In-Between Part 2: Minnesota/Wisconsin

Lisa and I left St. Louis Sunday, June 30 at about 6:45 a.m.  We arrived at her mom's cabin in Wisconsin about 6:45 p.m.  Cade did great in the car.  A few times I even forgot he was there!  Cami was pretty quiet, but never slept more than 30 min at a time.  I think she ended up with about 2 1/2 hr. total.  So we were all pretty tired when we got there.  I got Cami fed and in bed pretty quick and we enjoyed dinner and visiting with Kirk's grandma.  We also met Tom and Connor at the cabin (Kirk's dad and brother).

Grandpa was so excited to meet Cami

Lisa's sister Molly came up the next day.  She and Cade had a lot of fun playing trucks and swimming in the lake.  That kid loves water! 

Tom took Cade and I for a golf cart ride around the lake. 

Cade had fun being out of the car!  We found a few child-sized chairs at the cabin.  Rather than sitting in them, Cade had a lot of fun moving them around the room.  Cade also enjoyed playing with Skeeter, the dog.

 Everyone loved holding Cami and getting her to smile.  She just eats up attention.  She is one of the happiest babies ever.  She is very content to lay on her back and watch everything happen.  We stayed at the cabin Monday and Tuesday then packed up Wednesday morning.

Cami with Great-Grandma Maxson

Sucking on her big toe

Wednesday we drove to Mora, Minnesota to be with Tom's parents and sister's family.  Aunt Marsha and Uncle Steve were very excited to see our kiddos.  Cade is super shy and I was a little concerned about how he would adjust to all the people.  He did well at the first cabin because it really was only 2 new faces.  He had a harder time in Mora and was a bit more clingy.  At both places though, he adjusted well sleeping and was able to get his naps and bedtime pretty close to normal.  We went out for pizza Wednesday night with everyone and it was a lot of fun.

Thursday was the 4th of July.  We spent the day back and forth between the grandparents house and Marsha's.  We had a yummy bbq for dinner. 

Cade got to go for a few short 4-wheeler rides with Grandpa and we played with lots of toys.  Kirk got in Thursday night at 10 p.m. but didn't get to Mora until about midnight, after a 2 hour car ride.

Cade was so excited to see his Daddy the next day, and so was I.  Kirk's parents were a ton of help in taking care of the kids, but Daddy is just better :)  We had a flight to Denver that left at 3:30 and we had to leave Mora about noon.  So we made the most of the morning with Kirk.

Kirk and Tom drove us to the airport.  Kirk came in with us and they gave him a pass to get through security and take us to the gate.  I checked my luggage.  So I had Cade in the stroller, Cami in the Bjorn (chest carrier), a diaper bag and Cade's carseat.  Kirk waited until we boarded our plane and it was so nice to have him there!

Getting on the plane was an adventure.  I was flying southwest, so I got to choose my seats and Cade's carseat had to be by a window.  I quickly spotted 2 empty seats on about the 8th row.  I shoved the carseat over in the end seat and tried buckling it in.  Cami decided to scream as soon as we got on the plane.  The other guy on our row was super nice and helped me buckle the seat in.  He ended up doing it by himself and I stood in the aisle.  Cade thought I was leaving him and started crying, so I had two screaming babies.  One lady nearby offered to hold Cami for me, but luckily we got the carseat in and I as able to sit down next to Cade.  The rest of the flight was pretty smooth.  Cami slept for a bit and Cade was very happy and content to sit in his seat.

Getting off the plane was much simpler.  The guy we sat next to carried the carseat out for me and we got the stroller.  We made our way out to baggage claim.  We got on the train to get through the airport.  I forgot to lock the wheels on Cade's stroller and he rolled backwards as the train started.  Luckily, there was a lady there that caught him before he rolled too far! 

We started talking to an older couple as we waited at the baggage claim.  They noticed I was traveling by myself with 2 babies (not hard to notice. . . )  They asked how I was going to get all the stuff out.  I said I would figure it out and asked if they could grab my suitcase for me off the rolling thing.  They did and then the wife said "Honey, watch our stuff.  I'm going to help this mom out."  She was so sweet!  We had to get in an elevator to take us down to ground transportation where I was meeting my Aunt Danelle.  I think it took about 10 minutes to get everything down there and this sweet lady helped us the whole time.  I was so grateful.  We found Danelle quickly and got loaded in her car for the next leg of our trip.