Hold on everyone, this is going to be a long one! We headed out to my family vacation this past week in Minnesota! We left on Wednesday, and got back this morning (Monday). We had a lot of fun, and took a lot of pictures, so this post looks to be pretty long, even if I don't say much! If you're feeling short on time, Google did create this
1:30 slide show that sums up the trip decently. Anyway, one of the things we did out there was go to a cheese factory, and while we were there we got a family picture with cheese hats on!
So bringing it back to last Monday, we start off with Winry who has been doing a really good job of sitting up recently! Monica put her in the boppy and she was a sitting champ! Still toppling, but she could balance for a while!
On Monday for FHE we finally made it back to Build a Bear so Brooke could get her bear stuffed! She was SOOOO excited! I think we made a great call because there was no line in the store when we went. Here she is with her bag ready to go!
After stuffing a bear they give you a heart to put in it, but
first you need to prep it to make sure your bear will be good to go! Once the bear was tied shut we were ready to go give our bears their very first baths!
Brooke cleaned both hers (right) and Winry's (pink/left). Good thing Winry has a big sister to take care of the important things for her!
After the bath it was time to make a birth certificate for bear! Brooke got to pick an official name (she picked "Bear"), and while we were at the birth certificate station I noticed
an important pledge on the wall!
On Wednesday morning we woke up at 2:45 to head to the airport to fly to Minnesota! Here we are at the airport waiting for a shuttle bus to take us from the parking lot. It was pretty cold out there, so Brooke sat back in her car seat and we wrapped her up in blankie.
We missed the first shuttle because it was full, and it was all down hill from there. In the end we missed our flight by about 2 minutes... So we talked to the people at the counter, and they gave us our options, all of which basically consisted of waiting in the airport all day... Brooke and I went on several walks, I pushed Winry around to help her get to sleep, and Brooke helped bear to take naps.
Every once in a while we'd check to see if Winry was asleep.
She was!! Also, I was really glad we brought our noise makers with us, as I stuck one of those in the stroller and turned it all the way up to drown out the sounds of the airport. This helped a lot, though occasionally the intercom announcement system would wake her up.
You can only push a stroller around for so long before you have to start getting creative.
And Brooke sure did that!
We also did some shoulder rides. Seriously, we were in the airport for a long time.
Long enough for everyone to take naps!
Some in strollers.
And others on the floor.
Meanwhile, I played the Switch and kept an eye on everyone/everything.
The flight we missed was at 5:45, and out first chance to get out was at 11:30. The 11:30 flight was full, so we were on standby... and didn't get it. So no direct flight to Minnesota for us (the next one departed at like 8:30 pm). Instead we were on the 1:50 flight to Chicago! Well... almost 1:50, the flight was delayed. Here we are on the plane! Brooke got to watch Goldie and Bear on the flight, and everyone had a great time!
We had about an hour layover in Chicago until the plane was supposed to board. The layover stayed pretty consistent because our next flight to Minnesota was ALSO delayed! Anyway, while in Chicago we looked for somewhere to get dinner, and then we wanted to find somewhere in the airport we could get a picture that showed that we were in Chicago. What we found while walking around were... garbage cans... So here Brooke and I are, with our Chicago sign in the background...
And here's Monica and Winry waiting to board. Our next flight ended up being even more delayed due to our flight attendants not getting into Chicago until 6:30. This fact confuses me, as our flight originally was supposed to take off by 6:30 (I think). So I'm just gonna assume they swapped around some flight attendants or something...
Anyway, the flight attendants finally got there and got in to do a security inspection of the plane before we could board. About 5 minutes after they got on the plane someone came out and announced that our flight would be further delayed, and that our aircraft "might go out of service." They called maintenance to come fix whatever was wrong, and we all sat and waited. They never told us what was wrong, but about 30-40 minutes after they first announced that the plane might go out of service they announced that they would be fixing the plane, and that it would be about 30-40 minutes until boarding... So we got some frozen yogurt (the place was right next to us) to celebrate and help recover from a very long day!
Everyone enjoyed it (except for Winry).
But she was still happy! When we were on our flight to Minneapolis I asked the flight attendant if they had any wings. Just so everyone knows, they typically still do (at least Southwest and Delta), but they don't just hand them out, you have to ask for them. Anyway, I got some for Brooke and Winry to celebrate Winry's first(ish) flight!
After we landed we had to go get our bags. They made the 6 am flight. So we went over to the baggage help lounge, or whatever they call it, and started looking through the bags there. A guy came out to help us and asked what we were looking for. Our bags weren't there, and he said he had to move a bunch to behind the ticket counter earlier in the day, so he could go search back there for us. A walk halfway across the airport and a 10 minute wait later, and we still didn't have bags. That's when he asked us if we flew Sun Country, to which we responded no. Well, at least that explains why they didn't have our bags! But really, Sun Country had SOOO many bags! If you can avoid flying with them I'd recommend it, because they seem either 1) really bad at getting bags where they're supposed to be, or 2) really good at leaving people behind...
Anyway, he took us over to the Southwest people, who had our bag in the next room down past where the guy had stopped us. At least we finally had our stuff! So then we went to pick up our rental car, and drive to Spencer and Mackenzie's house! Our directions from Google took us straight there. Unfortunately, straight there went through a road that had recently been closed for construction, so I had to look at the map and manually find my way around it. I reported the road closure to Google, so hopefully that'll be added soon and others will be routed around it. Anyway, we finally got in at 11:30ish, and all in all by the time I got to bed I'd been up for about 21 hours!
The next morning we headed out to a zoo! Best part, it was a FREE zoo! I've never heard of that before! They had a reindeer pen, and Brooke was so excited to get a picture with Sven!!
They also had giraffes you could feed and ride!
I even got up there with Winry!
Okay, okay, the giraffe we rode wasn't real... but this snow leopard is! And it was just chilling on that rock like 6 feet from us!
The tiger also got hot and laid down in a pond to cool off!
And on the way out I saw this guy trying to eat some grass outside his fence! I guess he thinks the grass is greener on the other side!
After the zoo we went to a nearby park and had lunch. While at lunch Winry may have had a blow out, and we may or may not have had backup clothes. Fortunately it did not get on her jacket, and Oriah happened to have back up shorts for her children, so Winry made due with what was available, and was of course covered with a blanket cause it really wasn't that warm out. Anyway, when we got back we snagged a picture before changing her into proper attire.
I am happy to say that our kids got along great with all their cousins. Here's a picture of Winry playing with everyone the next morning. But in addition to that, Brooke had a blast too. Typically when we get together with family (especially my family because there are just so many people) Brooke typically gets overwhelmed and by the time the trip is over she's basically attached to us and just wants to be somewhere quiet and alone with us. But this trip she loved EVERYONE! And she started to learn a lot of names! It was so great, and I'm glad Brooke was able to have a fun time and not get scared/anxious/stressed or whatever used to happen!
The activity for Friday was to go to a cheese factory just across the border! Here we are approaching Wisconsin! Technically we were already in Wisconsin because the line is in the middle of a river, so they didn't put the sign back there...
The cheese factory was called Bass Lake, and they had a little video we could watch about how cheese is made and a window you could look through at all the equipment. They also had all kinds of old dairy farming tools, so there was even a bit of a mini-museum aspect to it! It was really cool! Of course, the main feature is that they sell cheese! And I love the shape/packaging of these ones!
They also have aged cheddar. I had Brooke hold this one because it's the same age as her! This would have also been possible with a 4 year old, 7 year old, and 9 year old!! I'd be interested to taste a cheddar aged that long, but we didn't get any (and it's pretty expensive, 9 year was about $20/lb!).
We did get several kinds of cheese to try though. We got a bacon cheddar, a smoked Gouda, some fried cheese curds, some kind of dessert like cheese fried things with cinnamon and sugar. There was a lot of cheese to try!
Here's Brooke eating some! I didn't mention this kind before, but she's having CHOCOLATE CHEESE! I know, that doesn't sound great, but it was basically chocolate fudge. It didn't really taste cheesy at all.
On the drive we passed several corn fields (like basically everything we passed was a corn field), one of which was across the street, so we headed out and got a picture as a family in front of the corn! Oh, also the first picture with the cheese hats was taken in the cheese shop as well.
And here I am, feeding Winry to the corn.
After the cheese factory it was back to Minnesota to the Teddy Bear park. At the park they had one of these rock back and forth things, and this might be Brooke's favorite thing to do at the park right now. She rode this little car almost the whole time we were there!
We also got a picture over by the giant teddy bear. We also had lunch at the park, and then after we came home for naps and everyone else went to the lumberjack games. It sounds like the lumber jack games was a really fun time, and I'm sad we missed it. Some of our friends, Katie and David, were even at the lumberjack games! It's really too bad we didn't go because it would have been cool to see them out there!
But, we headed back for naps. And Brooke needed a snack and ate it on the floor...
Spencer and Mackenzie have a mini trampoline in their basement that we discovered on Friday.
Brooke absolutely loved it! We went down there all the time after she first tried it out!
Also, I did a little foreshadowing earlier, but
Winry actually started sitting up this past week! She's still new to it, and topples frequently, but she can sit up on her own!
On Saturday we went to the Minnehaha falls. It was a fun little park with a hiking trail along the falls/river. I took this picture from the same spot where President Johnson stood when he visited. Also, when he came it was a drought, but he was the president, so they opened all the fire hydrants so that the falls would run and he could see them...
There was a big staircase to get down to the trail, and I carried Brooke down on my shoulders. Here we are in front of the falls!
And after a short walk down the river, here Monica is dipping her feet while we take a little break!
After the falls I think most people headed back to the house, but we went to the spoon and cherry. We also took the obligatory picture of Brooke trying to eat it!
And me.
And Monica. (But I- Monica- took my picture out because it was bad....)
I even went so far as to try to pick it up! Thanks that other person who tried this while we were there, great idea! Really it was fun to go see, and Monica had really been wanting to go there. She knew about it on her mission, but never had a chance to go see it, so we finally crossed that off the Minnesota to-do list!
After visiting a giant spoon in the summer, we did the next logical thing, used a spoon with ice cream! We went to a place called Milk Jam, and I think it's "famous" thing is that they made ice cream sandwiches on a doughnut! They also have really cool flavors! I sadly don't have a picture of my ice cream sandwich because it was served on a HOT doughnut and immediately started melting! But I was able to get it down in time! Monica and Brooke got scoops, and while both flavors were decent, neither was earth shattering. I think the ice cream on my sandwich was the best.
On Sunday we went to church. Brooke didn't want to go to nursery, but they were kind enough to lend her a puzzle for Sunday school. For third hour Brooke sat with Niki, and from what I heard they had a blast together! There ya go, a perfect example of Brooke warming up to the whole family! Niki even got a nick name! Niki Nikerson! After church it was back to the house for lunch. Niki made crepes for everyone! I now really wish I had taken some pictures! She made over a gallon of crepe batter the night before in preparation, and we basically used it all. That's what happens when you make crepes for 30+! Of all the meals I think this was probably the hardest, as each crepe was made individually and to order! But seriously she was making crepes for like 4 hours! Thanks so much Nikerson, the crepes were awesome!
A little while after crepes we headed back to the church to take some family pictures in the field right next to it, and then inside for Henry's baptism. That was the big reason family vacation was in Minnesota this year! Everything went great, though I was rocking Winry to sleep in the hall for most of it. After, there were mini doughnuts put together to make 8's and fruit cups!
The next morning (Monday) we woke up at 2:30 (1:30 Denver time) to get ready to head back home. To be honest, I know early morning is less convenient, etc, but I think it worked well for our family. This time we made it through security just fine and even had time to get breakfast before getting on the plane! Brooke was very tired (which she should have been) and slept many times on the trip, including zonking out while watching Goldie and Bear on the plane.
Who wasn't tired on the plane?
This little girl who played with my pretzels until they were dust! The flight was good, and I think everyone fell asleep at least for a little.
And here's me and Winry at the end of the flight! That little girl didn't let me sleep much!
We made it back home safely, and I showered quickly and headed in to work. Everyone was very tired that day, and naps happened at all kinds of random times. Monica even laid Brooke down for a nap, and then laid Winry down, and went to our bed and fell asleep herself. When she woke up an hour later, Brooke's door was open (meaning she had gotten up). She went downstairs looking for her and Brooke was asleep on the couch! What a crazy little girl. Anyway, everyone ended up heading to bed early (or at least trying to), and I even tried to write this blog post yesterday, but only got through the first day or two of the week before giving up and heading to bed!
Well, with that, I hope everyone had a fantastic week!
