minnesota week 3: pool day, more friend catch ups, saying goodbye

i'm so thankful the kids and i were able to do another 3-week summer stay in minnesota. (thatcher came for 11 days). after the first couple years in seattle, we stopped going home at the holidays, and started doing a longer trip every summer while the kids are out of school. it helps us to be able to do a lot of activities and see a lot of people without each day feeling overloaded. i know in the future i might have a different job, the kids might have summer jobs or prefer to have more time back in seattle with friends, but for now it's perfect and we all love it. and since i always want to keep it real on here, these trips don't come without parenting challenges. it's a lot of together time for the kids and me, which leads to a lot of bickering, and there are always power struggles around sleeping arrangements, activities, and food. so these posts are definitely a highlight reel of our time there.

last thursday cheryl and i took the kids to the st. louis park pool. we went twice last year and they loved it, so we knew we had to go back again. it wasn't the warmest/sunniest day, but we still had a lot of fun. 

 

 

friday ended up being a marathon day of restaurant outings, which was fun. i let each kid come on one outing to give them a break from each other. azalea and i met up with my college roommate sarah at 'dukes on 7' for lunch. it had a great patio and the food was delicious. grandma and grandpa took ashford on a lunch date to mcdonalds :) in the late afternoon ashford and i met up with my friend diana at 'pajaritos' at 50th and france for happy hour. when we were leaving the restaurant, the sky was minutes away from unleashing a huge thunderstorm. as soon as we started driving it started pouring, so we stopped at my mom's to wait it out. she just had wind and rain at her house, but where thatchers' parents live (3 miles away) they got huge hail! my final outing for the day was going to 'driftwood bar' for dinner and to see live music with my mom and her friend linda. the band playing was called 'the wreck.' we had a fun night and i was home by 9:20 which is always a win in my book. :) 

saturday morning the kids hung out with durant and cheryl and i met my brother at my mom's house to do a garage project. my mom wanted help taking down some old shelving units and replacing them with new ones. it took a couple hours to empty the shelves, clean, put the new ones up, and re-stock them. but it was satisfying to see how much better it looked when it was done. then we picked up the kids and all went to culver's for lunch. always a must when we are here! in the evening, my mom, the kids, and i went to my aunt and uncle's for dinner. we had spaghetti and enjoyed sitting on their deck overlooking the lake on a beautiful summer night.

sunday morning we hung out at my mom's then in the afternoon the kids and i met up with our friends carolina, naomi, adella, and ezra at edinborough indoor playground. it was a perfect spot for a cool, rainy day. azalea and naomi are the oldest you can be to go there now, which is crazy to think. we had a fun couple of hours catching up with them. we are always so happy to see our minnesota friends every summer. 

my mom's friend linda came over for dinner that night. my mom made a shrimp corn chowder for us and pesto tortellini for the kids. 

monday morning we hung out at my mom's then i dropped the kids off durant and cheryl's and i went to meet my boss chris at 'highland grill' in st. paul for lunch. we had a nice time catching up on work and personal life. i know i said it recently, but i can't believe i've worked for chris for 17 years now! he's really seen me grow up - haha! we had dinner at my mom's again and then she, and the kids, and i went to lake harriet to enjoy a sunny evening after 2 days of rain. there was a band playing at the bandshell and the kids played on the playground for a bit too. i love the minneapolis lakes on summer nights. 

 

 

tuesday was our last full day. we returned our rental car in the morning. we didn't have anything planned for the next few hours, so the kids asked if they could do mini golf again. i took them to veterans park in richfield. they went there a couple years ago when anders and nith were in town. the kids played and i kept score. they got through 18 holes in 30 mins!!

we hung out at my mom's in the afternoon. i did laundry and worked on packing as much of our stuff as i could. then we headed to thatcher's parents' for one last visit and to say goodbye. it never gets easier, but hopefully we will see them in seattle within the next year. then my mom drove us out to my brother's for dinner. we picked up pizza and hung out at his place. then we took one more trip to culver's for dessert :) 

wednesday was our day to fly back to seattle! we are always a mixture of happy and sad when it's time to leave and this year was no different. we were sad to say goodbye to our friends and family and a city that is so special, but happy to get back to thatcher and be in our own space again (especially our beds!). the travel day went smoothly and now it's time to adjust back to seattle summer for 3 more weeks until school starts.