Road trip time

Last week, the monsters and I headed off to Minnesota for a visit with relatives and cats and cousins.  I started planning this trip at the beginning of the summer and there were days when I thought I was crazy to drive 14+ hours solo, with Thunderbolt and Lightning in the backseat.  But you know what?  We had a great time.  The kids were awesome.  Sure we had a few snappy moments and a ten minute (silently in my head) wailing of "how-can-we-be-300-miles-from-home-and-I-can't-take-another-minute-of-this" but it really worked out well.  The kids genuinely like to travel and look forward to what's around the bend. 

 

We left on a Wednesday and powered through Nebraska, stopping for a picnic lunch at a rest area.  Nebraska has really nice rest areas.  Reina somehow managed to fall down hard on the sidewalk and skin her knee at a very pretty rest area but luckily Worst Case Scenario Mom packed a giant first aid kit in the car.  This ain't my first rodeo.  We also stopped at the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument in Kearney.  It's that giant thing that spans the interstate.  The admission fee was a little hefty but we went through it twice at the kids' insistence so it was worthwhile.  The exhibits are very interesting and the kids had a great time. 

Prior to going through the museum, I made the kids pose for a picture with a giant buffalo.  There's a not-appropriate-for-a-family blog story to go along with this picture so ask me about it sometime.  As we were walking away, Will commented that if Daddy shot a buffalo that big, we'd have a lot of meat in our freezer. 

Inside the museum at an 50's soda shoppe exhibit.  The kids were enthusiastic about the headphones. 

Pioneer Express Girl.

Whoa there Nelly! 

Act like you like each other for three minutes please. 

After spending the night in Omaha with the Pauley aunt and uncle, the kids and I headed northeast to Rochester to spend the afternoon with Aunt Mary.  Well, Aunt Mary and two other very important very important people...err kitties:  Lulu and Lizzie.  It's been well documented on this blog that Reina is obsessed with all of the kitties all of the time. Most of her current toy cats are named Lulu and Lizzie and she's been talking about them for months.  I warned her that Aunt Mary's kitties may not want to be snuggled by a strange (to them) 5-yr old and that they might be shy and she was surprisingly receptive to that information.  Fortunately the kitties were friendly and didn't seem too bothered by Reina's aggressive affection. 

Lulu the shyer of the two cats even hung out on the cookie table. Yes, there's a cookie table at Aunt Mary's house. 

On Friday, we were up in the Twin Cities to visit more family.  We rendezvoused with Aunt Vicky, Baby Cousin and Grandma and shopped and visited family and picnicked and had a great time. 

 

Not asleep, just pretending.  For a while, Will was the only male at the mini-family reunion under let's see 45?  Then my sole Minnesota male cousin showed up and gallantly played baseball with Will and kept him entertained for the rest of the visit. 

Definitely not napping, but probably trying to give me an order or command while resting on the lounge chair.  Reina sang "The Rainbow Connection" to her Great Uncle Bobby and just about brought the house down with her sweet little voice.  She's visited him three times now and sang him a song each time.  This year  it took a little prodding but she did it. 

Will and Baby Cousin who's going through a I-don't-want-anybody-but-my-mommy phase and as soon as the pictures was snapped, so did she. 

Flat Stanley made the trip with us.  This guy has had one heck of a summer with the Pauleys. 

This picture was clearly taken at the beginning of the trip because my car was never this clean again.  A week later, it still isn't.

One hot afternoon, I gave a cranky Reina my phone and let her take some pictures to pass the time while we are waiting for the next super fun activity (shopping, eating, playing with cats and neighbor kids, more shopping).  She snapped this sweet picture of Baby Cousin checking out one of Reina's new acquisitions.  Reina doesn't let just anyone have a turn with her Current Favorite Piece of Plastic.  Baby Cousin has a special place in Reina's heart. 

After a few days in Minnesota, we had a trunk full of new school clothes, a bunch of new toys, some very nice memories and a few extra pounds (okay, that's probably just pertinent to me).  The kids and I headed back on the road. 

On our way out of town, we stopped to get some road trip snacks at the local Trader Joe's.  As much as I like this store, I'm a little bit glad that we don't have one in Cheyenne.  The kids loved those little shopping carts and while no blood was shed, there might be a few bruised calves.

On the way back, we stopped for another night in Omaha.  On our way there, we found a little pioneer museum in Iowa. 

Just a tiny bit stir crazy from all of the driving.

This was a two room homesteading cabin and both kids were obsessed with the idea that 10 (TEN) people slept in here at one point.  After sharing a hotel room with just two half-size people in recent days, well... I'm just impressed. 

Sleep little blonde girl!  Reina's going through a phase (is ALL SUMMER a phase?) where she fights going to sleep, won't nap and then has a hard time getting up in the morning. I know she needs more sleep and we're working on it since school is just around the corner.  When she does fall asleep, it's lovely for everyone involved. 

Mom selfie.  Not road weary at all. 

With just a few hours left in the trip, we resorted to some unusual ways to keep ourselves entertained. 

Summer 2014 is coming to a close.  School starts one week from today.  Will already has football practice and Reina's ballet class starts next week.  Glenn's been hunting once already and I watched the Broncos pre-season game on Sunday and started feeling that nervous/slightly nauseous/excited feeling that means football is just around the corner too.  Our road trip to Minnesota was the perfect way to wrap up the summer and we are ready to tackle it again in 2015.