! The new digs are pretty amazing. It was thankfully not crowded (which it usually is at all times), and it was quite an impressive brewery! Next time we'll have to stay for dinner too.
The next day, Emma and I drove around various neighborhoods in the cities and stopped at Matt's Bar for the original Juicy Lucy. It was AMAZING. So tasty :)
Other fun that day:
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| "Baby Benjamin!" |
That evening, we went to an outdoor concert at Lake Harriet and I fell in love with the neighborhoods around the lake. I should have taken more pics, but I snapped this one as we were leaving it :) Doesn't quite do it justice!
The concert was great, though the rain was coming in quickly! We didn't get to stay long enough, but it was still fun while it lasted.
Avery loves her Auntie Suzie!!
Oh, and I found a house for us if anyone wants to buy it :)
Other things we did... Emma helped Benjamin make some cookies ;)
We met everyone at Minnehaha Falls for dinner at Sea Salt. Highly recommend this place, so much fun!!
The beautiful Falls!
On my drive around neighborhoods, I came across these TURKEYS crossing the road. Turkeys. In Minneapolis.
The next day, Mimi & Papa took Benjamin and Avery to the Como Zoo! They had a blast :)
And that evening I took Benjamin on a date to see his very first movie in the theater!! It was SO much fun for both of us. He was over the moon about the whole experience and kept telling me that he'd "never been to a theater before!" The joy in his face just melted my heart, not to mention that he held my hand during a lot of the movie. GUSH! We saw "Inside Out" which was a ridiculously good movie, but a little over Benjamin's head. Regardless, he loved the whole outing and can't wait to go on a date again! (Me either, bud!)
Matt and I got a date night out and went to Hola for dinner. They started as a food truck (arepas) and got super popular... this restaurant was great and we had a great dinner on the patio. Another great recommendation!
Ice cream at Sebastian Joe's, one of the cities' best ice cream spots!
Saying goodbye to Auntie Suzie was no fun at all :(
Thursday, Sara took me out on a tour of some of her favorite neighborhoods. It was so great to see the cities through her eyes. I learned a lot about many different areas, and we stopped for some great food and drinks along the way. A fun outing!
(this is my new favorite thing....)
This corner felt a lot like a neighborhood corner in Wash Park or the Highlands in Denver!
Drinks at W.A. Frost (Rose flight...yum!):
And we made a stop Betty Danger's Country Club. It was AMAZING. Like seriously. If you could dream up one of the craziest restaurants/bars, this would be it. It's got a cheesy preppy/country club theme and then went all out making it as cheesy as possible. Plus, there's a real ferris wheel. Pictures don't do this place justice. You should check it out if you're ever in the area, you won't be disappointed!
Meanwhile back at home with Mimi:
That night we played trivia at a brewery in Minneapolis (Lyndale Brewery maybe? I can't remember the name)
Sleeping hard:
Early wake-up to hit the road on to Michigan... the kids were total troopers, though Benjamin was VERY sad to leave and cried for a bit as we drove away.
We stopped in Chicago to hang lunch with one of Matt's best friend's from college!! So fun getting to see them. He just got his Doctorate and was studying pseudomonas, a bacteria very dangerous to CF lungs and something we will be talking about for all of Avery's life. So interesting!
Benjamin was pretty good about keeping busy in the car thanks to sticker books, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle masks, outfits that Mimi sewed for Monkey, music and the iPad. :)
And with that, we arrived in Michigan!! More on that to come...
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