Sunday morning was Nick and Greta taking a walk while Lilly and I continued to sleep. Then Lilly waking up and me telling her five more minutes and she actually didn't wake me up again for ten minutes. Down for breakfast and then swimming with her cousins and sister. Greta was super excited to get in the water and then when she was in the water . . . not such a big fan. The water was probably a bit cold and she got splashed a few times, and she was tired, so it didn't last very long. Nick brought her up for a nap and then Lilly and I interrupted to get out of our swimming apparel. But he was victorious while Lilly and I went back to the lobby where Lilly played with Emily, Alison, and Great Uncle Dave. I believe the game was dinosaurs.
The scheduled event for the day was a picnic at Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis. We arrived late, both because we couldn't find exactly where everyone was at the park and we decided last minute we were going to head back to Ashland that evening, rather than staying another night. Which meant packing up the hotel and getting all of our stuff out to the car in 20 minutes. We didn't quite make it, but we did check out by 11:00. I think we finally left the hotel room at 11:10, so not bad.
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| Riding on the luggage cart |
The weather was beautiful and perfect for a picnic in the park. Not too hot and not too cold. The park is near the airport, so we were able to watch planes for much of the time, which was great fun for Greta and Nick. Lilly played and played and played with Emily and Alison and Cally. We attempted to have conversations with people. Suzy was at Cornell as an undergrad while Nick was there as a grad student. Some of her friends from Cornell were at the wedding/picnic and it turns out Nick was the TA for one of them while he was in organic chemistry. Small world!
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| Covering their heads with dandelion bits |
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Greta didn't actually eat the crackers but kept putting them in her
mouth and spitting them out. I think she just liked the power of feeding
herself from the full bag. |
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| The wood chip pile was their main hangout |
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| This was the outfit I had picked for Greta to wear to the wedding |
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Sharing a snack. I wish I could remember more of their conversation, but
the conversations between four year olds are entertaining |
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| Mark and Dianne chatting it up |
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| Suzy, Sam, and Suzy's Mom |
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| With Sam before heading back to the hotel |
Greta needed a nap. We were going to potentially go to the Children's Museum but with timing (North Carolina Robertsons had a 5:30 dinner with friends) we didn't really have time to do that. So rather than part ways we drove back to the hotel to then go to the Lion's Park. Greta fell asleep on the way to the hotel, Lilly got awfully close. In fact, when we got to the hotel parking lot Lilly asked to just sleep in the car while we got Greta down for her nap. We risked bringing Greta upstairs to Tim and Dianne's room to sleep since she was going to be in her car seat for a long time yet that night. The transition happened seamlessly. Nick walked to the Lion's Park with Lilly and met up with the other Robertsons. Greta took a great nap and then she and I met up with them at the park.
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| Apparently Greta wanted to be a flower girl too |
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| The perfect playground for Greta |
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| The Three Amigos! |
We said our goodbyes to Galen, Mark, Bridget, Emily, and Alison at the park. We met up with Nick's parents, Dave and Jeanne, and his aunt Kitty and cousin Melissa and her two kids at Applebee's for dinner before we hit the road. It was a rushed dinner but we had some nice conversation. Then to the car for the awful four hour trip home. Well, it was really only awful from 6:30-9:00. Greta was not at all happy to be back in her car seat, fought sleep, and was generally irritated until we stopped and gave her a break, then I fed her and when we got back on the road she was asleep in less than five minutes. Of course shortly before we had to pull off (Greta was trying so hard to get out of her car seat she looked like she was having a seizure), Lilly told me she was just going to sleep for a little bit. Of course you pick this time to fall asleep! That two minutes was enough to keep her awake until 10:00.
When we got home, getting Lilly out of her car seat was super entertaining. She did not want to get out of the seat! She kept fighting us and trying to stay in the van. Nick put his hands under her arms and she'd push herself back into the seat. I tried, Nick tried again and finally, I scooped her up and carried her up to her bed, where she wiggled up to her pillow. I put a pull up on her, which she slept through. Greta was easily plopped into her crib from her car seat and slept until 6 in the morning.
Monday Nick and I stayed home. I had already put in for a personal day, had the sub, and the kids were taking a standardized test, so it wasn't like they really needed me there anyway. Nick and Lilly slept in until 8:00. The girls went to day care and Nick and I spent the day unpacking, running errands, laundry, cleaning the house, and we even did two things together: he went for a paddle while I ran along the lake front (so not totally together but we started from the same spot) and we had lunch together.
It was great seeing everyone, even though many conversations we all too brief, and look forward to the next time we can all get together. Lilly is already asking us when the next wedding is.
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