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There's No Place Like Home...

This was definitely a whirlwind week for us...when we needed sleep the most, it escaped us! Tuesday night I had a car appointment and a happy hour, but made sure that I was home in time to get a decent night's sleep. Haha, the plan didn't work out!

Around 11:45pm, Ava came into our room, and told us that she had vomited, but didn't make it to the toilet, and the bathroom was a bit of a mess. OhhEmmGee...she was not lying. I spent about an hour cleaning up the walls, the floor, the toilet, and my feet (after I slid around in the vomit...ugh..*gag*.) For real, it was crazy ridiculous, and I hope never to have to do that again. Scott, and I ended up resting in the family room, so we could keep an eye on her, and she would have quick access to a bathroom.

Finally, after getting a little bit of sleep, we headed back up to our bedrooms at 2:45am...and not 5 min later, G starts crying. I was worried I was going to walk into another pukey mess, but luckily, he just thought bugs were crawling all over him (his puppy was resting against his arms, and in his sleepy confusion, thought it was bugs.)

After we got him calmed down a bit, and made sure Ava was still okay, we tried to catch a few more hours of sleep. Yeah, it wasn't nearly enough.

Turns out that Ava just ate something that didn't sit well with her, so she was okay the next day. But that bathroom still reeked! And there was limited time to clean it up, as we were hitting the road to start a vacation, right after work on Wednesday. I spent some more time yesterday cleaning, and the smell has disappeared, thank goodness.

Guess what else rolled in on Wednesday? An April snowstorm! I-35 South was shut down due to accidents from the storm, and of course that was the route we needed to take. We found another way south, and ended up having dinner in Austin (MN) with our good friends - it was a nice break from the treacherous roads. We finally made it to Des Moines six hours after we left MN - it should really take only 4 hours. Needless to say, we conked out quickly as we were exhausted.

On Thursday morning, we enjoyed breakfast, and hit the road again, driving through Iowa and Missouri to reach our final destination: Lawrence, Kansas. My aunt Steph was being inducted into the University of Kansas' Women's Hall of Fame for her work towards social justice and inclusion. We were so happy to be a part of the evening's reception, dinner, and ceremony. And, we are so, so proud of Stephanie for everything that she has accomplished!

We needed to stretch our legs for a bit in Missouri...look at that green grass!


Enjoying lunch at Free State Brewing in Lawrence...great food and beer!


Congrats to my amazing aunt!



On Friday morning, we met up with my parents, my aunt Steph, and my great-aunt Doris for a very filling Midwestern breakfast. It was wonderful to have a chance to catch up over a meal, when things weren't quite as busy.

And then...we left! We drove back up to Des Moines, checked into our hotel, and met up with my parents for a dinner at a great brew pub in Des Moines. After dinner, G and I explored the hotel pool, while Ava and Scott took it easy in the room. We caught an early night's sleep and after breakfast on Saturday morning, drove back into Minnesota. It was a short trip, filled with lots of driving (at least 200+ miles each day) and we were very happy to make it home yesterday afternoon.

It was neat being able to show the kids Kansas, as well as the differences between several Midwestern states. I loved seeing all of the green grass, budding trees, and flowers in Kansas, so it was a bit disappointing to drive back into MN and realize there was still snow on the ground from the storm a few days ago. Not only that, but it was dirty snow since the storm had brought dust with it from New Mexico and Texas. Yuck!

I know it'll melt soon enough, though - I had a dream about a garden and flowers last night, so I need to keep focused on that and it will become a reality soon enough!

Ava has a birthday party this afternoon, so I'm going to try to squeeze in a few errands, as we have a super busy week coming up...lots of school and fun stuff to look forward to!

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