MN Vacation Highlights

This would be an incredibly long post if I were to post all the pics (I took nearly 200 pics) and all the stories from our vacation to Minnesota, so I think I will spare you guys the boredom of that and just summarize the nearly 3 week trip we just returned from.

As most of you know, the first thing we had to attend while there was the wake and funeral for Jerry's grandfather; here are Jerry, Norah and I before the funeral. We are so rarely dressed up as a family that, despite the occassion, we wanted to get a few good pics of us.Later that week, we got to enjoy some lake time and Norah got her first boat ride. Poor thing was really smooshed in her life jacket, so we ended up taking it off when we weren't moving. Shhhhh...don't tell the MN DNR!

Up at my parent's house, Norah got to do lots of other classic Minnesota activities, like riding a 4 wheeler. My parents were even talking about buying her her own kid-sized ATV! Silly grandparents; they just get cookoo over a grandchild.

Here's Norah out front of my parents' cabin. While up there, we did lots of 4 wheel riding, played a lot of horse shoes, and built a bonfire one night and roasted marshmallows (vegan marshmallows, actually -- my sister-in-law-to-be is vegetarian and she brought the 'mallows and I now understand how marshmallows are non-vegetarian freindly; did not know that before!).

While at my parents', we also had to get out on the lake for the day in their boat, but it was a bit chillier that day than it had been the week before, thus, the sweatshirts.

My parents live near Bemidji, MN, so while there, we just had to get some pics with Paul and Babe!

While we started the vacation with a funeral, we ended it with the baptism of our niece, so here's Jerry, Norah and I after the baptism. Funny story with the baptism is that during the service, Norah dropped a hymnal on my big toe and I had to do everything in my power to not curse in church!
The drives up there and back were long, but I can't believe how great Norah traveled; she really is a little trooper! Scooter, on the other hand, is the more experienced traveler and yet he was more of a handful. Here he is in the car making sure that no Cheetos remain in this bag.

And, here's a cute pic of Norah and Scooter snoozin' together on the looooooong drive. They're always cutest when sleeping, right?

On the whole, a great trip, and it was wonderful to see and spend time with so many of our family and friends that we see so rarely. And, Norah was great. She wasn't shy of meeting so many new people, and she readily adapted to each place we stayed. And, like I said, she did great on such a long drive; it's a long time for a baby to sit in a carseat, but she was a champ about it!

So, a great trip, but like I said earlier in my previous post, it's also great to be home.

While away, I kept up with the running and I have some stuff to write about that, as well as some pics to accompany my tales; and....I got my Garmin while I was there! So, I have plenty to tell you about that as well, so stay tuned in the next few days -- I have lots more to share!