minnesota week 1: meeting telemachus, friend catch ups, duck lake cabin

 the first few days of our trip were a huge highlight. we got to see thatcher's sister and her family who are between foreign service posts. our nephew telemachus was born in november 2021 and we just got to meet him for the first time. the kids had been looking forward to it for months! they were such good big cousins following him around, helping him on the stairs, and playing with him. we slept at my mom's house to at the start of our trip since thatcher's parents were hosting his sister's family.

thursday night after we arrived, we picked up davanni's pizza for dinner and brought it over to thatcher's parents for dinner. my mom joined us too. 

friday morning we picked up our rental car with the kids and then got coffee at 'northern coffeeworks' and donuts at 'a bakers wife'. yum!

 

 in the afternoon we went to see my brother's new town home that he closed on this spring. 

  

we enjoyed a rain storm and lots of play time with telemachus at thatcher's parents' house. we had dinner there friday night. 

 

saturday morning thatcher and i went for a walk in my mom's neighborhood. we picked up picnic stuff for lunch then drove down to shakopee to meet our friends becky, jeromy, linnea, and britta. we had a nice lunch at 'the landing at heritage park'. we started looking at the historic buildings on site, but soon ashford got stung by a wasp :( he was upset for a little while, but was okay. we decided to head to their house so the kids could do their own thing while the grown ups catch up. we miss these guys so much when we are in seattle and always look forward to our annual hang out. 

 
then we went to my mom's to help her prep a big taco dinner for thatcher's side of the family and my brother. we had a really fun night with every one and even managed to get some family pictures taken. 

 

 

sunday morning i had brunch with my friend em at hazelwood in bloomington. it was yummy and great to catch up with her. in the afternoon we got invited to our old neighbors ryan and rebekah's house to swim in their in ground pool. they moved into that house a year before we moved to seattle. their kids are around our kids ages, so we all had fun together. 

 

 

monday we had a low key day and packed to go to my aunt and uncle's cabin near park rapids. azalea and i met up with cedar, eric, jack, and telemachus at an authentic chinese restaurant in st. paul for lunch. they wanted to take us after their time in beijing. in the evening we went to thatchers' parents to celebrate our nephew jack's 16th birthday (which was sunday). i can't believe he's already 16. he's turned into such an awesome young man. 

 tuesday was the 8th anniversary of my dad's death. i love the years when i get to be with my mom and brother on that day. it helps a lot. i can't believe it's been 8 years. we all miss him so much. i found this picture in the closet at my mom's house and it made me smile. 

 

tuesday through thursday were spent at the cabin. cindy and corey actually own two cabins that are next door to each other, which is really nice for having a group up there. my cousin jenna came, as well as my mom and brother. i took a ton of pictures to sum up our time there: swimming, a pontoon ride, a thunderstorm enjoyed from the screened in porch, yummy meals, smores in the fire pit, reading, playing with oakley, board games, kayaking, and fishing.

 

 

 

 

 

our second week is well under way now and thatcher only has a few more days in town. lots more fun to come!