A funny thing happened on our trip to Minnesota

Last weekend we were in Minnesota for my nephew’s high school graduation.  It was a quick trip because my youngest son is in school until June 17th!  Yes, you read that correctly.  

It’s always fun to go back.  We make it back to Minnesota at least once a year.  My husband and I are from a rural farm community (translation:  small town).  My husband and I graduated from the same high school that my nephew was graduating from.  My sister and brother-in-law graduated from there.  My husband’s three sisters graduated from there.  My mom taught in this school system.  I have two cousins who teach there.  We have a lot of connections to this town.

We flew in Friday and started on our 2 ½ trip to our hometown.  My sister-in-law picked us up from the airport.  We hit Jamba Juice on the way out of the Cities.  We stopped on our trip to have lunch with my mother-in-law and stepfather-in-law.  During this drive, my sister called and asked if we could come straight to their house to help set up a tent for the graduation party. Sure!

We arrived at their house and asked what we could do to help get ready for the party.  My sister-in-law and I were tasked with taping pictures onto the photo boards.  We were in the house working.  My husband, J, my sister and brother-in-law were outside putting up the tent.  S decided he would walk around their yard and check things out.  My sister and brother-in-law moved into this house about 9 months ago.  Not a problem.

We hadn’t been at their house for 30 minutes when my sister came inside laughing.  As they were outside putting up the tent, a cop pulled up to the house and sat there looking at what was taking place.  My sister walked over to see if he needed anything.  She said he seemed rather embarrassed; at this point, a second cop car pulled up to the house.  They had received a call that they needed to do a welfare check at the house.  Why?  Because S who has CP and uses crutches was walking around outside...by himself.  The horror of this!  

We all laughed at the situation.  S just wanted to know why no one bothered to ask him anything. Again, he was outside at 4:30 pm with 3 other adults and his 17 year old brother.  He looked like he might need some help (I need a sarcasm font here).

This made for a great conversation piece at my nephew’s party.  Everyone there either knows my son or knows of my son.  They know he is a college student.  Not really needing a welfare check. The biggest discussion was, “Which neighbor called the cops?”

The best part of this whole story is it made the police log in the paper!  You have to love small towns.  

I will be on the couch with chocolate...still laughing at this story.

Going to Minnesota is NOT relaxing!

My family just returned from an 11 day road trip to Minnesota the other night.  That trip is approximately 2800 miles round trip on top of the more than 300 additional miles driving around while we were there.  Why would did we do that?  My children have asked us that question many times.  The answer is simple:

He graduated, and we took his party on the road!

Why did we take his party on the road?  Because all of our family members live in Minnesota with the exception of my husband’s niece who came back from Nashville to celebrate with us.  We figured it was easier to get four of us to Minnesota rather than bringing so many people to Virginia.

[I told my children taking a long road trip like that gives them stories to talk about at future gatherings.  “Do you remember when mom and dad made us drive to Minnesota?”  J was writing during the trip because there were some very funny moments to be written down.]

We crammed a lot into our trip.  We took 3 days to get to Minnesota.

 

Pastries from our friend's bakery in Ohio.

My husband celebrating Father's Day in Iowa after two days of traveling.  

We toured the University of Iowa….

and I fell walking during the tour.

Made it to Minnesota!

Minneapolis skyline

We toured the University of Minnesota

We attended a Twins baseball game.

We went to the lake for a day of fun.

We attended a family reunion for my mother-in-law’s family.  It was for her siblings and their families.  There were approximately 100 people there. My husband hadn’t seen some of his cousins in 27 years since we had our wedding.  It was fun to visit with everyone.  The next day was….

The reason for the trip:  The Party

J had a creative moment with crayons and Goldfish crackers.

We drove home in two days...two very LONG days!

West Virginia

The western part of Virginia.  We live on the other side of the state.  We were getting closer!

For the Fourth of July weekend, we are doing nothing.  The boys want to stay home and not get in the van.  You will find me on the couch with chocolate or in the pool, depends what the weather is like.

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I think we should take my Bulgarian flag.

My son recently graduated from high school, and we decided to have his graduation party in Minnesota where all of our family lives (we live in Virginia).  Everything we needed for the party needed to be transported, so we had to be very organized and creative in our planning.

I spent hours going through pictures trying to find ones to display on the photo boards.  J put them together.  My husband spent hours some time going through pictures to create a slideshow before J took that task over on our drive to Minnesota.  There is plenty of time to do that when you drive 1400 miles.

The challenge we had for the photo boards which were displayed in chronological order (like a timeline for my son who is passionate about history) was how to handle the first 4 years of his life.  My son is very open about the fact that he was adopted from Bulgaria at the age of 4. Although he is very open about that fact, he doesn’t want to make any connection to Bulgaria. “That is in the past.  I live here.  I am American.”

We talked about the fact that he can’t ignore the first 4 years of his life.  We discussed ways to display that time.  We had a header for the far left side of the board, “Bulgaria”, and it listed the dates from his birth until his Gotcha Day.  We included a few pictures because that is all we had. He gave us the okay on the pictures we used.  We also included a map of Bulgaria showing where he lived and a map of Europe showing where Bulgaria is located.

The day before we left, this was a quick conversation that we had:

S:  "I think we should take my Bulgarian flag for the party.”

Me (astonished):  “I think that is a great idea!”

This was huge!  He even knew exactly where it was in his room which was also a big deal.

The Bulgarian flag stood next to his Bulgarian passport near the left side of the boards.  The far right side of the boards shows all the places he has been.  The pictures in between tell his story up to this point.  

It was so fun to hear everyone’s recollections at the party as they looked at the pictures. “Do you remember when….?”  

First day of PreK

Graduation

You will find me on the couch with chocolate enjoying life.

End of the Year Craziness

The Senior

S has had a busy week.  He is working diligently to finish up his last two courses, English and German IV.

It has also been a busy week of working on his to-do list.  He has made contact with various agencies and offices.  He is working hard to coordinate accommodations for his placement tests at the college.  His Vocational Rehab counselor at DBVI was happy to hear from him.  An appointment has been scheduled to meet with her.  He has one week that already has 4 appointments scheduled.  He’s not excited about that; however, they will be done.

S still struggles with the challenge of not knowing what he is going to do when he grows up. We have tried explaining to him, along with the help of other adults in his life, that it is okay to not know exactly.  People change their minds as they are exposed to other opportunities.  He has been told that he needs to move forward.  Indecision can’t stop you from doing something. I think he’s getting it, but the challenge is real.  

S had a chiropractic appointment on Monday (she was an adult who gave guidance referencing the above topic).  This morning he had horseback riding.  He isn’t volunteering again this weekend.  Still trying to give him time to wrap some things up.

The Sophomore

J had a busy week at school.  They are gearing up for exams.  He has his AP History exam next week and a Chemistry SOL (VA’s standardized tests) the next day.

J had a doctor’s appointment Monday morning for a very swollen lymph node behind his ear (visible across the room).  They realized while we were there that he needed another immunization.  They could do it that day or come back as a walk-in.  We have tried the walk-in option before.  It’s not as simple as they make it sound.  He said, “I’m here.  I will do it today.”

J had 14 hours of practice this week.  He stayed home Monday night.  His text to me after school had a poop emoji and the phrase “I feel like I’m dying.” His allergies are really bad, and he can’t take a lot of medications to help with them because of his high blood pressure.  The doctor thinks that is what caused his lymph node to be so swollen; however, she measured it and recorded it. It fell into the monitor category. It is much smaller now.  

J spent time creating t-shirts for a family reunion we will be attending this summer while we are in Minnesota.  My mother-in-law’s family is having a reunion.  There are 9 kids in her family. We worked it so S’s graduation party would be around the same time.  My husband hasn’t seen many of his cousins in 20+ years.  He would like to see them.  Each sibling’s family was designated a color to wear.  J said he would design a shirt for our group to wear.  We placed the bulk order this weekend, so I guess we better remember to bring them with us.

On the Homefront

We were able to get a lot done on our to-do list last weekend only to continue adding things.  I need longer paper.  

I ended up having the flu Saturday night.  Yeah!  That wasn’t fun. Thank goodness I was the only one who had it.  Unfortunately, that meant we couldn’t preview our family pictures on Sunday.  We are doing that this weekend.

We are continuing to work on our to-do list.  The calendar is filling up quickly with J’s exam schedule and S’s appointments.

J and I have been working on S’s photo boards for his graduation party.  Since we are taking the party on the road, everything needs to be done before we get there.  We want to enjoy our time in Minnesota without having to do additional tasks that could have been done already (like the photo boards).  It has been a lot of fun going through the pictures.

This weekend we are going to keep working on our list.  For Mother’s Day, we are going to enjoy time together.  We are grilling for supper that night.  The men in my house are good cooks.  I am very thankful for that!

What did I write this week?

We spoke “Bulgarish”.

High Blood Pressure Awareness Month

Happy Mother’s Day!  I will be on the couch with chocolate enjoying my family.

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T Week: To do, Trip, Transition

The Senior

S has been busy working this week on his two remaining classes:  English and German IV. For English, he is still doing daily journaling and editing along with his To Kill a Mockingbird literature study.

S's inclination is to sleep in every morning, but that won't help him finish his work.  There is a balance there.  He was better about getting up once he looked at a calendar and realized he might not be finished by the target ending date.  “In order to get your work done, you must get up in the morning and work without distracting yourself.”  He has heard this a time or two thousand.

S took some time off Tuesday afternoon to watch some live stream sessions from a work conference that my husband was working/facilitating.  He enjoyed that.

S went to Youth group Wednesday night.  We are lucky that we have friends from church who live near us whose son also attends youth group.  They picked S up and brought him home. He had to wait to come home until their son was done with music practice after youth group. He didn't care as long as he could get to youth group.  

He had horseback riding this morning.  This weekend he isn't volunteering.  We are going to take some time and try to finish up some tasks on his to-do list which include contacting people and coordinating some appointments.

The Sophomore

J had kind of a crazy week.  I had to pull him out of school Tuesday for a couple of hours to go to the Orthodontist.  He had a bar put on his bottom teeth, and he finally heard the magic words, "We are almost done."  So almost done that we have scheduled the appointment for "debanding". Yeah!!!  

He came home from school Tuesday afternoon and the bar was already loose.  Back to the Orthodontist we went.  The staff member who needed to fix it wasn't there, so he had to go back Thursday morning.  He missed a little bit of school again.

He has been doing AP History review.  He had a math test, Chemistry test, and Spanish quiz this week.  He took his final test for Drivers Ed, so now we can look at scheduling his behind the wheel instruction once he gets his “green card”.  Unfortunately, I don't think he can do that until July.  It would have been nice for him to finish that before school was out.  

J had practice for 17.5 hours this week.  They are working skills and conditioning.

On the Homefront

Last weekend we sat down and planned a tentative route/timeline for our trip to Minnesota this summer.  We are driving.  We never drive there.  We fly.  The boys are NOT excited about the road trip.  They don't really believe us when we say it will be fun.  We are driving because we have to transport the items for S's graduation party.  Also, we are going to do some college visits for J on the way.  He is going to tour the University of Minnesota and possible the University of Iowa.  S may go visit another college too.

We also went to Busch Gardens on Sunday.  They have a new roller coaster, Tempesto, that opened last weekend, and the boys really wanted to go try it.  It was quite chilly and rainy here, but Sunday afternoon it cleared up and warmed up a little bit.  Off we went.  I did not ride it. Just watching it made me want to throw up.  My husband, J, and S rode it.  S has always been the daredevil and thrill seeker, but one time on this ride was enough for him.  It is, however, J's new favorite ride.  He and my husband rode again.  S and I bought popcorn and a pretzel and enjoyed that instead.  There are a couple of roller coasters I do ride there, so I had the opportunity for some fun also.  My husband told me he felt bad that I had to sit there while they rode.  I told him that was a much better option than me riding and throwing up (motion sickness).

After a fairly relaxing weekend, it was a busy week for us.  My husband was up in Washington DC for four days for a work conference.  He was quite busy.  I was busy since he was gone.  I had drop off/pick up for three days.  He was home in time Thursday night for pick up.

Because my husband was gone, I had a lot of time to spend at Starbucks this week since I stayed while J was at practice.  It gave me the opportunity to create a very detailed to-do list for everyone and for S's graduation party.

J told me that he appreciates my very detailed to-do lists.  My husband said, “You know what S will say.”  Oh yes, I do.  Yesterday, he told me what we knew he would say.  “I think it’s funny that you get to sit and create to-do lists for everyone else, but where’s your to-do list?”  There is a story there that involves a broken arm, surgery, and an 8 month recovery.

I spent time getting needed addresses for invitations.  I also used this time to look up some information for myself about things I might want to do as I make my transition from a homeschooling mom to mom.

What did I write this week?

Transitioning Mom

I will be on the couch with chocolate and my many lists.

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Christmas in Minnesota

We flew to Minnesota for Christmas. We spent 12 days there enjoying time with family and friends. We were "in the moment". We didn't worry about posing for pictures. We didn't stress over things that needed to be done at home. We enjoyed what life gave us at each moment.

When it was time to write my Christmas wrap up post, I looked through my family's shared photos to see what everyone had taken pictures of on their phones.

This was our trip to Minnesota.

J hanging out at the airport.  We had a 30 minute delay.

We had to make a connection on our trip. Our preference is the non-stop flight; however, it was $800 less to make a connection.  We connected!

Two of our favorite restaurants!

It snowed on Christmas Day.

J had the opportunity to drive in snow.

My family lives in a rural area of Minnesota.  

J went sledding with my nephew.  S stayed home because….

it was cold.

Because S wants to eventually go to college in Minnesota, we made him go out when it was cold to see what it might be like on a college campus.  He thought it was cold, and he got stuck “but only once”.

We spent a weekend at a hotel with my husband’s family.  My husband ran around the hotel one evening in his elf pajamas.  He received many strange looks and compliments.  Two kids asked “Mr. Elf” for help with a pop machine.

My nephew, J, and I had to cut the center pieces out of the pan of Special K bars since they had the biggest globs of chocolate frosting.  We were hoping to get my sister excited about it; however, she said she prefers the outside pieces.

This pretty much sums up our trip - cards and chocolate.  Do you like the Christmas dishes from Poland and Germany?

Celebrating New Year’s Eve in the Charlotte airport.

We had a great time on our trip. Although this was the most relaxing Christmas trip we have ever had, we were tired when we made it home. There will be some resting on the couch with chocolate.