11-16
This year, we decided to go back to Minnesota for Thanksgiving instead of Christmas. Why? Why not?! Charlie and Alanna had Thanksgiving week off from school so we opted for something different this year. To continue that theme, I found a plane ticket for Matt to fly to Fargo a few days ahead of us for only $62! So on Tuesday, 10 days before Thanksgiving, Molly, Hattie and I drove Matt to Denver to catch his flight to Fargo. It was actually a great plan; Matt got to do quite a bit of hunting! He had a good time during his bonus days and shot a pheasant or two. (But I actually think it was one.)
So the kids I finished out the week of school before Thanksgiving together. It got a little hairy toward the end because Alanna tested positive for strep throat on Thursday morning, 11/15, the day before we were scheduled to leave. Bummer! After her mid-morning doctor appointment, it was several hours later until her medicine was ready and I could pick it up, so her first dose of antibiotics wasn't until around 4pm. I finished packing the car and proceeded with our plan to leave bright and early the next morning for our drive to Laurie and Tom's. Later that evening, around 10:30, Alanna started throwing up. GREAT. At this point, I thought she had the stomach flu on top of the strep throat! Poor girl. She didn't eat much that day because her throat hurt so bad but it still isn't fun to throw up (even if it is just yucky spit). She threw up three times between 10:30-midnight and I was a little concerned that we would have to change our plans. Fortunately, she didn't throw up any more after midnight, so I re-set my alarm for 4:50am so the kids and I could be on the road by 5:30am. Originally, the plan was to get up at 3:50 and leave by 4:30, but I also needed a bit of sleep. The original plan did not include strep throat or barfing, soooo...
So at 5:30, the kids and I hit the road. Alanna was pretty low energy - great for traveling in the car. All she needed to do all day was watch movies or rest. Easy peasy! I talked to my mom around 8 or 9am on Friday morning and she said that I would sometimes throw up when I had strep throat as a kid and that was the BEST news of the day! I didn't know the two could show up together! I was afraid that we would all get the stomach flu and be stuck somewhere in South Dakota, unable to move forward due to the sickness but too far in the trip to turn back. Whew! Mom saved the day! Moms are so wise, aren't they!? *love eye emoji for my mama*
So the kids and I trucked down the road. We were headed for Tom and Laurie's to stay the night not only to shave off a few hours of the drive but also because I haven't been to Laurie's in years. It was a great time to stop and see her as well as do the rounds in Valley City and Fargo before ending up in Fergus on Saturday night. Well, in typical South Dakota fashion, the roads turned junky about Pierre and were rather rough from about 5:30 until we arrive at Laurie's around 11:15pm. I was hoping to be there about 8 or 9pm, but I had to drive 30mph for three or four hours. Bummer. In the last 5 minutes of the drive, I accidentally took a wrong turn down a road that I thought was marked something different than it actually was and we drove on a field road pretty deep into a corn field (300 yards?). Whoops! I called Laur from the middle of the corn and told her that I think I took a wrong turn. Yep, definitely a wrong turn. (Alanna said the next day, "Is that why that road was so bumpy?!" Ha!) Thankfully I was able to turn around and backtrack to the highway! I am so glad that I didn't get stuck out there. Sheesh. What a ridiculous thing to do - thinking a field road was an actual gravel road. In my own defense, I was rather done driving at that point and my eyes were a little fuzzy from the defrost blowing in them for the last, I don't know, FIVE HOURS. :)
So! It was eventful, but we finally arrived to Laurie and Tom's! The girls were still awake but Charlie had just fallen asleep right before we got to Laurie's. Laurie helped me get the kids inside and settled into their beds at which point the clock just struck midnight. Laurie and I stayed up late talking and catching up which was the highlight of our time there!! We eventually went to bed. Eventually. :) The next morning, the kids woke up around 8 and Laurie fed them breakfast while I snoozed until just before 9. We spent the morning talking some more, playing with toys, playing Jingo (Jenga), Uno, and other fun stuff. She put together little goodie bags for the kids and I, too. So kind! We ate a huge feast of a lunch before heading to Valley City about 1:15. Unfortunately, Tom was trucking all night so we missed him completely. On our way to Valley City, we met him on the interstate and honked and flashed our lights. We had so much fun at Laurie and Tom's! I'm thankful that they let us come and stay and that we drove a different way so we could do that!
Uno!
With the exception of Charlie's crossed eyes, this is a really good picture!
Selfie time!
Well, after our great visit with Laurie, we continued on to Valley to see Grandma and Grandpa's new apartment. It was nice to see where they're at! We stayed for a few hours and chatted and played. Hattie found a My Little Pony book of Grandma's and asked Grandpa to read it to her. She climbed right on up in his lap and held the book and turned the pages when he told her to. It was comical to hear Grandpa reading, "The next pony's name was Rarity. She likes fashion." and all kinds of other My Little Pony things. Haha! Hattie was pretty handsy with Grandpa; she was squeezing Grandpa's cheeks and playing with his chin. At one point she was playing a jumping game right over Grandpa's feet, holding onto his knees and jumping over back and forth. She climbed in his lap several times and was kinda all up in his business, which I secretly think he loved. :) Toward the end of our time at Grandma and Grandpa's, Grandma brought out some chocolate cupcakes with white frosting. I told the kids, "You're about to experience one of Grandma's signature desserts - chocolate cupcakes with white frosting!" After he ate, Charlie said to Grandma, "I feel like I just got your autograph on a piece of paper!" Because I said the word signature... get it!?!? I about died when he said that! SO FUNNY!! We had a nice visit and Grandma and Grandpa walked us out, Grandpa in his electric scooter. He was scuffing the wall a tiny bit right away and Grandma said, "Well (which sounds more like wayl when she says it) Hun, you're scratching the walls!" And I thought to myself, I want to be calling Matt 'Hun' when we're in our 80's. #goals It was adorable.
Ok, Hattie is leaning on Grandpa, but he's also holding tight to her hand, so... it was really cute.
After Grandma and Grandpa Graalum's, we headed over to Grandma Reid's house. In typical North Dakota fashion, everyone wanted to feed us something... Grandma made chili and chicken salad and egg salad and banana bread and cookies (some of which were for church the next day), but holy smokes for food! The kids watched Tom and Jerry while Grandma and I caught up a bit. I hadn't seen her basement remodel so that was fun to see! We left with probably 18 cookies (or two dozen?) and two loaves of banana bread to take with us to Kathy's, which was our next stop. It was such a fun day. I much prefer to spend even an hour or two one-on-one with family rather than three or four hours with everyone all together. I really felt like we had good conversations, deeper than we can usually when there's so many people around. No, we didn't see everyone; I didn't call Travis or Heather or Lisa when we were in Fargo. But that's how it goes sometimes. We got to see a few and really see them, and I loved every minute of it.
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