Trip to Minnesota

Over Labor Day weekend, we spent 4 days in Minnesota where your grandparents and your aunt, uncle and two cousins live. They live a few blocks from each other. We stayed at your grandparents' house (my parents) and played there. And we also went over to your aunt/uncle/cousins' house to play as well. Their last name is Best because that is your Uncle Larry's last name. Pretty good last name, huh?

Everyone was so happy to see you. While your grandmother and grandfather saw you just after you were born, they had not seen you since you plumped up and learned to crawl and jabber. You have changed a lot since they last saw you in February. And the rest of the family has only seen your pictures. Here they are.

[mom] We arrived late on Friday night - you slept for most of the flight but woke up when we arrived in Minneapolis. Your grandparents were so delighted to see you awake. We thought you might fall back asleep driving home but you were too curious and just stared at your grandma June. When we got home, your grandma found a few toys (one that popped up, one that looked like a gas pump, and another one that sounded like a buzzer) so we played for 15 minutes before putting you down to bed around 1:00 AM. It was a late night for you!! [end-mom]

Here's your grandmother June. Looks like you two are deep in conversation or perhaps in some kind of staredown contest. I'm not sure who won but you are pretty good at staring!


Here's grandfather Gordon playing with you. You have a very devilish look on your face here. I'm not sure what you are up too. Probably heading for your table toy or James' hat.


This is James over at your grandparents' house. He was happy to not be the youngest one in the group for once. You just loved his blue hat. You kept trying to take it from him. You also spent a lot of time on that table toy because you could prop yourself up on it and press some things to make noise.


Here's your grandfather Gordon again and your cousin Jonathan. Jonathan is 11 but he is super tall for his age. Here he is trying to prove how tall he is. I think your grandfather has him by an inch or so (for now!).


Here's your aunt Caroline and uncle Larry and James again. You can't take your eyes off that toy table for one minute!


We had lunch with your grandparents in the Mall of America on Sunday. It's one of the biggest shopping malls in the country. On the outside of the mall are shops and in the center here you can see they have rollercoasters and fun things for kids to do. And it's all inside. It's called Camp Snoopy after the cartoon character. You seem more interested in the lighting however. We did a little shopping ourselves since it's tax free!

Here's aunt Caroline again. You were a little crabby on this trip. Too many new people for you to deal with I think. You have stranger anxiety which surprisingly is a milestone that babies are supposed to go through. Basically you get a little upset if you are away from me or mommy. Every time your mom and I left the room you had a little trouble adjusting to the fact that we weren't there. You got better after a few days though. Here we are outside your aunt and uncle's house in their backyard. So much green grass and trees. Only Central Park is like that where we live. When you get older you are going to have fun going to Minnesota. You can run around all day. They cooked us a nice dinner and we ate it outside.


This is inside the house with me, aunt Caroline and Jonathan. You have finally managed to wrest James' baseball cap from his head. You can also see Charlie - their dog.


We also took a trip to Stillwater which is one of the oldest towns in Minnesota that is nearby where we were staying. We walked around and had lunch down there. Here we are waiting outside while the girls peek into a shop. You tried to take James' hat again shortly after this photo was taken.


We had lunch at The Dock Cafe which had nice views of the river out the window. Aunt Caroline is trying to make you laugh!


Here we are on our way back from Stillwater. You were a little grumpy having to be in your car seat so Jonathan and James entertained you while we drove to our next destination.


On the way home, we stopped to have ice cream and played in the park across from the store. Here I am acting like a fool on one of the kid's toys. This is the only one I could fit into.


And here's mommy playing with you on the swing. I would stand behind her and push her and you would look over her shoulder and laugh your head off. It was so funny for you because you weren't used to moving so fast and then swinging back to inches within my face. There aren't many pictures of mommy unfortunately because she took all the pictures! Bad daddy!

Aunt Caroline entertained you as well. Rocking you on one of those wobbly toys that I couldn't get into.


I also helped James get very high on the swings. I was a little scared he was getting so high but he didn't seem to mind. Tough kid.


And here's the whole Best family with us. From top to bottom it's James, Larry, me, mommy, Jonathan, Caroline, and Sophia!


Hopefully you'll remember their faces when we visit next year. And you should be able to run around on the grass and maybe even say a few words by then.

[mom] Daddy forgot to write about the bloody nose you gave him on the plane - we were sitting in first class and somehow you managed to stick your tiny fingers up his nose (or maybe you socked him in the face on purpose?). I did not see what happened -- I only noticed your daddy holding his face and seeing some blood drip out of his nose. Poor daddy -- the flight attendant must have thought he was a drug addict since he blamed you. Luckily it wasn't too serious and it stopped bleeding after a few minutes. [end-mom]