Last week I took my boys home to Wisconsin for a much needed visit with my extended family, and an introduction to all things midwestern. Oh my gosh it was FABULOUS to be home with the cool fall breezes, the open spaces, the beautiful farmlands and red barns and white farmhouses. Quintessential Wisconsin at it's best, and I LOVED it. So did the boys.
My mom traveled with us, and we departed on a Tuesday morning, flying on American Eagle (Hayden was elated by this turn of events having never flown this airline before) up to Milwaukee. It's funny because when you land in Milwaukee on certain days, they'll fly out over Lake Michigan first, then double back to land at the airport, which is right on the shoreline. It does almost feel like you are going to land in the water, and Hayden was convinced that the Milwaukee airport was indeed ON the water. I'm pretty sure this scared him more than excited him lol, since he clearly knew we weren't on a water plane, as he stated many times in those last 15 minutes. But alas, we made it safely on the ground, and my Uncle Mike picked us up to take us to my grandparents cabin.
Now let me just say that Uncle Mike has two boys himself, that are grown and in college. So he has paid his dues with little ones, but I think it's safe to say that he is VERY happy those days are behind him, after helping us struggle with about 10 "essential" pieces of child-related luggage, all while taking trips to the bathroom with a 3 year old, and trying to keep a 1 year old confined to a stroller after 3 hours confined to an airplane seat. NOT FUN! And he was so patient as I sweated bullets trying to install the dang carseats in the mini-van. Whew, but we made it!
After a nice long car ride out into the country, we finally arrived at my grandparent's home, which is a beautiful log cabin that they built on a hill just a little way down from their old farmhouse, which they have since sold, and is now operating as a horse farm instead of the dairy farm I grew up with. It's still as gorgeous as ever, and the new owners are taking really good care of it. We had prepped Hayden to expect a log house, but he still looked up in awe and told me, "Mommy, it really IS made of logs! It's bigger than I thought!". Too cute.
So we quickly settled in, and baby-proofed. My grandma and aunt Kathy had been so generous to gather a bunch of baby toys and items to make our stay easier, and it really helped out. We had everything we needed and the boys were totally happy. And "GG" really took care of us, just like I always remember. We had every kind of yummy food you could ever imagine at our fingertips, all home cooked and delicious. After dessert one evening Hayden looked up at my mom and said, "GG has the BEST food!". And he's right! Sadly, the first morning we were there, I told Hayden it was time to get dressed so we could go outside to play. He looked at me confusedly, and said, "But mommy, it's too hot!". Poor kiddo, he's so used to me telling him we can't go in the backyard at our own house because it's 100 degrees by 9 am. I explained that the temperatures in Wisconsin are a lot nicer, so we spent our time exploring their huge yard and gardens, swinging on the wooden swing out back (Pierce loved that), and picking and hauling pumpkins from their pumpkin patch. I even taught Hayden how to roll down the hill. I was definitely taking a trip down memory lane, and it was fun to have the boys with me.
One of the highlights of our stay in Wisconsin was a trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo with one of my best friends from high school, Nicole, and her two little boys ,who are roughly the same age as mine. I hadn't seen Henry since he was about 14 months old, and I had never met her youngest little guy, Ben. Besides just being happy to be back at the zoo, which held so many fun memories from my own childhood, I had a great time watching my boys make new friends with Nicole's boys. Henry was about the cutest, chattiest, happiest child I've ever met, and he and Hayden immediately clicked and were best buds the rest of the day. They rode ponies together, and Henry saved the seat next to him at lunch for Hayden. Adorable does not even come close to describing how cute they were together. Ben and Pierce tried to keep up too, and chased after the big boys, and had a great time entertaining each other in adjacent high chairs at dinner out. Too funny. It was hard saying goodbye, but she's bringing her boys here in November so I'm looking forward to that.
Besides just watching my boys have fun, I had the best time reconnecting with Nicole, and with my aunts and uncles and grandparents. Since my parents moved away from Wisconsin when I was in college, I just haven't been able to travel back there as often as I would like, and I sometimes feel those ties getting looser than I would like. I had so much laughing with my Aunt Kathy, who is the sweetest, most caring, and funniest lady I know. And although I do get to see "GG" very often, because she makes an effort to come visit us, it was still nice to just curl up on her couch with her and chit chat, and just enjoy being home again.
I finished up the trip by meeting Nathan in Chicago for the wedding of one of my very best friends from college, Julie, and her (now) husband James. The kids stayed back in Wisconsin with Grammy and GG and proceeded to get the flu (which my mom kept secret from me THANK YOU) and pass it on to my grandparents. I was blissfully unaware, and Nate and I had so much fun playing the sophisticated city couple for a few nights, and getting to hang out with a bunch of college friends whom I LOVE. The wedding was gorgeous, as is the couple, and it was a perfect weekend.
The trip ended with a really icky plane ride home, but not because the boys were naughty, but rather because all the people we came in contact with were so unpleasant. As soon as we sat down on the plane, the lady next to my mom buzzed the flight attendant and made a big fuss about being moved because she needed to study and my kids were a distraction. Well, the flight was full, so unfortunately for all of us, she stayed put, but of course I felt tension the whole flight trying to keep my kids from bugging her. Furthermore, the young girl in front of me (probably early 20's) was trying very hard to sleep her way through the flight (at 6 pm), and kept turning around and shooting me dagger eyes every time one of my kids bumped her seat or made a noise. Ugh talk about stressful. I need to shake those things off, but it just made for an unpleasant 2 hour flight home. I was never so happy to get us all into our own beds that night!
All in all thought, it was a fabulous trip and I need to thank my grandparents and aunt and uncle for their hospitality and company, and send my congrats out to the lovely new couple. Now, on to the next adventure for the Roberts Family....our big ultrasound in 4 days woo hoo!
No comments:
Post a Comment