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Tuesday, February 20, 2018

2018 Winter Vacation


February 20, 2018..... over 2 months since I actually posted but here are some things that I've written since then along with some pictures.

1/29 … Not sure how to begin writing this time. Tomorrow, I have a plane to catch at 7:50 AM to get me back to Texas in time to play 500 if I have the energy. So, there is this fancy alarm clock in Ludwig’s upstairs bedroom and I’ve spent the first hour of my day figuring out how to set that clock so that I get up in time to make my flight. I’ve been in Minnesota for 15 days now and it seems much longer though by this time next week I will wonder where the time went.

Sledding at MLK Park on MLK Day
I arrived in Minneapolis late on January 14, Edie’s birthday. It was about 10 below when I landed so I stopped before I went outside, took out my coat, gloves and boots and headed for the train into the city. By the time Greg picked me up, it was late and everyone was sleeping. The next day was Martin Luther King Day. Peggy had a longstanding play date for sledding arranged with her good friends and their 8-year-old twins for that day. Notwithstanding the subzero temperatures, we all bundled up and headed for the sledding hill at Martin Luther King Park a couple of blocks from her friend’s house. We were out for a little over an hour and everyone enjoyed themselves with no frost bite.
Men sledding

1/30 Well, I didn’t get much written yesterday since Ludwig came home from his adventure in locating the Minneapolis Tribune and we commenced to work on the crossword puzzle and then made up some black-walnut cookies from the walnuts that he harvested in his back yard last fall. Turned out pretty good. Nephew, Ken stopped by to pick up his actual film photographs of our Mystic Lake trip. We visited for a while until we had enough cookies baked for him to take with him.
My “winter vacation” turned out to be packed with family time and this afternoon, instead of playing cards I took a short nap and now have some time to write. Highlights of the trip.

Birthday celebration
Sr. DOM – Twenty-some years ago, my 3 sisters, Jean, Kay and Elaine and I began to get together for the “sister’s retreat” at my house in Illinois each April. Our sisters-in-law, daughters, daughters-in-law and nieces-in-law joined us and over time we changed the name of our group to DOM (Daughters of Marjorie). Marjorie is our mother. Since I no longer live in Illinois we continue to try to get together with the larger group during the summer but when I go up to Minnesota in the winter for the last 4 years, my 3 sisters and I get together for Senior DOM. The last 3 years, we got together at Kay’s 2-bedroom apartment in Little Canada but this year, since Jean had to stay home to keep the fire going and feed the dogs we went up to her place south of Brainerd for a couple of days. Jean shares a house with our brother Mark who was over in Wisconsin visiting his son. So she was home with Mark’s outdoor wood furnace that he had attached to the house. This furnace has a large fire-box and he has chopped up 30 pound logs that we were supposed to load into the furnace. That involved gearing up for sub-zero temperatures and hauling the logs about 15 feet to the furnace and lifting them in and then trying to Lprocess but can try to describe Elaine and me putting all of our weight behind an 8 foot log pusher and getting the logs. We did our best but were not able to keep the fire going over night but it was pretty cold in the morning. Fortunately, Jean and Mark have a tank of propane to supplement the wood furnace.

Edie and Aunt Peggy meet Baby Jet
Getting Kelly and Baby Jett from the airport was absolutely one of the highlights of my trip. She planned to rent a car for the week. She had purchased a car seat and had it shipped to Greg’s house. While we were at Greg’s, he gave Ludwig and me a tutorial on how to install and adjust the straps of the car seat so we were prepared. About an hour before Kelly’s ETA, Ludwig and I walked from his house to the train station carrying the car seat and took the Light Rail to the airport. We waited by the baggage claim area until we saw Kelly wearing baby Jett and went to greet them. We waited for her bags to show up and proceeded to the rental car where we spent about a half an hour adjusting the car seat straps and figuring out how to install the base into the car. We then proceeded out into rush hour traffic to Greg’s house where Kelly planned to spend the weekend. A week later, getting the car and the baby to the airport while leaving the car seat behind was just about as complicated. This trip was accomplished by Kelly dropping me, the baby carrier and the baby at the train while Ludwig followed and he took the car seat back home while Jett and I traveled to the airport. Kelly dropped off the rental and met us by the Delta ticketing area.

Super Great Uncle Ludwig
Grandma Selfie
Babysitting through a blizzard and the plague: Under the best of circumstances, babysitting a 3.5 month old infant can be challenging in a 10 hour day. Especially this high needs baby who is mainly comfortable when she is in physical contact with her caregiver. Fortunately, I had the assistance of my bachelor brother so I was not alone. But we also had to contend with a blizzard and the plague. Kelly brought the plague (a 24 hour vile stomach virus) with her and she suffered on Saturday. Between the plague and the stress of traveling, her milk supply was somewhat diminished so she left us with just enough milk to get through Monday. But Monday was the blizzard and I notified her at around 4:15 that I was starting the last bottle of milk and she said she would get started home. That took about 3 ½ hours in rush hour traffic with about 10 inches of new snow. Even in Minnesota the snow can cause problems. We made it mostly by me wearing Jett in her carrier and bouncing her to sleep. Then on Monday night, both Ludwig and I came down with the plague which seems like a pretty extreme way to get out of babysitting but we were in no condition. We could have kept her alive but Kelly has higher standards than that from her babysitters so she worked from home on Tuesday while we recovered enough to work on Wednesday. Ludwig was pleased to learn on Tuesday morning that Greg’s wife Peggy was also sick with the identical symptoms. That meant that he hadn’t poisoned us with the beef and barley soup he made on Monday. Kelly had also stocked up on formula so we could actually feed Jett. Wednesday and Thursday passed without incident. As challenging as the experience was, I would not trade it for the world. I had the absolute privilege of spending hours with this precious granddaughter and sharing the experience with my brother.

The following Friday, Kelly arrived so I hung out with Edie and got to know Jett. My first experience of balancing 2 grandchildren. Edie is used to being “only”. She was excited to see Jett having spent the last month with the anticipation of Baby Jett's arrival. I determined not to overlook Edie but at the same time I wanted to spend as much time with Jett as possible so as to be familiar with her when Kelly went to work on Monday. 
Colleen, Paige and Helena

Trip to Rochester to see Dick, Colleen, Paige and Helena. On Sunday, Ludwig and I drove to Rochester to see my brother Dick along with his daughter and her children. 


Jazz at Riverside Wine Bar

















The best of South Minneapolis: Merlin’s Rest Pub Singing and Riverside Wine Bar for jazz trio, Turtle Bakery to end the trip.