Sunday, February 17. Way back last Thursday, Tom drove me to the airport and I boarded Delta flight 968 headed for Minneapolis. The security process went well, although the check-in line was pretty long. I grabbed a bowl of soup and waited for my flight. It was on-time and arrived in Minneapolis a few minutes early. Ben and the girls picked me up, although they were stuck in traffic for a while. It sure is good to see them all again. It sure is frigid in this place and the ground is covered with white.
Jill was out of town for her work, so Ben, Charlotte, and I played a game of Doodle Dice and Charlotte demonstrated her Snaptricity skills - a board that creates electronic gadgets when all of the circuits connect as they should. She made a helicopter, had some issues when it didn’t work, and then had to go back and figure out why and then fix it. She had a sleepover with me and we told stories and giggled until sleep time.
Norah and Camille had school on Friday and Ben and Charlotte had the day off. Ben made us a big pot of Tuscan Bean Soup for dinner, Char played with Violet. Pat and Tracey arrived from Stoughton early in the evening and we had a great visit together. Pat has lost so much weight that he hardly looks like the same person, his build is much like his Dad’s was. It was an early night for us, as it has been a long week for everyone, but we did manage a short dance party and Charlotte entertained us with cartwheels and dance moves.
Saturday was another busy day, starting with a yummy bacon and egg breakfast. I went with Jill to gymnastics class with the girls and Ben, Pat, and Tracey went to St. Paul to the Hmong Village Flea Market. We had a nice dinner of Salmon Bowls (rice, salmon, green onions, cubes, and homemade teriyaki sauce) and then we celebrated Ben’s birthday with cupcakes, ice cream, gifts and drinks.
Sunday morning, Pat and Tracey got ready to go home shortly after getting up because there is 4-5 inches of snow predicted for Wisconsin. So we all got up and said our goodbyes so they could get on the road. Five hours later, we got a text saying they made it home in mostly wet conditions until they got near Stoughton.
It was ice skating lesson day for the girls, and it was fun to watch how much they have improved on those skills over the last year. Charlotte is able to zip around the ice with good balance, doing some twirls and able to stop herself. She skated on her own for the entire half-hour wait before her class started. Norah and Camille are steady and quick on their feet - they have gotten more experience this winter because their preschool has a small ice rink in the front yard.
We had dinner at Red Cow tonight and it was yummy, as usual. Charlotte and I shared a fish and chips basket and I had a yummy glass of Fulton Lonely Blonde Ale.
I have had a sweet little girl in my bed for sleepovers the last 4 nights - so they each get 2 turns for story time, back rubs, and cuddling with Grandma Rose while I’m here visiting..
