After a nearly 16 month absence, T and I recently returned to our home state of Minnesota. We set off late on a Wednesday night, for a week-long sojourn of family time, baby showers, and fun. The flight from LA was long and bumpy. I have to say, turbulence feels quite a bit more unsettling when there is a baby bouncing around in your stomach. It turns out that flying in your second trimester also results in an attractive set of cankles. I am surprised I didn't have to be cut out of my shoes. Despite the bad weather and bumpy flight, we made it in one piece, and headed straight to bed at T's parents on the west side of town.
The next day we headed to the local DMV bright and early. It is a very long and uninteresting story, but I needed to reapply for a Minnesota driver's license. I had to retake the written test, and this may sound ridiculous, but I was horribly nervous. I have never been the best test taker. When I took the written test to get my Ohio license, I got a few questions wrong in a row, which resulted in an anxiety attack, which resulted in me flunking it the first time. Utterly mortifying. This time was different though. I was welcomed by two sweet ladies with kind smiles, wool sweater vests, and strong northern accents right out of "Fargo." Only at the Minnesota DMV. People get shot at the DMVs in California, but in Minnesota they want to make you a hot dish and knit you a scarf. Bolstered by the positivity in the room, I sailed through the test, smiled triumphantly at my husband (who thought I was nuts to be stressed in the first place), and fist pumped out of there with my yellow paper license in hand.
That evening was baby shower #1. I was worn out and still sporting my airplane cankles, but bolstered by a large lunch at Shamrock's (mmmm Juicy Nookie burger), I rallied. The generosity of my mother-in-law's circle of friends was astonishing. We received such great gifts for our baby boy. T's relatives from Wisconsin and Indiana traveled all the way to the Twin Cities for the occasion, which was really special. My favorite gift was a beautiful baby blanket made for us by T's great-grandmother.
She made a bunch of baby blankets for all her grandchildren before she passed, so that their future children would have a remembrance of her when they were born. We will always treasure it.
On Friday T and I attended our first Minnesota Twins game at Target Field with our parents and a large entourage of extended family. I drank about six bottles of water trying to combat the still lingering cankles, which resulted in me having to visit the restroom at the end of every inning. Luckily the guys at the end of the row didn't seem to mind, as they had to make beer runs every inning anyway. It was a fun game, and the fireworks afterwards were really neat.
Late that night more of T's extended family from Wisconsin arrived, and we officially had a full house of about a dozen people. It's few and far between that we all can get together, so it was great that everyone made the effort to gather while we were in town.
It rained most of Saturday, so we spent a few hours at the Mall of America. It was crowded, and I think I have pregnancy-induced claustrophobia, because it really bugged me out. We took it easy that night, enjoying a delicious dinner of my father-in-law's famous brats. Early on Sunday we bid T's family adieu and headed east to my family's side of town.
Sunday marked baby shower #2. Again, I was touched by the number of people who made the effort to attend on a busy holiday weekend, and we received great gifts, including a giant haul of adorable clothing. My cousins' outdid themselves with a fabulous food spread (because really, it's all about the food people), and some fun shower games. I was especially glad that my Minnesota BFF's K & J were able to make it, and spend some time (if all too brief) catching up.
Sunday night we enjoyed Carbone's pizza and cheese bread (again with the food, I know), and played a few heated games of Russian Rummy before bed.
Monday was Memorial Day, and we spent the afternoon by the shores of the St. Croix River in Stillwater. Due to the recent heavy rains the water levels were quite high.
We enjoyed the best weather of the trip, dipped our toes in the cold river water, and walked across the lift bridge over to the Wisconsin border and back. After that we met my sister for a early evening showing of Men in Black 3, which was surprisingly very well-done and entertaining. And in case you were waiting for my daily food update, dinner was at Sgt. Pepper's where I consumed a patty melt and a giant pile of waffle fries with seasoned sour cream. Mon dieu.
Tuesday we visited with my aunt and uncle, had a quick lunch with T's dad, and did a little shopping with my mom. During the latter part of the day we focused on relaxing and prepping for the next day's journey home. After a last supper of steak on the grill, the sun set on our Minnesota odyssey. Wednesday afternoon we boarded our flight back to LA. I had to use the restroom at least three times on the three and a half hour flight, but thankfully the very zen gentleman sitting next to me didn't mind, as he enjoyed the excuse to stand up and perform elaborate yoga poses in the aisle for everyone. We landed around 5 in LA without incident, and thankfully experienced very little 405 traffic gridlock before reaching our sandy high desert home a few hours later.
All in all, it was a great trip. We spent some very precious quality time with family, enjoyed visits to our favorite Twin Cities haunts, and received a great foundation of clothing and supplies for our baby boy. It is difficult to travel while pregnant, and I am not quite sure how women do it in the third trimester. I think we timed it just right, a few weeks before I morph into a full-on whale. It was such a relief to come home to my own bed, cuddle with my puppies, and get back to my normal routine. The summer has arrived with full force here in the AV, and I look forward to a few months of hiding out from the heat inside getting everything all ready for baby. He'll be here before we know it! What a lucky boy to have such a large extended family up north loving him, praying for his safe arrival, and blessing our growing family with their support and well wishes.
Lovely post, Laura! Thanks for the shout out. :) It was SO wonderful to see you, and I'm glad you had such a great trip. K & I will definitely have to venture out west this fall so we can meet your little man!
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