We officially survived our first family road trip as a family of four! Thursday morning we packed up the jeep and headed for Brainerd. The short 2.5 hour car ride went well and we made it to Brainerd just in time to get lunch and get to the clinic for Lyla's appointment. She enjoyed coloring and a Doc McStuffins word search book on the way. Amir slept almost the whole time.
Lyla's visit went well. Sarah was running behind and surprised to see us in her home turf, but the visit was good, as usual, and well worth the drive. We got orders for new orthotics and some changes to Lyla's medications for neuropathy. Sarah is going to call hem/Onc and talk through her thoughts as well as see if they can extend Lyla's upcoming scan to her spine. While it's unlikely, she wants to make sure there is nothing tumor-related going on with Lyla's sacral nerves (which could be causing some of the things we're seeing with her lefty leg and some of the neuropathy). We all marveled at the fact that Lyla is five now and so mobile, not to mention articulate, funny and inquisitive she is, since we all remember the days when she was a little two year old who could barely sit up. Yet another the reason the drive is worth it -- Sarah knows Lyla from way back and is still invested in giving her the best care possible. We'll trip it to Brainerd again in August.
Happy 5 weeks Amir! Friday we set off for Fargo. The drive was short again and we heard a few complaints from Lyla, but nothing the prize bag couldn't remedy. We saw lots of trains on the way. I was surprised how fast they moved through the open country and remembered when I was pregnant with Lyla and we spent a week on a Union Pacific train for the Republican convention in St. Paul.
For some reason I have always taken pictures on Lyla and I during bathroom stops. Probably because they're at all hours of the day and night. I decided I couldn't leave Amir out of the photo tradition.
We also had our photo taken with the actual movie prop wood chipper from the movie Fargo. I've never seen the movie, but the people at the visitor center made a big deal of it. When in Fargo!
After checking in to the hotel we headed to the Red River Zoo. It was a nice zoo, if small, and there were very few people there. I fed Amir in the lobby while Masud and Lyla checked it out. Then we went back out together and fed the ducks and goats, watched the otters play, and listened to the wolves howl.
Saturday we went to Bonanzaville, an air museum, and a children's museum. Amir rode in the bjorn as we walked around Bonanzaville so Lyla could ride in the stroller. It was a lot of walking and between that and the heat (85 with a breeze), it was a good thing we brought it. Turns out even five year olds fall asleep in the stroller. The kids cooled off and did some stretching on the bed when we got back to the hotel.
Sunday we had breakfast and chillaxed at the hotel for the morning since nothing opened until 12. I noticed this "face" in our snack bag. Do you see it? In the blackish grey section ...
First stop was the Hjemkost center. We saw the ship and a replica stave church. Lyla also wanted to see the flooded and dried river bank, so we had a short hike. Her favorite part was dancing to the Andrews Sisters' "Don't sit under the apple tree" in the World War Two exhibit.
She enjoyed a snack at the Rourke Art Museum,
and after spending some time hanging out feeding Amir in the lobby, we all enjoyed the Plains Art Museum.
Today's ride home was a little long, but I had a few surprises left and we made a couple stops. Masud and Lyla played on the playground while I fed Amir at a rest stop and we stopped at Mac in St. Micheal after getting stuck in accident traffic on 94.
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