Our Summer Holiday in the Midwest

Picnics at roadside parks   hotel swimming pools to wear off some energy   kids old enough for Mom and Dad to stay dry at the side of the pool   arriving excitement - hugs and kisses   Mom's food   hours of hide and seek with Uncle Tom and Auntie Bekah   "Get Ready! I'm coming!" in his British accent   Bodda Boom! Bodda Bing!   

Celebrating birthdays (I'm still 28) Dad the big 6-0   Will attends soccer camp at Mom and Dad's church

Chicken salad served in Mom's antique glass chickens   family bowling

Staying with Grandma and Grandpa N.   Grandma's rhubarb pie   games of hand and foot   Island Cafe's greek omelet and chai tea   Fresh white Ikea dishes and shiny new silverware to replace 40 years of mismatched cutlery   the smell of the log home   exercising 2nd Amendment rights at the shooting range (we are in the US!)    Harley rides   the sound of loons on the lake   Will's island   feeding Buttercup the deer in the driveway   precious time spent with sister and husband from across the pond    Friday fish fry at Little Bo's   sweet whiskey old-fashioned with a crushed orange wedge and 2 maraschino cherries   bending the rules - too much dessert, pop, chips and up too late   weekend in Minnesota   Uncle Greg, Aunt Lisa, Allie and Lauren   Zanna wearing out their new puppy playing ring around the rosy   cousins braiding hair   downtown Stillwater   unbelievable musical talent in church - who knew you could do that with a pipe organ?   an afternoon with Grandpa and Grandma H.    trips down memory lane   driving gravel roads in the Albert Lea countryside   Grasdalen farm    the farm Dad grew up on   cemetery relatives are buried 

"Wok and Roll" Chinese buffet   cherished time with great grandparents   kids stopping up toilets wherever we go (too much junk food)   3 seasons of Giligan's Island and backseat belly laughs    waking up to itchy rash on legs    drugged up on allergy medication at the Mall of America    lunch at Don Pablos - our old dating stomping ground - margaritas and enchiladas!    shopping for shoes with my college roommate    Wayne watching 5 kids while we shop

picking up with an old friend where we left off    dropping Daddy off at the airport    listening to the GPS over my common sense heading for Duluth   reading an actual map and ignoring the GPS   back at Mom and Dad's   male bonding - Harleys, guns and golfing   female bonding - flea markets, craft stores and antiquing   lake rides on the pontoon boat    lunch on the lake   Friday Fish Fry #2 at Little Bo's   kids attend VBS at Mom and Dad's church   going to the beach   splashing in the lake   flea market addiction   Celebrating 65 years of marriage

Breaking in the chalkboard chargers   bonfire cookouts - hotdogs and smores   radio flyer taxi rides

missing husband and dadddy   Facetime everyday on the iPhone   13 years of celebrating our 4th of July anniversary   40 years of celebrating Mom and Dad's 4th of July anniversary   anniversary email love note from husband   Grandma's cherry pie   coconut joy ice cream cone at Cathy's ice cream shoppe   things you can do with doors and spray paint inspiration   watching fireworks on the lake   

Face painting

4th of July breakfasts

a heavily loaded minivan, me, 2 kids and 16 hours between us and home   a full tank of gas and an empty bladder - $75 Can / $55 US (the gas, not the bladder)   a hotel with no pool - substitute bed jumping   

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