MN Trip

<- Grandpa with 4 of 6 of his great-grandchildren. Our primary purpose was to spend time with my grandpa (the kids great-grandpa) and see a bunch of family because our Australian cousins were home for a visit and people tend to come in to see them, so it's a win-win. We got to celebrate birthdays, graduations, engagements, go to some of my cousins sporting events (and embarrass them) and play lots of cards and games with cousins and aunts and uncles. :) I think my family is pretty special! We eat a lot, laugh a lot, and just have a good time when we get together. At one point we had more than 30 people at my aunt's house. My youngest cousin is only a year older than Hannah so she had a fun time playing with my kids and their cousins. I think she enjoyed having youngers to play with since all of us cousins are so much older. They got a new trampoline which the guys put together and those kids spent lots of time getting the cousins to 'bounce' them. I think they got just about everyone to have a turn. One of my cousins brought her old Barbies for the kids to play with and they got a lot of use. We got to go to a Twins game at Target Field. When my sister and I were younger, in the Kirby Puckett era, we went to lots of games and Hannah had even been to a game in the old stadium when she was itty-bitty, so it was fun to see the new field. Plus, they won! And we saw a home run, and a guy next to us got a foul ball that a player threw up into the stands and gave it to Benjamin. 🙂

We attended a community band concert, spent an afternoon at a county fair, went to the community pool a couple of times, and went on a two mile hike in the lovely MN trees. My immediate family also did a short tour of a local cave called Mystery Cave. The kids thought it was pretty cool.

We hope to make it to my cousin’s wedding next summer and see everyone again. We had a great time, but saying goodbye is hard.

All photos here