Shane's Wedding

Last Friday LJ and I took a quick trip to Minnesota so I could attend a very close friend's wedding. The weekend was packed with family and friends which made it fly by. Traveling with a toddler involves a lot of planning and I needed to ensure we had a place for her to nap, have meals, and get diaper changes. We spent the morning with Heather and her two girls. LJ is an outgoing child who is comfortable making herself at home. She played happily with toys but ate none of the awesome strata Heather made. I tried to put her down multiple times (particularly after watching Heather easily place her baby in her crib and shut the door with no tears or begging) but acquiesced to no nap.

We then drove to our old neighborhood in St. Paul where we met Carla and her sister for lunch. We met at a cafe that used to be a coffee shop Amos and I would frequent. But it has transformed to a St. Paul institution. I ate really well because that is what you do with Carla and Lousia spent most of her time behind the counter with the barista.

Afterward we had a brief visit with Edith then drove to my cousin's where LJ spent the evening helping Caty make cupcakes and eating "spicy" pizza.

Shane's wedding was small, quiet and super class. It was at a small restaurant at St. Anthony Main. The ceremony was brief, the food was good, Brett kept me laughing the entire night and we were all ready to leave at the same time. I got home to a sleeping Louisa and a stressed out Caty. Her kitty had caught a bat and it was trapped in her room. I crept up to get pjs and saw no sign of the bat, but we decided it was safest to sleep on the couches downstairs. We weren't sure whether the bat actually existed.  But Sunday morning as Caty rummaged through her clothes bin she found the tiny creature either sleeping or dead. So the battle continued.

Saturday morning we saw my cousin Christopher's new condo and were picked up by my mom to spend the evening in New Ulm where, seriously, LJ ate a lot of salad with blue cheese dressing. Now I know.

We left the next morning and boarded the flight. I was convinced it'd be easy with the kindle loaded with good, Xmas movies, but LJ was overly tired and therefore utterly defiant. She wanted to climb seats, sit on the tray, sing loudly. It sucked and I was so effing uncomfortable on top of everything. I did feel bad for the people around me, but I am not overly sympathetic to people traveling on their own. I'm more sympathetic to parents traveling alone with toddlers.

LJ is about to take another trip to God's Land on Wednesday and I will join her on Friday where we have another packed weekend of family and friends. Seriously. Every minute is spoken for at this point. Then we'll go to NU on the 23rd with my sister and spend a week where there will be multiple parents and I can nap. Woo hoo!