Minnesota Trip #2

Our second trip to Minnesota this summer went just about as fast as the first. We decided to fly this time, so Ellie had her first plane trip that Thursday night - she did great and slept the whole way there (though the fact that she had shots that morning may have had something to do with it!). Heather and John picked us up at the airport, and from there we went to dinner where Ellie enjoyed spending time with her aunt and uncle. On Friday, we had a bunch of errands to run and then had the wedding rehearsal that evening. After that we enjoyed a FANTASTIC night on the dinner boat cruise around Lake Minnetonka for the groom's dinner.

Saturday was another very fun but very busy day with the wedding. Then Sunday we went to a brunch at Amanda and Steve's and wished them well before they left on their honeymoon to Hawaii. Sunday was also Nick's first Father's Day and Ellie treated her daddy to his last Twins game at the Metrodome. Bev & Daryl and Heather & John were also able to join us for that and we had a great time, despite the fact that the Twins lost... bad. After the game, we stuck around and Nick got to run the bases down on the field with Ellie and then we had our picture taken with the mascot, TC. After the game, Nick chose to go to dinner at Town Talk Diner in Minneapolis and Darren and Aeleah met us there. It was really nice to see them!

Nick had to fly back to Montana on Monday morning as he had to work on Tuesday. But Eliana and I were able to stay the rest of the week to visit with friends and family. Monday afternoon and evening we spent with the Larson family. Ellie was worn out from the wedding festivities, but she still made a good impression on the kids! I had a great time showing Ellie off to the kids that I cared for when they were babies.

On Tuesday, Ellie and I drove back to Willmar, visited Grandpa Daryl's office in the afternoon (no cavities - yay!), and then Grandpa Dave babysat while my mom, Bev, and I went to see the movie, The Proposal. It was excellent and I definitely recommend it! Hilarious!

On Wednesday, we visited Great-Grandma Marcus and she couldn't believe how big Eliana had grown since she last saw her. That afternoon, 3 of my good friends from college (Kari, Gail, and Meghan) and I had a little reunion and we had a great time catching up!

Thursday was another very busy day as Ellie and I drove to Marshall to visit Great-Grandma Wyffels. She was able to get some really huge smiles out of Ellie! Then we went on to Slayton to see Alicia and Karen that afternoon. Again, it was great to catch up with them and I can't believe it had been 2 whole years since I had last seen them!

Friday was a much needed relaxation day for Ellie and I. We pretty much just slept and sat around all day - we were both exhausted. Then on Saturday, we decided to have a ladies' only lunch and took the grandmas out to eat to say thank-you for all their help. Ellie enjoyed a nice stroller ride with Grandma Vicky that afternoon, and then we went and said good-bye to Grandma Bev and Grandpa Daryl that evening. It was a nice night to sit out on the deck and enjoy the MN weather.

Sunday morning, Grandma Vicky drove us to the airport and it was time for us to leave. :( The second flight wasn't quite as easy as the first one with Ellie, but she still did pretty good. It's definitely more work traveling with an infant by yourself, though! (Especially when they don't sleep the whole time or decide to have a major poop right as we're taking off and you have to somehow change a diaper in the mini-bathroom which you can't even stand up straight in, let alone turn around in! I wish someone could have taken a picture of that!) But we're home again and Ellie was glad to see her daddy again. We're now working on trying to get back into somewhat of a routine again before we leave for a short vacation to Banff, Canada in 2 days!