Gotta go

Excited to get on the plane

I was nervous about flying with the girls to Minnesota. It's a 2 1/2 hour flight. All the what if's went through my mind. Thankfully both Curly and The Bear were perfect on the flight up. All my worries were gone. I wasn't nervous about the flight home at all. I figured now they knew the drill so it would be smooth sailing. Famous last words. We boarded on time to go home, got settled in our seats, pulled away from the gate and were taxiing to the runway. Smooth going. Then the plane stopped. We were stuck on the plane waiting for clearance to take off for about about 30 to 45 minutes. Annoying for sure, but not too bad. Finally we took off for home.

I could tell Curly was tired when we finally took off. She had woken up way too early that morning. She was bored to pieces on the plane. No activity was making her happy. I kept telling her to try to go to sleep and we'd be landing before she knew it, but she refused. She was miserable and intent on making me miserable as well. As we were landing in Atlanta, Curly looks at me and says " Momma, I gotta go potty real bad, I can't hold it". Ummmm... okay the landing gear is coming down, we'll be on the ground in a minute, then another 5 minutes or so to get to the gate, another 5 to 10 minutes before we get off the plane. Not a good situation. I calmly tell her that she is going to have to hold it for a bit longer because we cannot get out of our seats while landing. Curly completely flips out. She starts screaming and crying and yelling " I gotta go real bad! I gotta got NOW". I'm pretty helpless at this point. Curly has never screamed this loud before in her life. The entire plane could hear her. We land, I decided to go ahead and unbuckle and try to take her while we are taxiing. The stewardess quickly gets on the intercom and reprimands me for getting up and firmly tells me to sit back down and buckle up. Since Curly is still screaming about having to go potty, the stewardess does add at the end of her scolding "I am so sorry she has to go". Thanks a lot. So we get to the gate, and most people stay seated so I can run with Curly to the bathroom. Our seats were much closer to the front of the plane. People in the 4 or 5 rows in front of us stayed seated so we could run to the restoom. But we eventually got stuck behind people who stood up to get their bags. Keep in mind, Curly is still SCREAMING and crying, so all these people know why we need to get around them. I was stuck for a few minutes next to a man who was still seated. He firmly told me that I needed to go take Curly to the back of the plane to go to the restroom. I think he was afraid she would go right there next to him. I firmly pointed out to him that I was about 10 rows from the front restroom and about 50 rows from the back so I would under NO circumstances turn around. Finally we are able to push through and make it to the restroom. It was a nightmare experience. I felt awful for Curly. As we waited for my parents and The Bear at the gate, everyone who exited the plane stopped to ask us "Did she make it?".

I was tired. Curly was tired. The Bear was happy because she got some wings from the pilot for her and Curly. We were all excited to see Daddy at the top of that escalator and go home =0).

Minni Apples!

On Sunday July 10th, Grandma, Pap Pap, Curly, The Bear and I all boarded a plane for Minneapolis, Minnesota ( or Minni Apples according to The Bear). This was The Bear's first plane ride. She loved every minute of flying. Pap Pap chose to sit next to her on the flight up. I warned him that I had packed her plane bag full of activities so he was going to have to help her get in and out of her bag a lot during the 2 1/2 hour flight. He said " I betcha a dollar she's asleep in 20 minutes". Bet taken and WON by me. The Bear was chatty the entire flight. Singing, talking, eating pretzels, coloring, etc.... She had a big time and Pap Pap didn't the nap he anticipated =0).

My Aunt Karen, Uncle Ernie, Cousin Kari and GG Lucy picked us up at the airport. Then we hit the road for a 2 hour drive up to Baxter, MN where my Aunt Sally and Uncle Jim live on a beautiful lake. Their daughter (my cousin), Danielle, was already at their house with her brand new baby boy, Corbin. Curly loved holding him. We also met up with my cousins Katie and Todd and my Uncle Dean and Aunt Marilyn who all drove up as well. The Bear took and immediate like to my cousin Todd. This was shocking as she normally doesn't like boys but she loved Todd instantly. She called him "Green Boy" for a while because he was wearing a green shirt the first day we were all together. My Uncle Jim had us eating like kings while up there. He grilled us turkeys, made a big breakfast spread each morning and had a fish fry and steak with fish he caught on a recent trip to Canada. All the food was yum yum yummy. Curly tried her first fish ever. She had walleye, sunfish and I think cod. She loved it all. When she was finished her fish, she looked over at The Bear plate and said " I think I should help Bear eat her fish too". So she walked over and ate the fish off Bear's plate. Lord knows The Bear didn't care, she wasn't going to touch the fish. My aunt and uncle's neighbors had three goats that we got to feed each day. Curly and The Bear loved it. We also got to enjoy paddle boats and cruising around on a pontoon boat.

On Wednesday we loaded up and drove to Faribault, MN. This is the town my mom is from. My grandma ( or GG Lucy to the girls), and my Aunt Karen and Uncle Ernie all live here. We did a lot of shopping, eating and playing games while there. Minnesota has no sales tax on clothing, so I tried to take advantage of the nearby outlet mall =0). Cousin Lisa also got to join us on Saturday. She lives in Des Moines, Iowa and wasn't able to take off work to come up earlier in the week. We were so glad she was able to come up.

Sunday came too quickly and we loaded up and drove back to the airport. Goodbye's are always hard but the girls and I were super excited to get home to Pat who unfortunately couldn't come with us because of school. After about a half hour delay while sitting on the plane (annoying), we took off for Atlanta. The flight was status quo until the end. I'll save that for a later post. Pictures! Pictures! Pictures!

The Grandkids that were able to make the trip to Baxter

(Kari, Katie, Curly, me, Todd, Bear, Danielle and baby Corbin. We missed you Andrew and Lisa!).

The Baxter, MN crew (Grandma, Pap Pap, GG Lucy, Uncle Jim, Danielle and Corbin, Kari, Aunt Karen, Aunt Sally, Uncle Ernie, Curly, Katie, Todd, Me, Aunt Marilyn, The Bear and Uncle Dean).

Curly with GG Lucy and Corbin

She wanted to hold him all the time

Walking down Aunt Sally and Uncle Jim's driveway to feed the goats

Feeding Gretal the goat

Paddling with Katie and Kari

Pontoon boating with Katie and Kari

Captain Curly got to drive the boat

Beautiful day to be on the water

Curly at dinner with Aunt Karen and Kari

The Bear helped Uncle Jim build a bonfire

The Bear with her favorite green boy, Todd, watching the fire grow

Eating her smore

Beautiful sunset from Aunt Sally and Uncle Jim's house

Uncle Jim also did a fun activity with the girls. He helped them make a little light and then in a dark room used his camera to make cool pictures while they drew pictures in the air with their light. The Bear's light is on the left and Curly's is the bigger one on the right.

Water balloon toss

Coloring time. Fun for everyone!

Fun with Uncle Dean

Berries and Cows and Chicken. Oh My!

Today in pictures...

Off to pick blueberries

The Bear took pickin' very seriously

Pretty pickers

Bear's berries

Cow Appreciation Day

Everyone dressed like a cow so everyone ate for free

Celebrating the 4th

This year we were invited by Lauren and Luke to spend the 4th of July in Savannah with the Dorman Family. We had an awesome time. The weather and the company were perfect. The Dorman's were very gracious to host us for 3 nights and allow our girls to run all over their house. Due to holiday traffic, rain, and a few pit stops on the way, we arrived at their house pretty late Friday evening. The girls didn't get to bed until 11:30 that night. It was the first of three late nights and napless days for them. They were champs though. It definitely helped to have several people around to entertain them. Curly and The Bear fell in love with Luke's little sister, Abigail. They have been pretending to be her around the house since we got home. Both Saturday and Sunday we took the Dorman's boat out to Wassaw Island and enjoyed the beautiful beach. The girls loved riding on the boat, playing in the tidal pool, finding sea shells, and playing in the water.

Now that we are home, we are trying to catch up on sleep, wash a ton of laundry and gear up for our trip to Minnesota this Sunday. It will be The Bear's first plane trip. I'm a little nervous about it but thankfully my parents will be along for the ride to help.

Happy 4th of July

Playing in the sand

Family love

Showing Uncle Luke some birthday love

Oreo mouth

Floating with Aunt Lauren

Riding in the boat is so cool

We also rode the boat to dinner Saturday night

Curly and Abigail