We left for Minnesota on Saturday June 14th. Like I had mentioned previously we rented a van for the trip. Best decision ever. We just can't all fit in the G6....or at least we can't if we want to take suitcases. Jay said we might fit if we loaded everything without bags. Taking the truck probably would've cost us about the same in the long run as renting we just didn't put the extra 3,000 miles on the truck this way. I've always been very adamant that I did not want a van. After driving a 2012 Chrysler Town and Country I've changed my mind. It was great to sit in the front seat and not feel like Jay and I were on top of each other. I think Jay also appreciated the fact that his head was more than 3 inches from the roof of the van. The only thing that is keeping us from going out and buying this same style of van this very second is a car payment. The only balm on my aching heart after turning the van in was knowing I didn't have to make a payment on a vehicle at the end of the month.
Camryn did really well on the trip. She had a few moments where things got a little dicey, but all in all she was good. She did develop an annoying habit though. She's always been a tosser. When she is done with something (bottle, food, toy, etc) she chucks it will all her might. I think for 13 months she has a pretty good arm on her. We'd be riding along and hear her bounce bottles and toys off of her van door. Of course she didn't throw them into the middle where Cade could pick them up, she threw them on the opposite side. Every time we opened the van door to get her out various things would roll out and we had to chase them down. I think she knew what she was doing and enjoyed watching us scramble for bottles before the rolled under the van.
The first night of our trip we made it to Mason City, IA which is right beside Clear Lake, IA. I think this stop qualifies for the biggest surprise of the trip. In the middle of Iowa is this town surrounding a lake that looks like a beach town. The houses surrounding the lake were unbelieveable. Just by looking at the number of newly built/remodled homes and new homes under construction I wouldn't think they'd been hit by the recession. It was a pretty neat place. Clear Lake is also the same place where Buddy Holly's plane went down. I learned that after seeing all the Buddy Holly refrences so I googled it. How did we vacation prior to iPhones and instant internet access????
Sunday morning we headed out bring and early for Mall of America. I should mention this here - Mall of America/Minneapolis was totally Jay's idea. Yes, I was completely surprised when he mentioned Mall of America. We decided a beach vacation with Camryn would not be any fun so this was the perfect time to pick up some of these northern states.
The first day at Mall of America we went to the Lego store and the American Girl Store. By the time American Girl's came out I was too old for them, but I've always loved them. I always said if I had a daughter I'd get her a Bitty Baby. Since we were there I decided to go ahead and get Camryn the Bitty Baby. I also thought about also getting the cutest stroller she was pushing but after seeing the price tag the ones at Toys R Us are just as cute. By the time we made it to the AG store Camryn was starting to get tired. And you know how a 1 year old gets when they are overstimulated and start to get tired. Yes, instead of just going to sleep they rev up and act like wild monsters because if they stop for a second they know they will pass out. I was trying to decide if our Bitty Baby needed an outfit while Camryn was destroying the displays. Jay finally told me we had to leave because Camryn threw some Bitty Baby food under a woman's feet and Jay and Cade got dirty looks. As we were walking out of the store I looked at Camryn and she had a look on her face that seemed to say she was very pleased with herself. Like I came, I saw, I destroyed. I'm probably raising the person who will terrorize all the girls with their dolls on the school playground.
That day for lunch we ate at Bubba Gump's. We've never ate at one before and we enjoyed it. Forrest Gump was one of my favorite movies in HS/College but I haven't seen it in years. Ironcially the Monday after we got home it was on TV.
This first day at the Mall was also when I "borrowed" the book from Barnes and Noble. It was quite the eventful day. With Camryn's tired overstimulated crying episode we were the family everyone we met was glad they weren't.
No comments:
Post a Comment