Another weekend has ended...

And boy was it a crazy one!! Friday night I met my BFF in DSM for our monthly pedicure date, just in time for me to show off the newly painted toes at the family reunion :) The rest of the night was spent packing and doing laundry. Question: Why is the mom responsible for picking out, matching and making sure the kids (all 3 of them, this includes JY) don't look like rag muffins when they walk out of the house?? Our mission: get up and out of the house by 830a on Saturday morning...we almost made it!! We were on the road by 845a and everyone except JY was in good spirits. Why wasn't JY in good spirits?? #1 he was ready to leave before me (only because I had to get 2 other people ready and he only had to make sure HE was ready) #2 he was hungry and #3 he was driving. For the record, I did offer to drive on Friday night which he at first accepted and then later decided he would just do it. He made sure to point out SEVERAL times on the 3.5 hour trip to Owatonna that we were going to be late for our 12p meeting w/ his mother, we rolled in RIGHT BEHIND THEM at 1210p.

The plan was, we were going to eat lunch and JY was going to go golfing at a local golf course and the girls and I would do some school shopping. That plan got altered when we took too long at lunch and JY wasn't going to have enough time to golf and then come back and pick up his family to take to the hotel....JY LOVES the hell out of shopping :) So, what was going to be a nice little shopping trip for the girls and I turned into a living hell w/ JY along complaining about the crowd and just b*tching in general because we were taking too long at each store. Boo Hoo!! We were also supposed to meet everyone back at the coffee shop to all leave at once to check into the hotel at 3p. JY and crew showed up at the hotel at 345p and they were still trying to all check in, so instead of 45min waiting in the lobby of the hotel, we only had to wait 10min, I was back in JY's good graces :) So swimming, dinner in Deb's room and then closing the pool down was how we spent the rest of the afternoon/night. The girls collapsed into bed at 10p after a marathon $5 spending spree in the game room to win a Snickers candy bar. It was good day from where I was sitting :)

Sunday morning 8a I hear a knock at our door which of course I ignore because anyone who knows us knows we like to sleep in later than 8a always. I ignore the next knock I hear at 830a and then again at 915a. Finally, I answer the door at 10a and it's Deb saying they are checking out at 1030a...okkkkaaaayyyy, we are waiting until the last possible minute to walk out of the room which is 11a. And that's what we did, 1101a I turned in the keys :)

We get to the reunion at 1145a, eat, have a family meeting, take lots and lots of pictures and then partake in the kids games. We round up the troops at 2p. We make a pit stop at Target on the way out of Owatonna for school supplies (procrastination is the name of the game with the Young's). We begin our LONG journey home....and I mean it feels like it takes forever to get home. We stop in Story City for gas, go thru Ames to check on the construction to the AgLeader building (which is awesome), stop on the north side of DSM because Emily has to go to the bathroom, stop at Target for puppy shampoo, eat dinner at Los Cabos (fantastic and CHEAP) and then back on the road for home. We hit the driveway doing 100 mph because someone has to make a deposit (JY) and we're home!! Lots and lots of puppy and dog kisses and thanking mom and dad for watching all the crazy dogs we live with and I'm on the couch - YEA!! The girls packed up all the supplies for school in their new backpacks and are ready for open house tomorrow night and we watched gymnastics the rest of the night.

Jeff and I have been going to this particular Flygstad family reunion since we started dating 17 years ago only missing 2 years of not going. We wouldn't travel all that way if we didn't know how very much it meant to his mother (and grandparents) that we're there representing the Oscar side of the family. We're also very fortunate that Deb springs for the hotel room and gives the kids a little spending money for school clothes, not to get us up there but because she remembers how it was raising a family and the expense that goes along with it. She truly is a kind and special person to all of us and we love her with all of our hearts. We'd do anything for her as she would and does in return.

So another busy weekend is gone, bring on the work week :) Pictures and movies will be up as soon as JY empties the camera for me :) Watch close, there might be a Grandpa Bruce spotting in his swim trunks :)

Luv to you all!!

L

p/s - Allyson got her ears re-pierced on Saturday. She's going to try REALLY hard to take care of them this time so we don't have to make another trip to walk-ins, hold her down to the point of her blacking out so the Dr can remove the earing that has embedded into her ear because she didn't take care of them. I hope she can handle the pressure because I'm not sure I can :)