Yet Another Road Trip - Minnesota Day#1

Having a husband that travels really sucks most of the time. Those long days with the kids can be tough. I try to plan extra fun things to do, but still, they can be LONG days. Especially when the kids are up at 7:00 a.m. and not asleep sometimes until 10:00 p.m. 

That said, travel occasionally has its advantages, like when were were able to accompany Steve to Minnesota on June 21-23rd. He had a short meeting scheduled Tuesday, so we were able to tag along for a free hotel stay and paid gas.

We had some great family time on the way down. The kids were silly with singing songs and playing with Jared's Batman figures. We also listened to Time Warp Trio - The Not-So-Jolly Roger.  on the way down. We stopped a few more times on this trip than we did to Missouri, but we arrived at about 3:00 in the afternoon. About a half hour before we arrived at the hotel, Alexa said she had to go to the bathroom. We tried to get her to hold it, but when were were almost at the hotel, she was crying from trying to hold it so long. So, I rushed her in a Fudruckers, let her do her thing, and ran out through pouring rain back to the car.

The kids were beyond excited to get to our hotel room, as I'm sure you could tell from the pictures. They just HAD to be the ones to open the door with the keycard.

The rain had lightened up, so we drove a half hour to Steve's old college, NorthWestern College.  I love seeing old places from his past. I've always lived within a few miles of where I was born, so traveling, visiting new places and just plan exploring opportunities are really, I'm starting to understand, are passionately important to me.

 

We only went into one building on the campus, the chapel. It was originally a Catholic church, so the sanctuary was gorgeous. It also had exquisite stained glass windows that my poor photography won't even begin showcase properly.

The main room also had wonderful reliefs set into the side walls depicting Jesus' walk to the cross and his Crucifixion.

Then, we walked down to a little island that can be assessed by a tiny bridge. A small chapel built in 1927 sits on the property, although it was locked and we couldn't go inside. So, the kids satisfied themselves with throwing stones into the river from the bridge.

On the way back to the car, the kids picked up two sticks, which they said were their "violins" and played us a song.

After leaving the college and a frustrating attempt to find a breakfast place to eat nearby, we finally ate a great dinner/breakfast at a Denny's near the hotel. After dinner, we had our first dip in the pool and hot tub. We had it all to ourselves, which was wonderfully relaxing. There was a Batman floating thing (can you believe it, Jared's favorite thing in the world?) that Jared would not give up, and Alexa had a great time learning how to dog paddle with Steve. I was surprised at how much she loved being in the water and swimming. Who knows? She might want swimming lessons. Or maybe I'll just go with her and my mom to the YMCA and learn informally. She'd probably do better that way anyways.