You would have thought we went camping with all that rain!

If I am correct, I believe the last Father's Day I spent with my own Dad was in 1997. So...in my attempt to achieve the status of "Perfect Daughter" I decided to make the trek, with family in tow, to Minneapolis for the weekend.

The trip up went swimmingly! We left at 5:30 in the morning and the kids were great!




About an hour into the trip we had a little excitement. We were watching a movie and then, THUD! I looked at Josh, he looked at me and Dustin said, "Oh my God...we just hit a bird!" It belly flopped up our windshield.

In horror, Josh asked if we killed him. Dustin said, "I'm sure he's fine but he should have watched where he was going! Look at the streak mark he left on the windshield." At that point we laughed so hard we almost piddled in our pants!

About 95% of the time I'm in the van I have all three children with me. Any parent knows how that's like playing Russian Roulette except in this case instead of screaming bullets it's screaming children. Ironically...both versions can give quite the headache. So in my attempt to cleave to my Girl Scout heritage and always be prepared, I keep a bottle of bubbles in the van for a little game I call "Van Bubbles".

Basically, I turn the vents on high and let the van blow bubbles. The van gets filled with bubbles and the kids scream with delight. I'd be lying to say if the kids are the only ones who has gotten the giggles from this game. I've entertained many a bored driver at stop lights and, admittedly, myself a time or two.




Don't need much to keep us happy, huh?

Before we knew it we were up at Papa Adam and Papa Thomas'. In order to give the kids a chance to stretch their legs we played a heated game of Croquet while Ella cheered on.






Dad and Thomas had dinner plans so we took the opportunity to go to the Nickelodeon Park at the Mall of America. We had been there only 11 months ago but at that point in time Lauren was too small to ride any rides. Not so this time!!




Oh, how Lauren loved the "horsey" (a/k/a The Carousel). So much that each of the four times she rode it ended in Dustin peeling her little fingers off the pole and dragging her out the "Exit" kicking and screaming.


Oh, how Lauren despised the race car. This look is right before she started screaming and crying. It brought laughter out of several on-lookers which only seemed to fuel the fire that is our Lauren. God, I love this picture. I can only imagine what is actually going through her mind.


The kids had a blast...well, most of the time.

In this photo I'm probably giving Josh a hard time and asking him to just "look" like he's having fun. Poor kid was drug on every kiddie ride in the park and was dying to go on some "REAL" rides!


Ella made happy faces for the first hour...but by the second...she was bored.


My father had given Lauren a painted sign that says, "We can't all be a Princess...someone has to sit on the curb and clap as I go by." It became quite apparent how dead on the sign is on Saturday night. With the exception of the race car ride...Lauren waved to people on every ride as if she were riding in a parade.



Dustin was every bit the dedicated father and willingly rode each and every ride with the kids. Even as I mocked him from afar.


What a great dad!!!

After some dinner and some shopping we headed home for a late night mini-firework display in the backyard.






We were exhausted yet stayed up late enough to need Chinese delivery at 11:15 at night. It was a great day.

Sunday morning we headed to Bryant Lake Bowl. It is an old bowling alley that serves great food so it's pretty much heaven on earth for Josh.




After breakfast we got in a few frames! Well...the guys bowled, Lauren danced in the lane next to us and Ella waited patiently.







Unfortunately, after all that fun it was time to get packed and head for home. Little did we know...we were just getting started on another long adventure.

Basically, what normally takes an hour and a half to get to Albert Lea from Dad's house took THREE and a half! It was awful. We just sat there and watched the clock tick.

We stopped in Albert Lea and grabbed some dinner and some snacks for the rest of the ride home. We thought we were home free when we got a call right outside of Waverly. Yeah...there were tornadoes in the area. Then the rain started and the sky turned green.

The calm before the storm, if you will, and a beautiful rainbow as well.



Then the heavens opened up and the sky grew black. So we decided to pull off and take shelter at Gretchen and Adam's house. The kids were happy to torment their dog for 20 minutes and burn off some pent up energy.

Shortly thereafter we decided to get back on the rode and head for home. After a total of eight and a half hours in the car we arrived home safe and sound.

After we unloaded the car and put the kids in bed Dustin and I collapsed. Thankful to be home. Thankful for a great weekend.

I hope every Dad out there had a GREAT Father's Day!!!