Celebrating On The Road

Whew, I'm exhausted from this past week. It was a very fun weekend, but I think we're all happy to be home. Friday Mitch and Jennie turned 29 - yes, that's just one year from the big 3-0 and yes, Mitch is melting down. This year, we decided to hit the road and celebrate in North Dakota. We didn't decide on North Dakota because it's such a desirably vacation spot this time of year (haha). Mitch's youngest brother Nick attends school at UND so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit the campus. So, Saturday morning we all loaded in Bob & Deb's van and headed to good ol' Grand Forks.

After the 4 hour car ride Harper was ready to get out an run around! We arrived at Nick's house where he gave us the grand tour and introduced us to his room-mates. After introductions, we headed to the airport to see where Nick spends a lot of his time. He showed us the planes he flies, played tour guide for the second time and explained the ins and outs of airport life.

Saturday night the boys were heading to the UND hockey game, so after the airport we grabbed a quick dinner and parted ways. The ladies went and checked into the hotel and settled in for the night. It was nice to let Harper run around for a while after being cooped up for most of the morning. We watched some trash TV, ate a couple pieces of carrot cake and started planning Jennie's bachelorette party. Perfect Saturday? I think so. After Harper fell asleep, slowly one by one we all crashed too. When the boys called letting us know they were on their way home, I already had lines on my face from the pillow. Needless to say, we were in for the night.

Harper struggled with the new nightly surroundings and ended up sleeping in the bed with Mitch and I most of the night. It's tough sleeping when we're away from home. Once she realizes we're in the same room, she wants out of the Pack N' Play. We made it through, but were all a little sleepy this morning. After packing up and checking out, Nick took us to campus to check out the flight simulators. I realized UND is much bigger than I thought, and they take their Aviation program serious. All of the simulators and situational classrooms were very interesting. It was fun to see the campus and get to spend the weekend with Nick!

Before we left for the weekend, we went out to dinner with my parents Friday night to celebrate Mitch's birthday. We grabbed some beer and wings at Buffalo Wild Wings and Mitch continuously told the waitress it was his 21st... wishful thinking. Afterwards we sang "Happy Birthday" and Harper helped blow out the candles on the ice cream cake. Next year's the big one buddy, get ready! :)

Thursday night Harper had a friend over to play, Abby! Andrew works with Mitch and he and his wife were enjoying a date night. Abby came over to hang for the evening and we had a super time. Harper wasn't so sure about the whole "sharing her toys" thing at the beginning. She shed a few tears when we told her, "No, Abby's playing with that." but as the night went on she was open to idea of sharing. It was fun to see the two of them interact, and I'm sure we'll have more play dates soon.

Wednesday my Grandma Josie and Grandpa John celebrated their 53rd wedding anniversary. That seems like such an accomplishment nowadays. Watching their relationship through the years has been so inspiring. They stick with each other through thick and thin, and always manage to keep a smile on their faces. I love that after 53 years of marriage they're still going on dinner dates, and give each other their signature "three kiss" goodbye anytime they leave the house. Hope you had a great anniversary Gma & Gpa! 

 

It's only 8:30 and I can barely keep my eyes open. After an eventful weekend I think we'll all call it an early night. We have a few exciting things planned this week that I'm looking forward to. Goodbye weekend, hello Monday!

Until next time...
The Helleen's