On Tuesday of this week Turner and I dropped Carter off at Mamie & PaPa's and hit the open road. Our destination was Sioux Falls, SD to visit our friends, Jennifer & Merrill Friesen. Merrill stole Jennifer's heart about a year and a half ago and after exchanging vows took her to his home in Sioux Falls. They have a beautiful story together! I have missed Jen over the past year and was SO THANKFUL for the opportunity to go visit. I considered taking both boys - but wasn't sure I could handle the chaos of that - so Turner got picked to come along. Despite having a great time with Mamie & PaPa and Daddy (and the Ailes') while we were gone, Carter is still asking why he couldn't go road tripping too!
The drive was a little over 3.5 hours. On the way there we stopped in Omaha to have lunch with Justin & Mitzi and nice little break-up in the drive. I then hoped Turner would nap the rest of the way... but of course 30 minutes seemed like enough to him! Despite the short nap, he was fairly pleasant to travel with and kept mommy entertained (which was necessary since I opted NOT to stop at Starbucks for caffeine on my way out of Omaha - big mistake!) while he played, snacked, sang, and read books!
Our time in Sioux Falls was short, but fun! We hung out with Merrill and Jen for the evening and then Jen took us to the waterfalls that the town is named after the next morning. We ventured out in the rain to the observation tower just so we could make sure and get the best view!! Below are some pictures of the falls! (I'm still kicking myself for not getting a picture of this adorable couple together - sheesh!! Or their sweet house!)
The drive home went very fast - after a much needed stop at Starbucks on the way out of the town we drove 3 hours straight before stopping in Gretna for a bathroom/shopping break! Once again Turner thought he only needed a catnap, so he spent most of the time entertaining me as we drove and watching a little Curious Buddies/Baby Praise on the DVD player. It was actually a fun drive!
To spend two days back to back in the car for that long was a lot to ask of a fifteen month old, but Turner was such a trooper and I was so proud of how well he traveled (the only bad part was him screaming for about 45 min trying to go to sleep at Jen & Merrill's - come to find out he's getting his canine teeth which must be pretty painful because he did the same thing at home last night! phew! now Jen & Merrill will be more likely to have us back!).
Special thanks to Jen & Merrill for having us and Mamie & PaPa for making it easier by keeping Carter!
ps Mom, I was being really careful as I took these pictures of Turner while driving, I promise!
3 comments:
Great pics Steph!! I love the waterfalls!!!
Funny that you made the comment to your mom about safety while driving... Ha! I was thinking, "now, Steph, surely you weren't turning around to snap those pictures while you were driving along the interstate!" Oh, you know I do similar things! As does every mom! If only we had 5 sets of hands and eyes in the back of our head! :)
How exactly did you take those pictures on the interstate? :) :)
Well anyway, thanks again for coming up - it was fun!!! And I decided that I should take some more pictures with Turner - finally someone with chubbier cheeks than mine!! :)
Love the pics! Great times! Glad you got to go visit Jennifer!
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