Mama-and-me trip - success!

 
The girls are back in town! As the Pickle said when we got home, “No girls. Just guys.” He was glad to see his little sis.

Thankfully, Sienna is a good little traveler too. She was an angel on both flights just like D was when he was two months old and we flew to Dallas to meet up with Sarah and her girls. I was a little nervous before we left since I thought she might be getting sick, but we lucked out. 

Sienna sleeping like an angel in my arms on the flight home. Thankfully, my seatmate let me use the arm rest!

She definitely had her share of overwhelmed moments (see pic of the back of Sarah’s car below…three car seats of kiddos is a lot for anyone to take).

Sienna did not like being the monkey in the middle. Lots of noisy car rides.

It was lovely to travel with so much less gear than my last solo mama trip as evidenced here. Since Sarah had all the baby gear a gal could ever need, I just brought a diaper bag and a carry on (and baby, of course).

 

We kept this trip low-key and I felt much less exhausted coming home vs. Dallas. We had lots of yummy meals in Minneapolis restaurants and took walks with all three girls in Hudson, Wis., right by the river where Sarah lives. Before the airport on the way home, we visited the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Sienna’s first museum (we’ll be going to CMA when the Cassatt exhibit – perfect! – opens later this month).

One of my favorite parts of the trip was finding out that Sarah and our fam’s vacations in Hilton Head next year will slightly overlap so we know when we’ll see each other next!

I’m expecting to travel for work in the not-too-distant future, but not sure if we’ll head anywhere with the kiddos before next summer.

First girls' trip!

My babydoll dreaming of her first trip!

So, long travel blogging break, but for good reason. I'm now a mom of two, which means vacations just got a whole lot more expensive! Little Sienna was born in July, and per the photo above (!), she is just aching to go on a mommy-and-me trip. Already, I can't say no to her so I just booked flights to Minneapolis to see visit my dear friend Sarah and her girls in Hudson, Wisconsin, in October.

I was landlocked late in my pregnancy, so I haven't been on a flight since May. I took a trip with The Pickle when he was two months old and he was an angel on both flights, so I'm hopeful that his sissy will follow in his footsteps. Fingers crossed!

Dallas reunion

I know this is a terrible shot, but it's one of the last pics I have of Sarah and me before kids four years ago. It's from a bar crawl we did in Hudson, Wis., where Sarah lives. Here's what this picture tells me:


1) I haven't had a drink in a LONG time
2) We're both moms...wow
3) The last photo album I put together was from 2006 and there's no way in hell I'm going to get everything organized before my maternity leave is up
4) Our Dallas trip is most likely not going to involve a bar crawl with three kiddos in tow


Sarah came to Cleveland with Eliza, her one-year-old, to throw me a baby shower in June (<3). When she was here, she reminded me that you can still do fun stuff with a little one strapped to you. We ate lunch at Anatolia Cafe, browsed local Cleveland goods at Made in the 216 and ate dinner at Luxe. I also drove them on my fave Cleveland street, Cliff Drive, for awesome views of the city, and we walked the paths at Edgewater Park and Lake View Cemetery until my preggo toes tired.

I know we'll have a blast on our Dallas trip, and I'm sure Sarah will inspire me to try to take Dylan places I might otherwise be intimidated to visit. The weather looks great, too, so I'll have a few more days for flip flops... BONUS!

IKEA!

Today, I got my first taste of IKEA (literally...Swedish meatballs...mmmm) before Sarah dropped me off at the airport. I'm impressed! Thankfully, I was able to shove a few things I bought into my duffel.

Earlier today, we browsed the boutiques in Hudson's downtown, which is right on the bank of the St. Croix River - really cute clothing, interior design and art shops.

I'm at the airport now waiting for my flight. Once I land late tonight, I need to haul it on the turnpike to Michigan for a client meeting in the morning...so no Phil for one more night.

This trip with Sarah was great - it was my fourth trip to visit her in Minnesota/Wisconsin. It's always nice to get some time in person to reconnect since we're not so great about staying in touch via phone, e-mail (a little better on Facebook). Our visits are always active...from running the 5k Gopher to Badger race (bridge that connects the two states) to canoeing to kayaking, etc. We both decided that memories from yesterday's kayaking adventure probably takes the cake (at least for laughs). The next time I see Sarah, she'll have another daughter (due on my birthday!).

Phil and I head back to Wisconsin in a couple weeks for a trip to the Milwaukee area to visit some of his grad school friends. Hooray cheese!

Kayak Klutz U.S.A.

Well, in short, the fishermen of the Kinni River in River Falls, Wis., will not forget me anytime soon. The pic above of me kayaking perpendicular to the river pretty much sums it up: I am a sucky, sucky kayaker. (I will say that I did navigate through the tricky gap in the branch on my first try.)

Here is a summary of our 2-hour kayaking experience:

1. Numerous beachings on the river rock (the water often was as shallow as six inches)

2. One loss of paddle (subsequently recovered by doggy paddling in my kayak)

3. Numerous run-ins with branches on the river bank (scratches on my arms and foliage ALL OVER my kayak to prove it)

4. Semi-capsizing after attempting to navigate first eddy while kayaking backward (not by choice) as kayak filled completely with water (no flip flops or sunglasses were lost, just pride)

5. Help from fisherman who is laughing uncontrollably as he dumps out my kayak. While thanking him and blushing profusely, tangle oar in his fishing line

I did get much better kayaking the second half (I swear), and I still had fun. Thank God! we didn't end up kayaking the sea caves on rough Lake Superior. Disaster!

UPDATE: It could have been worse! Sarah just sent me this article about two guys who needed rescued on the river we kayaked on.

It's never too early to get your cheese on...

It's never too early to start the day with a bacon cheddar bagel (or a cream cheese moustache).

Sarah, Ella and I are at the town coffee shop in Hudson and apparently just missed the governor. Yes, we're big time.

Cheesehead Summer

Last night, Phil(!) and I booked a trip to Milwaukee to visit his grad school buddies. They've stayed with us twice over the past four years and yet we've never been to visit them in Howards Grove.

That trip falls on the heels of my lumberjack vacay with my friend Sarah in Hudson/Hayward, so I'm dubbing the next couple months as my Cheesehead Summer. Cheese curds, mmmmm!

I'm down with vacationing in the Midwest during our warm months because you can't beat the weather. And, let's face it, California, Vegas, the southern hemisphere, etc. is made for November-March visits anyway when it's cold and gray in Cleveland.

We'll actually only be in Milwaukee proper for a day, so if you've been, please send some ideas on what to see and do. I'd love to know of a great lunchtime spot, cool brewery to visit, galleries, shops, etc. Someone mentioned a Frank Lloyd Wright house that I want to look into. Suggest away!

Lumberjack vacay

Woo hoo! Just booked a trip to see my friend Sarah, who lives in Hudson, Wis., and works in downtown Minneapolis, Minn. Sarah and I haven't seen each other since our San Francisco meet-up last Labor Day weekend.

The weekend I'm visiting is when the Lumberjack World Championships are scheduled in Hayward, Wis. I'm absolutely fascinated by logrolling (ESPN covers it), so I'm really hoping we can watch some events while we chomp on cheese curds.

My flight cost me $5 since I used my miles, so this trip is definitely recession-proof. And, Sarah's cousins have a cabin in Hayward since they participate as competitors, so we most likely can stay with them.

This should make for an absolutely hilarious weekend! Someone find me a flannel tank top, stat!

Time to go sharpen my ax...