I'm in Love!!

It has been a busy month for us, and I am enjoying myself!  We have been busy with family visits (which I previously expressed my joy for) and travels.  The month of August is a full and fun one, for the most part, thus far.

Last week, my husband had to go up to Minneapolis for work.  He arranged it so that Ginny and I could go with him. :)  (Basically, we paid for our own travel and other expenses, but his expenses were covered.)  We were a bit nervous about how Ginny would take the drive up since it is an 8 1/2 hour drive, without breaks.   One thing I did ahead of time was to pump milk so that we would have enough with us so that we could feed her while driving (after making a pit stop to change the diaper, etc).  Pumping is no fun for me because apparently my body doesn't respond as well to a pump as it does to Ginny.  I have difficulty getting the milk out when I pump, but I was able to get enough for the trip (it took about a week to do so).

Anyhow, Ginny was great!  She slept for most of the morning, and was in decent spirits for most of the afternoon.  With only 3 hours or so left to go, either Chris or myself was in the back seat with her otherwise she got a bit frustrated.  We did that at other points on our trip as well.

When we arrived in Minneapolis, I started to feel an interesting tug.  Our hotel was in Chanhassen (a small town suburb) and once we got there, I knew I had fallen---in love!  It really was love at first sight with Minneapolis.  There is something about that city that enchants me.  I can really envision raising our family there.  It is a clean and beautiful city.

The next day, Chris went to work and Ginny & I went to the Mall of America.  I'm not a huge shopper but went because I was curious.  It was nice, but didn't do much for me.  Heck, after 2 1/2-3 hours, I barely made a dent in the mall.  However, I did find an awesome sale at Carter's and bought a few fall outfits for Ginny.  That made the whole trip worth it (that and my time in Sephora--my absolutely fave store in the world!).  After we left the Mall, I decided to go the "long" way back to the hotel.  I drove into downtown Minneapolis, got off on Hennepin Ave and made my way back to our hotel.  Boy...I fell even more in love!  I really can imagine living there.  Chris tells me I should probably wait on making a final judgement after we go for a visit in the winter time.

That night we met up with a college friend of mine, Robyn, and her partner, Traci, for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant.  I had not seen Robyn in 18 years.  Traci and Robyn have been married for 11 years (not legally, for those who wonder).  It was, obviously, my first time meeting Traci.  She was fabulous!  I can see why Robyn and Traci are together.  What a fantastic match and a wonderful person Robyn found! :)  We ended up spending nearly 2 hours talking and eating.

My friend Robyn, Ginny, & I

Thursday morning, it was time for us to leave after Chris finished working early that afternoon.  It was a wonderful trip!  I can't wait to visit Minneapolis again!

A Visit from Kendall & Carson

This past week my 5 year old niece Kendall and 4 year old nephew Carson came up for a brief visit.  It was their first time meeting Ginny.  They both seemed to love their cousin (which is their only 1st full cousin).

While they were here they got to go to Lincoln's New Salem, which they enjoyed but didn't fully appreciate.  We won't see them again until late November/early December.  I'm going to miss them bunches!

Here are some pictures:

Family visits

I have moved about 24 times in my life thus far.  In my first 10 years of life, I moved 7 times.  My dad was active duty in the U.S. Air Force.  For our family, visits to and from family was quite rare--maybe once a year when we were actually stateside.  However, for nearly 6 of those 10 years we lived in Germany.  We did have family visit us a few times, but not repeated trips and nor once a year, for understandable reasons.

My dad went from active duty to the National Guard for a variety of reasons when I was 10.  We moved to the St. Louis area, where my mom's family lived.  It also was a 6 hour drive from my dad's parents who lived in Arkansas.  Obviously, we saw my mom's family ALL the time.  We did not see my Grandma and Grandpa Scott quite as often though--maybe 2-3 times a year.  In fact, my parents split the holidays and kept it consistent.  We saw Dad's parents on Thanksgiving, and spent Christmas with my mom's family.  It always seemed normal (oh, and we never did a separate Christmas celebration with my Dad's family).  As kids, I don't think I felt any differently about either sets of grandparents or cousins.  I loved them both equally! I also noticed that my parents loved both and enjoyed the time with whoever they spent time with.

What was nice, though, was that despite seeing one set of grandparents less frequently, there was no guilt placed on my parents or comparisons on the amount of time spent with one or another.  My grandparents understood the circumstances and knew that their kids and grandkids loved them and wouldn't forget them, ever.

Now, that I'm an adult, I still love and appreciate family visits!  Currently, my DH and I live in Illinois.  His parents live 5-6 hours away in Iowa, whereas my parents live 16 hours away in Florida.  For understandable reasons, we visit my parents a LOT less often than my in-laws.  In fact, we only go to Florida to visit my parents, sister and her family, once a calendar year.  That's it.  We go out to see my in-laws at least 4-5 times a year, typically.  So, since we've been married (2009), I've only gone out to Florida twice...once at Christmas in 2009 and last September/October (2010).  The hardest part of the distance for me is that I really miss my niece and nephew like crazy.  I spent a lot of time with them until I moved up here when my niece was 3 1/2 and my nephew 2.  It is wonderful, though, that I do get to spend time with my niece and nephew by marriage.  I love those two kids as well.

What has been nice, since I've been up here, is that my parents come to visit.  This is the first time in my adult years that my parents have come to visit regularly--more than once a year.  When I lived in Illinois the first time (from 98-00), my parents came up to St. Louis once for a visit and another time for my grandfather's funeral, but never made it up to Quincy.  Then, I lived in Murfreesboro, TN.  In my 2 years there, they only visited once.  It wasn't because they didn't want to, but at the time they were still working full-time and their schedule didn't allow for more frequent visits.  Back then, I would visit my parents twice a year. Now, I get to see my parents about 4-5 times a year between visits to us and our annual trek to Florida.

I love my family.  I enjoy family visits!  I always have!  I hope our Ginny enjoys them as well and the time she gets to spend with all her cousins, grandparents, and aunts and uncles.

Right now, we are anticipating a family visit.  My parents drove up from Florida with my niece Kendall and nephew Carson.  They spent a couple of days in St. Louis (Ginny & I joined them for one of those days) and now they will spend a couple of days with us!  I can't wait!  While I love my folks, I am most excited about spending time with Kendall and Carson!  Yipee!!