Minnesota during October

is a beautiful month. The weather is generally mild to cool, the colors are spectacular, and everything has an air of anticipation--for the coming winter, for the holiday seasons, for change... I was so happy to be able to be up there for a few days and share in that atmosphere, especially since southern Illinois has continued for the most part to be hot, sunny, and generally summery still (we have had some cool nights, great for sleeping, but the days have been definitely shorts and teeshirt weather).

Bingo and I left for Minneapolis on Thursday, Oct. 9th, about an hour after he got out of school. It was a slightly later start than I wanted to make, because it put us into the heart of rush hour traffic in St. Louis, but oh well... We survived it. We had perfect weather all the way north until we hit Cannon Falls, MN, when the rain started to fall. Then it drizzled and dripped the rest of the way in to Liisa's house. We arrived at 1:15 am, 9 hours and 45 mins after leaving IL, a new record for me! (generally I take about 10-10.5 hours to make that drive because of frequent rest stops for gas when driving the van). Eric had let me take the 2008 Pilot and what a dream that is to travel in--comfortable, easy to drive, and great on gas mileage! Liisa and Jesse were up and waiting for us, and had beds ready for us to fall into (ok, I had a bed, Rei got the couch). We settled pretty quickly to sleep.

Friday morning we got up with Jesse, and Rei took off to run errands etc. with him, while Liisa and I moved at a more leisurely pace. We ate breakfast, then ran over to Tony and Andrea's to go see the babies. Justin was thrilled to see me and immediately took me on a grand tour of their new "apartment"--the basement of Andrea's mother's place had been turned into an adorable 2 bedroom apartment for them! Alexis tool a little longer to warm up to me, but when she did, I became her "new best friend"... When Rei and Jesse arrived, the kids both mauled Rei, which he adored! We spent the better part of the morning and early afternoon there, reading books, playing with toys, and just hanging out, and I was in heaven--oh how I have missed "my" babies!

Friday afternoon Rei had an appointment to meet up with a part of his "harem"--some of the girls he was friends with who were waiting impatiently for his arrival. I dropped him off at the high school, then needed to meet back up with him when we discovered he had left his cell phone at the house. I then got conscripted to drop them off at another address so they could gather with other friends, but I was happy to do so. I got back to the house to find that Andrea and the babies had come over, and we had a nice afternoon enjoying a beautiful fall day, sitting in the back yard, drinking a beer, and watching the kids play. Liisa is a "cool aunt" because she kept all of "grandma's toys" for the kids and there were things to play with and ride on all over.

Friday evening my friend Erika came over with LeeAnn Chin for dinner, a few bottles of wine, and an assortment of treats. My friend Jill also came over, and it was a lovely evening of girl talk, looking at wedding pictures, and just hanging out. Andrea had to leave as the babies were getting tired, but the rest of us hung out til past midnight! It was low-key, relaxed, and exactly what I had been hoping for! Rei, in the meantime, continued to bounce from groups of friends to groups of friends, and he ended up going to a late movie at the $2 movie theater with his side-kicks Alex and Christian; I had to pick them up after the show was over, so it was another late night for us--I think it was around 2 am that I finally fell asleep!

Liisa has not made huge changes to the house as yet from when I left it, however, she has continued to knock down plaster walls and re-sheetrock. It is definitely a work in process, and they are pouring their hearts in to it. It does seem wierd to see it so open and roomy--they have a one bedroom apartment's worth of furniture in that house, so there is space galore compared to when I was there. I like it, but found myself missing things the way I had had it (like places to put things in the bathroom!). It was familiar, and yet very different too! The dog kennel in the dining room is a new addition from when I lived there, and is a big hit with the little ones:

Saturday morning Liisa took Rei and Alex with her in the hearse to go up to Jesse's land near Princeton, MN, for Jesse's annual Birthday Bash and Lawnmower Races. I'm sure the foot hanging out of the back door raised a lot of eyebrows on the hour and a half drive up. I know Justin was concerned that someone had "lost a foot" and he was checking everyone in attendance to see if they had two feet or not...

I went out to breakfast with my good friend Debbie, and we had such a lovely, relaxed conversation. We sat there for 3 hours, and it was time well-spent. We figured out that we have been friends for 20+ years, and over that time have shared and grown so much. It's true what they say about old friends being the best kind of friends to have--they understand without needing a lot of explanation or back-story, and they can relate, correct, or advise without fear of being misunderstood. I was so blessed to be able to spend time with these ladies this weekend!

After breakfast I picked up the babies to take them "up north" with me to Jesse's party. The baby sang the entire way up, punctuated by a few squeals to be sure I was paying attention, and Justin chattered as well. I am thrilled with how well he is speaking and enjoyed every bit of his conversation!

There were riding lawnmowers to ride on, races that were run, and picnicking to do; there were friends and family to visit with, kites to fly, and lots of fresh air and activities... It was perfect weather for being up there. The forecast had been for rain and drizzle, but the reality was other than a tiny sprinkle around 3:30 when we got up there, the weather was highly cooperative, and the day was overcast and breezy, but neither too hot nor too cool. Justin found a frog that he held after Alexis proved to him that it wasn't "scary," and he had great fun chasing me with it (I totally abhor frogs--I can look at them inside something but don't let them get near me!), so he found that terribly entertaining; there were also lawn games to play, soccer balls to kick, even a pool table was set up! We had a bonfire after it got dark, and Jesse really had a nice turn-out of family and friends show up. Tents were set up as many chose to spend the night, although this year I decided to head back to the cities--last year Rei and I stayed and slept in a pickup truck tent--I woke up stiff and cold, and decided not to do that this year...














The scenery up there was spectacular. Jesse owns ten acres of land on the Rum River, which runs through the back of his property. I took these photos from the small "landing" area where Liisa has a glider sitting. It's so peaceful there too. Some day he hopes to build his house up there, but for now they have a large garage on the property that has electricity to it, and in the "office area" they have insulated and made a small "living space" for when they are up there. For the party Jesse rented a "Port-a-potty" that had running water and an automatic towel dispenser! Gets fancier every year!

Tony took the babies home before it got dark so they could be bathed and put to bed on time (poor Andrea had to work), and Rei, Alex, and I left around 7:30. We were getting tired and the boys were planning a sleep over at Liisa's, so we headed back to the city early. Once home, we all crashed relatively early and slept really soundly!

Sunday morning Rei again had plans with friends, so off he went to meet up with people, and I went to the Mall of America to wander a bit. Primarily I window-shopped, but it was so nice to see familiar sites and selections! Southern IL has malls, but not THE MALL... Then it was off to finally go see my mother. She and I went through wedding pictures and she chose the ones she wanted and I burned them onto a disc for her. We had a lovely visit, and it was so nice to see her and my brother Erik. Liisa came over and joined us for a bit, which made it even nicer! Then off I went to my sister's for the early evening. I had asked her to trim my bangs, and she offered to touch up the color too (yes, I am chemically enhanced!) so we made a night of that. My brother Neal brought his family over for a bit, so we all had a lovely visit and a couple of glasses of wine, and it felt good to just be with my family. My nieces pointed out to me that they ALL like getting mail, so I guess I need to buy stock in Hallmark--which is fine. We joked about having fond memories of our Aunt Aili who would send us cards, a dollar, and a stamp any time we wrote to her. She's been gone a little over three years now, and she is much loved and missed! Kristi did a great job on my hair. She decided to add darker low-lights to my hair color to even out the tone some, and while my husband at this point isn't thrilled with it being a bit less blonde, I promised him the darkness would wash out and be more even in the near future... I really like it as it looks healthy and shiny!

My older son called me and asked if I could go over and spend a little time with him after I was done at Kristi's, and since Rei was still socializing, I figured "why not!", so off I went to Tony and Andrea's. Justin was still up, so we had ice cream together, and I helped put him to bed. The little sweetheart wanted me to sleep in his bed with him all night long, so I laid down by him for a bit while he explained to me that I had made the blankets on his bed (two quilts I had made, one for Tony as a teen, and one I made for the couch when I did daycare). He was so sweet to snuggle with and it made me happy to be by him. Tony and I had a wonderful visit as well, and I am so proud of the grades he is getting at school. For that matter, I am really proud of Liisa too--she's in college at Normandale and getting amazing grades, and Tony is at the Dunwoody Institute getting a certificate in Welding. To see the two of them continuing their educations thrills me to no end and I am so proud of the adults they have become!

I met up with Bingo back at the house, and we headed to bed, again at a fairly reasonable hour. Neither of us was necessarily looking forward to the drive back to IL, because we had had such a wonderful time, but we had family waiting for us to get back as well, and I was really missing my honey. Monday morning dawned cold, grey and rainy, and continued that way through most of Iowa. Then, as we moved south it got warmer and more humid. It was not a good day for driving, and of course, we were both "just a little" overdressed the further south we came. It was good to be home once we got here, but it was hard to leave MN as well. I know Rei really revelled in his freedom and in being among all of his friends and family; I did too. I understand how hard it is to be so far away, and to not really have roots here yet. The difference between us though is that I understand it's only been 2 months, and it is gonna take time. Reimond is still struggling with that. We need to be patient and take it a step at a time. As I told Eric, I love him and his children dearly, and I have no regrets making the move down here, but it still doesn't negate my missing my "family" and what I left back in MN too. I hope Reimond can eventually reach that point as well instead of being sad part of the time... It was a wonderful trip, and I have many wonderful memories. I cannot wait til my family comes down here to visit us!