Minnesota 2011!

Well, I never thought I'd be making annual trips to Minnesota.  But when your beloved sister resides there...its hard to resist the pull of this unbelievably flat, lake-filled, Midwestern state.

I was beyond anxious about the three-hour flights with Rokstad.  On the way there, two Carhart-wearing, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition-toting, teenage boys sat down next to me and I was sure they would not appreciate us for plane-mates...especially with me nursing mere millimeters from their camouflaged shoulders.  However, they were exceedingly nice young men on their way to Wisconsin for their Grandma's funeral who were totally helpful and kind to Rokstad.  The flight whizzed by after a long nap and below is a picture of a very content passenger aboard his first jet-plane.

I can't tell you how nice it was to be greeted by Courty at the airport.  We got Rok loaded in the car and made a trip to Uptown Minneapolis where we ate at an extremely over-priced, very 'Portlandia' cafe where the chicken may be 'free-range' but it tastes like cardboard!  After that was a very important trek to the local grocery store where I was blown away by the variety of gelatin products and processed cheese available in Minnesota!  Additionally, there was a random aisle filled with Costco-sized portions of ranch dressing and maple syrup (the essentials I presume?)

When we reached Court and Tudor's adorable new house I was greeted by an even more adorable Milo who was super-excited to run circles around Rok and I.  That lasted until Rok grabbed a clump of his head-hair and wouldn't let go.  From then on Milo was a little reluctant to get too close to the drooly baby...but they did share toys (and food, when Rok made a beeline for the dog dishes before I could stop and him and was chowing down on kibble in the blink of an eye).

Its hard to recount all the highlights from the trip.  Cinco de Mayo was pretty fantastic.  Court and I got all dolled up and had Margaritas, Nachos and Mud Pie at a Mexican place where the servers were super-sweet and gave us free beads!

We also got a chance to go on a great little walk along the Mississippi at a place called Munsinger Gardens.  Watching Rok get toted around in the Ergo by Court made me very happy. 

But I'd have to say my favorite part of the trip was just spending lots of time with Court and Tudor, and especially cooking with Courtney.  We had so much fun picking new and yummy recipes and turning the kitchen upside down!  Our first night we made a dreamy polenta and sausage dish and juggled Rok and Milo with ease.  However, our final dinner was a 'breakfast for dinner' minor-catastrophe when I had to dart in the bedroom to feed Rokstad and I emerged to a house filled with smoke from burning bacon!  (Dinner was still delicious after we started over with the bacon). 

Another hilarious meal was when we compiled all the leftovers from our week of eating well.  The result was a mish-mash of food that included a few bites of exquisite Indian food, some scraps of naan, LOTS of over-cooked onion and peppers from our least favorite meal, and gobs of white rice.  We boiled up some delish corn on the cob and I made some wraps to fill us up when we realized the leftovers weren't cutting it:)

Before our trip back home, Court and I spent the day in St. Paul and Rok had his first encounter with a swing and LOVED it.

Another high points were a hike around the St. Johns campus, with picture-perfect weather.  It was especially neat to visit this campus almost a year from our first visit where I was preggo with the little bug featured in the above photos.  We have a photo very similar to the one below...but without a little Rokstad's stroller, or a little Rokstad to go in the stroller.

Overall, the week was amazing.  It was such a great gift from Gabe and I can't imagine a better time spent with people I love so dearly.  It was VERY hard to go back home.  Especially when you include the highly challenging airplane ride home with an over-tired baby who did not sleep, threw his food and toys at nearly all the surrounding passengers, and even went so far as to yank off the glasses of the sweet grandma sitting next to us, and to spank the stewardesses as the passed by!  We were very happy to see Gabe, but it was a hard transition when I didn't wake up and get to have a snuggle-pile with Court, Milo and Rok Tuesday morning:(