MN trip highlights PART 1

(Brian) - Of course, the night before we left, we started feeling sick. Not sure if it was a head cold, or symptoms from catching Em's hoof and mouth disease, but we were pretty miserable on the Friday flight.

(Jen) - I jinxed myself by making a joke that I would wake up at midnight and not be able to sleep the rest of the night... I of course woke up at 12:30 and didn't get back to sleep.  This flight was going to SUCK.

Emmett did fairly well on the plane. He got fussy once in a while and wanted to get down and walk, but the distractions of the wrapped toys, the laptop loaded with Elmo, and the 2 teenage girls behind us helped him get through. (I think Jen's reactions to his occasional crying stressed me out more than him, hahaha)

In my defense I will say that I was the one who was wrestling the little bear cub for most of the flight.  I felt like crap, hadn't slept, the flight was full and crowed, then I had to expose myself in public to nurse Em (uncomfortable for me .. as well as the stress that knowing some people have a very big problem with breastfeeding in public) Then always having to watch that Emmett didn't kick the seat in front (which was way closer than I expected) or chuck something at someone's head.  Once he fell asleep I had to sit in a very uncomfortable position  so I wouldn't wake him up.  Also keep his feet in the seat so the carts wouldn't bump him.   Most of the time the look on my face was a desperate look for help that (at the time) I didn't feel like I was getting a lot of... 

In MN we drive a fancy mini van!  Emmett also found sitting forward to be awesome.  He was so good in the car (for short trips)

Emmett loves hotel rooms! He went crazy for every new place we stayed. It was a scramble to secure all cupboards, lamps, cords, phones, etc.

I love hotel rooms with a kitchen and a separate bedroom!  We will always try to do this while Em is little.   I was worried he wouldn't like the hotel pack and play.. but as soon as he saw it he was so excited to go "nigh nigh".. which was more of a game of sitting inside playing pee-a-boo.  Wish we could have spent some time in the awesome pool!  I guess we know for next time, when Emmett will be a bit older.

The party was a hit. We found the park and waited for Reva.. and waited and waited. I finally decided I had to pee, so I walked to the bathroom. Of COURSE, as I started back, Andy pulled up and they started to walk to the pavilion. I did my best sneaky lurk behind them until they made it to the tables and everyone yelled surprise, which Reva didn't understand for a moment or two.

It was fun to see and say hello to a lot of family I haven't seen in a long time.  Of course there is never enough time to really talk to anyone.  I really miss the days of spending a good chunk of time with some of them.  As much as I dread some of the family fun.. I really do miss a lot of those people.  A lot of my favorite childhood memories involve a lot of them, and it makes me more aware of how far away we are.  I'm sad that Emmett wont have the same sort of relationships with his Grandparents, Cousins, Aunts and Uncles that I did.

Emmet LOVED Nancy Lee. Simon... not so much. There was a lot of competition between those 2 meatheads for attention and toys.

Bald eagle flying over my parents house!

We drove around Minneapolis to see all the old spots. Everything seemed so different, but we were still nostalgic.

This trip to Mpls was weird.  I felt like a tourist.  Things have changed so much it was a strange mix of the familiar and a whole new city.  The first time I didn't always know where i was.  This time it didn't feel like "home" and I found myself a little jealous of some of the great new things.  It is easy to imagine what life would be like there.

We drank way too much Dunn Brothers.

We drank the perfect amount.

Getting together with Kelly, Mike, Andre, Kim and the kids, the Kafkases, was amazing. We miss them so much. Emmett was insane and did his best to entertain everyone. Again, it was tough for him to share toys with Clara, but he still had fun. He cried and cried when we finally had to leave.

The visit with the gang was great.  The first time I have actually been comfortable while at someone's house with Emmett.  We took turns walking him around, watched that he played nice and didn't get too bullied.  But he had fun with the kids.. and the adults.  Everyone understood and it was just.. easy.  Like it has always been easy with them.  Just hanging out.  I so so miss that.

The drive to Duluth was ok. Jen's dad needed a lot of wrangling. The house was decent, and had an amazingly neat little path through the yard to the beach.. which was a huge trap set by the mosquitoes to drain the blood of dumb tourists.

The first day of the family trip was rough.  I just about lost it with all of my Dad's "I'm not going to go... you don't want me to go... OK, I'm going to go... I'm not going".  I could tell my Mom was really stressed out.  I wasn't sure if springing this on her was a good idea.  Andy was good about just taking care of things with my Dad.  Big bottle of bourbon... Andy will just remove it.  Emmett wasn't so happy to be riding in the car.  I kept him busy with snacks and Elmo videos.  The plane was a good lesson on how to just always keep him busy.  Apparently if you want to keep my Dad happy on a car trip, just stop at every rest stop and Mc Donalds for a burger.  The house was fine.. not totally what I expected.  I had hoped we had better water access.  The outside areas were not as hang out friendly as I had hoped.  Emmett could not be trusted on the deck and the back yard was mosquito CRAZY.  My ideal location would have been more up on the shore by split rock.  Quiet little cabins on the lake, (I had a fantasy about every one having their own cabin) but this might have been better for the little ones. (and the old one)  TV's were a good distraction (when someone could actually get them to work)

The giant marshmallows! The weird little fat man in the grocery store with the sausages!

Train museum.  Dad was much better on day 2.  The morning was rough.  I was up (again... like every night) for most of the night.  Emmett needed a lot of comforting.  He did OK in his tent bed, but he'd roll around so much and get caught up in the sides.  I had a mini meltdown in the morning because I was just so tired.  Once I showered and ate.. I felt much better.  Earthquake hits the East coast! Getting out of the house was good.  Too bad it was a rainy day, but it wasn't terrible.  We still got out for a walk.

Skip to the end... hook for a hand!

Nancy loved Emmett. He loved her back. Simon wanted to punch Emmett. Emmett wanted to bite Simon.

Watching that Simon didn't just take everything away from Emmett (or slug him or knock him down) was tough.  It added to all the things we needed to keep an eye on.  Hopefully when they get older they will get along.  I know he is only 2.5, but I was a little shocked that Simon really had NO interest in playing with Emmett.  Emmett finally had it and chopped down on Simon.  I don't really blame him, Simon was just making life as difficult as possible for him.  But, I still didn't want him to hurt Simon.   

Rick farts a lot.

... and you wonder why I don't think farts are funny

Did I mention Em loves hotel rooms?

The Trip is Uponeth Uth

God help us. God help us all.



More later.

The count down

1 week to go until our big trip!

So nervous.  I just have no idea what to expect.  

The last week was tough.  Teething has turned the little man into a little monster.  But the last two days he's been back to his ol' goofy self.. and I think "maybe it wont be so bad".  I know how one week it can all change.  Teeth can start back up.  I think we are only in the clear with one of them... 3 more to go.  Colds can pop up, ear infections... pink eye... hand, foot and mouth disease!  All things to turn our fun guy into the devil.  The devil who will make 4 hours on a plane the longest four hours ever known to man.

I keep reading about things you can do to make the plane trip better.  A lot has to do with paying off the people around you.  Buying drinks, bringing little gift bags of candy and ear plugs or coffee gift cards.  Seriously?  Do people expect this now? Babies are babies.  Unless the parents are completely ignoring them, I am pretty understanding that kids do what they do.  I want a gift card from that jackass with the bad gas and BO.  Or the person who keeps coughing  on me and hogging the arm rest.  (But he is my husband so I have to be happy with him getting me coffee some mornings... haha) With all the things I have to lug around to keep the baby happy, now I have to lug around things to make everyone else happy, too?

I am less worried about what to expect once we get there.  This trip is a little different than the last.  Family is different than childless friends.  If Emmett melts down around family.. oh well, If we need to cut thing short so he can take a nap or eat they will understand. I'm not keeping anyone from having a good time.  Or if I am... they can deal because they've kept me from good times plenty in my life :)

I'm excited to go to MN.  To introduce Emmett to everyone.  It seems so strange now that he is this HUGE part of our life.. and no one knows him.

So now the prep starts.  Seems like a long time to work on packing.. but  I know how motivated I am most nights at 9 p.m.  I better get most of it done this weekend.

Road Trip Rookies

ADVENTURE!

So our first trip out of town is behind us.  Our first overnight stay some place other than home.

The trip was a mix of a lot of things.  Fun but difficult.  The drive up was easy.  Emmett fell asleep about a half hour into it and slept the whole way, which was great.  We finally got to the hotel about 11:30, but then he woke up and wanted to explore the most awesome place ever!  I finally got him back to sleep about 1:30.. but then he was awake at 6:00, so I didn't get much sleep.  We had a really nice hotel room.  It was a suite so we had a sep bedroom and 2 bathrooms.  Lots of room for him to crawl around. 

The tough part was being outside the hotel room.  He never wanted to sit still to eat and I didn't have a kitchen, so meals were mostly quick snacks when I could get him to eat something  and he didn't get to nap good.  He was just too excited to check everything out.   The second night was tough, he woke up a lot and was sort of upset.  The air was really dry and he would start coughing which would wake him up.  I think I got even less sleep the second night and then since Brian was teaching the class yesterday I was pretty much on my own with him.  I had Rachael around which was a huge help, but it was still tough.  I was the only one in our group with a kid, so I felt bad that we sort of had to do things around his schedule.  I should have spoke up more about what he can and can't do, no one really knows what a one year old is like until you actually hang out with one.  I tried to do things that other people wanted to do and it didn't feel like it worked out too well.  Busy lunch places are not a good idea.  Emmett was not into sitting around and let us all know by chucking whatever was in reach.  I did a lot of walking him around while everyone else had lunch and I was pretty frazzled by the end of the day. (plus I had only had bit of breakfast and too much coffee)  Then it was time for the 4 hour drive home!  By then Emmett was already sick of the car, but he was sleepy so he took an hour nap.  When he woke up he was not happy.  We had to make a stop in Sacramento to walk him around.  We bought him a toy, which worked for a little while.  He wasn't really in a bad mood he just did not want to be in the car. I sat in the back with him and tried to keep him entertained.  Finally I had Brian's computer and played an Elmo video which work so well I think I owe Elmo a million dollars.  He finally relaxed and about the time we hit Berkley he was ready to sleep.

I was dreading having to change him to put him to bed, but he was super cute.  He never really opened his eyes, but he was smiling and kept stretching his legs like he was happy to be home and being put in his bed.  Later I heard him giggling in his sleep so he doesn't seemed too scarred by the day.

It was also fun! Yesterday was tough and I was saying I wished we had stayed home, but after getting a little bit of sleep, I'm feeling much better so I can see that it was a lot of fun, too.   I just wish I could have a do-over of yesterday.  I now know how I could have made that day a lot better.  I'm feeling a bit embarrassed, I'm sure everyone could tell I was really stressed out ... and I think they felt bad or annoyed.  Not knowing everyone (except Todd and Rachael) very well, I feel weird that that was sort of their first impression of me.


Oh well, learning experience.  Now I just wish I had a week to sleep.