MN Reunion - Part 1

During July, our family took a huge road trip throughout much of the Midwest. On our first two (LONG) days of travel, we drove all the way from Texas to Minnesota. I borrowed great idea from a neighbor to help our boys grasp the concept of our long travel route. On the interior roof of our van, we made a sort of travel map. We hung up the names of various cities that we'd travel through that day and made larger signs for any state borders we would cross. As we passed through each city, we would celebrate and move our little van icon across the "map." It gave Jaden and Cody a good visual when they asked how much farther we had to travel.

We brought along a LOT of activities to do in the car. Cody and Jaden were wonderful travelers! It helps that they're older and have longer attention spans. This particular play-dough mat activity (passed along by my sister-in-law... thanks, Sarah!!) kept Cody occupied for at least half an hour.

His end-result picture may look a tad frightening, but it clearly shows how much time he put into covering this entire guy. I was impressed!

The first night, we stayed in a hotel near Kansas City. We always allow the boys to jump on the bed in hotels (a tradition my parents began for our family when I was young). At one point during their rough-housing, Cody and Jaden paused and said, "Mommy, don't we look cute? Can you take our picture?" And just like that, I got two of the cutest pictures of them than I've been able to get in a long time! I guess it's got to be on their timetable... :)

We arrived in Minnesota by dinnertime on a Saturday evening. Jason's parents had rented a country guest house in a neighboring small town for all of us to stay in. The home had a wide open yard for the kids to play in and a large porch for family hangout time. It was a perfect location for our families! Right away, Jaden and Cody jumped into playtime with their cousins. This backyard swing was a hit with all the little boys.

Grandma and Grandpa had supplied the house with a wide assortment of toys and books. The boys, of course, loved being read to by their grandparents. 

That day also happened to be my birthday, so my loving mother-in-law had a couple of yummy birthday desserts prepared.

Good thing I had a lot of helpers with the candle-blowing. I doubt I would've been able to get the flames out on my own!

The next morning we attended church at Great-Grandma Schleicher's home church in Austin. This is where all of the Schleicher relatives converged for the first time. We certainly boosted the church attendance that Sunday! This family photo is even missing 7 or 8 family groups that couldn't attend or hadn't arrived in town yet.

We were privileged to hear Dad Schleicher preach for the service. Since the church has a pastoral vacancy, preaching there is fairly regular for him, even in his retirement. The crowd for the children's message was entirely made up of Schleicher boys.

That afternoon, the relatives assembled at the guest house to celebrate Great-Grandma Schleicher's 95th birthday. Her actual birthday isn't until September, but having a summer celebration made it easier for much of the family to travel and gather together. We are so thankful for Great-Grandma Schleicher's good health, her kind and gentle spirit, and her example of faith. It was a blessing to be able to see her and to celebrate with her!

I bet it's been a while since she's had a crowd this large singing Happy Birthday to her! Great-Grandma Schleicher does not particularly love being the center of attention but we showered her with a lot of it anyway. :)

We made her pose for various generational photos:

with 5 of her 18 great-grandchildren:
Jaden, Ian, Nathan, Ryan, Cody

with 6 of her 13 grandchildren: Michael, Matt, Mark, Jason, Beth, Great- Grandma, Cris

with 3 of her 5 children: Carol, John, Mary

Aunt Jane and Uncle Don arrived later that evening, so here is Great-Grandma Schleicher with 4 of her 5 children: John, Carol, Jane and Mary. 

Thankfully, the rain stopped by the afternoon and evening so we could make full use of the large yard for our family time. With all the outdoor space at this guest house, we didn't feel too crowded at all. Some of the kids played in the front yard...

Cody with his second-cousin Jordan

...and the card games were going on at tables everywhere. :)

Ian, Chelsea, Matt, Andy, and Beth playing Uno

Carol, Grandma, Chloe, Mary, Doug, and Jon playing Hand and Foot

Jason, Jordan, Doug, and Michael playing Quiddler

Kim and I (and Chelsea sometimes too) spent most of our time with the kiddos in the backyard. The large trees made for fun games of hide-and-seek.

At some point on Sunday, Grandpa wanted to show the boys some horses that he had discovered at a nearby farm.

Jaden, Cody, and Ryan enjoyed their up-close look at the animals.

Before going home, we tried skipping rocks in this small pond.

By Monday, much of the extended family had already left to go home, so we just did a lot of hanging out on our own. We drove down to a nearby school and played on their playground,

did some swimming in the backyard,

played games,

and spent a LOT of time on the porch. The 4-year-old boys particularly enjoyed driving their vehicles back and forth over and over again down this long porch. In fact, the boys loved the vehicles so much that we had to borrow a few additional ones from the church nursery.

Mommy enjoyed her snuggle time with little Isaiah.

For lunch that day, Grandpa and Grandma treated us to a meal at a favorite family restaurant, Pizza Ranch. Yum! Cody and Jaden showed Isaiah right where to go.

For the evening dinners at the guest house, each family group took turns preparing a meal. While one couple was inside cooking, the rest of us tried to do something special with the boys to entertain them. This day, we had goldfish races along the porch.

It took some creative maneuvering to get a dinner table long enough to fit all of us, but we made it work! Here is what our nightly banquet table looked like. :)

I'm not sure who was more excited about our evening event-- me or the boys! I have such fond memories of catching fireflies on our annual summer trips to Missouri. I couldn't wait for Jaden and Cody to experience some firefly-catching on their own! Before this trip, they had only read about fireflies and never even seen them, much less tried to catch them. Mommy's excitement seemed to be contagious. The boys loved it! I'm including probably way too many pictures, but they make me happy. :)

There was a bit of a learning curve as the boys first tried to catch the little bugs.

After some guidance from some adults...

...Jaden and Cody were both able to catch the fireflies on their own.

We stored the bugs in this nifty bug catcher that Uncle Matt and Aunt Kim had brought along.

The bug catcher even became a brief home for a frog!

Nathan enjoyed the night-life, too, with his Uncle Jason.

After the kiddos were in bed, we adults often stayed up late and played games. On this particular night, the guys and girls each played their own group game. We found it amusing that the girls were trying to save the world with Pandemic while the guys were destroying one another's armies in Risk. Good times.

More Minnesota adventures to come...