minnesota part 1: travel, cousin time, rochester overnight

 we've had a great first week in minnesota. the kids and i flew out on 8/4. we had a morning flight and the airport was busy, but we've experienced worse at seatac. we've been looking forward to this trip all summer and i was feeling so good about the fact that all the adults in our immediate and extended family are vaccinated and that things were starting to feel more normal...and then came the delta variant. i know we still have pretty good protection from it, but the kids don't, so it was a little nerve wracking being around all those people at the airport. thankfully everyone was good about wearing their masks. our flight was completely full, which i also wasn't expecting, but everything went smoothly. 

my mom picked us up when we arrived and took us to thatcher's parents' house. it was so nice to see them for the first time in a year! they couldn't believe how much the kids have grown. my mom and brother had dinner with us at their house.

we stayed at durant & cheryl's for the first week (with the exception of me spending a night in rochester with my college roommates and the kids going to my mom's that night). the kids loved re-discovering all their favorite toys and activities here. we got to spend a few days with my nephew jack before he headed back to beijing where he now lives during the school year with his mom and step-dad. he just turned 14 and is officially taller than me by a couple inches now (gulp!). the kids adore him and he's such a good sport about playing with them even though he has outgrown a lot of their games. 

we had a belated birthday celebration for jack (his birthday was 7/30). davanni's pizza and brownie cake with ice cream. yum! 

 we took the kids to the wading pool/splash pad at bryant square park multiple times. they are getting a little big for it, but still had fun. it's been warm (mid to upper 80s and humid). there's been such a drought here this summer, but since we've come it has rained/stormed a few times.

 

 

 

cheryl got jack some new water guns for his birthday, so the kids had to test them out :) 

saturday morning i dropped off azalea and ashford at my mom's house with her and my brother. she took this cute picture:

 

 then i drove my brother's car down to rochester to see my college roommates for the night. heidi lives there with her family, sarah lives just outside the twin cities, and kaylee lives in missouri, so she had the longest journey. it was really nice to see them for the first time in 2 years. we lounged around, painted our nails, and watched 'sex and the city'. 

 

 

 

 

we decided to go out for dinner and had a nice meal at restaurant called '5 West' (outdoors) . then it was back to heidi's for pajamas, wine, and more binge watching SATC. we were in bed before midnight

 

this week we spent some time at painter park and i picked up our rental car. we met our friends karen, will, and timothy at sebastian joe's for ice cream and then played at beards plaisance.  

 

 

 

we met our friends carolina, naomi, adella, and ezra at bryant square park and then made our way to canteen coffee for a treat. it was so nice to see friends we haven't seen in two years (last year we only really saw family when we were here).  

 

finally, wednesday night i had a happy hour meet up with a bunch of former and current co-workers at utepils brewing in bryn mawr neighborhood. i had never been there, but my mom recommend it. it was a great place with a huge patio, which is good because it was packed. again, it was so fun to see people i know from work. some them i hadn't seen since before we moved to seattle. 

 

 the best part is, we still have 2.5 more weeks of fun left!