Little House on the Prairie

When Paul went back to Minnesota on Monday after the wedding, the boys and I stayed out in Elm Springs with the Trasks until Friday. What an adventure! But the best part of all was putting the boys to bed and staying up until midnight, one or two o'clock with Bridget and catching up on life. However hard it is to live 600 miles apart, this is something we would likely never do if we lived in the same town. Most of our time spent together since having kids has included our children, so the late nights in combination with the long drive finally gave us the hours of conversation that we've been needing!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The trip was a total success (I was a little nervous about single-parenting for an entire week) and the boys had a great time together! Some of their favorite moments (since, believe it or not, the trip wasn't all about me):

Playing in a mountain of alfalfa seed (Max loves being friends with a real farmer!)

Ice Cream!

Bathtime

Bob the Builder videos in the car (Can he fix it? Yes, he can.)

On Thursday, we brought the boys into town and met up with Annie for an evening of shopping with the girls. Oh my goodness, I haven't done anything like that in way too long! We went to Someone's in the Kitchen, Pier 1, Borders and Hobby Lobby, mainly just wandering the aisles and chatting. Good times. Thanks Maureen, Patrick and Kelley for watching all four kids! I know that wasn't easy...


We left Friday morning for our road trip back to St. Paul. We decided to take the scenic route, and even though it took much longer, I'm so glad we did! We passed through some beautiful (remote) parts of South Dakota that I would otherwise never have seen. Our first stop was in Pierre for lunch- the boys loved the park and the chance to stretch their legs. Patrick is totally enamored with Lucian, and he even shared his lunch with him!




Second stop was De Smet, SD, the location of one of the homes of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Bridget is a huge Little House fan, and she brought her set of books along so we could compare the stories with the area we drove through. It so made me want to read them all again!


As we got into Minnesota it was getting late and dark, so we decided to forgo our planned stop in Walnut Grove (another Laura Ingalls Wilder stop) and turned instead up toward Marshall to grab some dinner. I called Grandma and Grandpa Moorse as we pulled into town, and they jumped right in the car to meet us at Perkins! I think they enjoyed the surprise, and it was really fun to see them, if only for a short time.


We pulled into the garage at about 12:30am, and a slightly groggy Paul came out to meet us and help haul all of our gear and sleeping children inside. On the table was a bouquet of flowers and a box of "welcome home" chocolates! I think maybe my husband missed his family... That makes me happy.

We went to the Mall of America with Bridget's brother and his family on Saturday, and Max got to try the Nickelodeon Universe rides for the first time. He was totally fearless! He even liked the log chute! Child of mine, where did you come from? Not your scaredy-cat Mommy, that's for sure.


Bridget and the boys left Monday morning for her own little house on the prairie. I think maybe Max was ready to have his mommy to himself again (as they drove off, he climbed onto me and repeatedly sang "I like you, Ilikeyoualot") but I sure wasn't ready to see them go!


A cross-country road trip with four boys under four is not for the faint of heart, but where there's a will, there's a way! We did it and lived to tell the tale. Thanks for letting us invade your home, Al & Bridget! When are you coming out here?