HAYNES OUR WAY: 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.