Fun in Fargo and the Twin Cities 10 Mile!

Whew, what a weekend! We were busy road tripping and running the Twin Cities 10 Mile! Even though we're exhausted from the whirlwind - it was such a fun weekend!

Since Austin turned the big 1-9 this past week, my parents had planned a Fargo family weekend to celebrate! I decided to take a half day from work Friday, to start our trip a little early. (Mitch had to work a full day, but was heading up to meet us afterwards). We wanted to arrive in Fargo early enough to take Austin out for a birthday dinner. Harper and I jumped in the back of the Armada and headed North with my parents. Luckily Harper slept 2/3 of the way, and thanks to the handy dandy DVD player in my parents car - she watched Elmo and Thomas the remainder of the trip. After a fairly flawless 3 hour road trip, we arrived in good ole Fargo.

My mom had booked a hotel room with adjoining rooms, that way we could put Harper down at bedtime and still have a space for us adults to hang out. We checked in to the La Quinta, grabbed the room key and hauled our stuff down to the room. When we pushed the door open, we saw the first room - your standard king size room. Room 2... not your average room. As we walked through the adjoining door the first thing we noticed was a giant conference table with 8 swivel chairs, a whiteboard, 2 TV's and a couch. My Mom explained it was a free room with their hotel points, and the couch pulled out into a double bed - so this was our room! We laughed at the extra large space for our one night stay. Harper quickly made it her own, and threw her toys everywhere!

After checking in to the hotel and dropping off our bags, we headed to Olive Garden to meet Austin and his room-mate Ben for dinner. It was fun to see those two, and we had a great time catching up. Harper was extra goofy at dinner, and had us all entertained. When Austin's birthday dessert showed up with a lit candle she looked at him and said, "Oh Austin, cake!!" It was a successful birthday dinner, and the poor college students even got to take home all the leftovers back to their dorm room. 

Saturday morning came early and we had a busy day planned. We had football tickets for the 2:30pm NDSU vs. Northern Iowa football game, but wanted to do a little shopping before. We headed to the mall for some quick retail therapy and a little lunch. My parents and Aust headed to the Fargodome and Mitch and I went back to the hotel so Harper could hopefully catch a few Zzz's. I was thankful she went down without much of a fight and was able to catch a quick nap before the game. We packed up and loaded the car - next stop, Fargodome!

Harper loved the football game! She jumped from person to person in our group screaming "go go go!!!" during every play. When she saw people clapping, she would clap. When they would yell, she would yell. She is one heck of a little fan! We made it 3 quarters of the game before she got too antsy. Knowing we had a 3 hour drive a head of us, we opted to say our goodbyes and hit the road. We caught the rest of the game on the radio, and were happy to see a Bison win! It was a great quick Fargo trip, and Mitch enjoyed wandering his old stomping grounds and alma mater.

This morning our alarm buzzed earlier than I would have liked. A few of my co-worker's and I were signed up to run the Twin Cities 10 mile for the 2nd year in a row. After a few injuries and illnesses the group of 5 quickly became 2. When Mitch found out there were a few spots open, he decided to take on the challenge. So, we woke up early and put on our running shoes. Deb was nice enough to come over and stay at our house with Harper while we ran our hearts out. (Thanks again!)

After a navigation snafu, we finally made it to the start line right as the race began. It was a picture perfect day - no wind, no rain, cooler temps. It was Mitch's longest race, and with zero training he did wonderful! We all crossed the finish line, grabbed our freebies and felt great about running 10 miles all before 9am! Another 10 miler in the books, can't wait for the next one!

It's wedding week for Mike and Jennie, and we couldn't be more excited. Family and friends are coming into town throughout the week from all over the country to help celebrate. With a 3-day work week the wedding festivities officially begin Thursday morning! We can't wait to be part of the soon-to-be Moren's special day! 

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Until next time...

The Helleen's