My Favorite Cuz!

My favorite cousin BECCA came to see me a few weeks ago. We have been very best friends since we were babies. At times we have drifted apart, but we always have fun and laugh when we are together. She left her hubby and daughter at home and flew half way across the country for me. As expected, we had a blast! Our weekend started out running a half marathon together. Becca was in much better shape than me, I have not been running much this summer. The race starts in Minnesota and finishes in Wisconsin. The weather did not cooperate, it rained pretty much the whole time. Not to mention, it was cold and windy. (Welcome to Minnesota!) Despite an asthma attack and squishy shoes, we finished!! Ryan also ran and finished with a much faster time. After the torture was over, we all got full body massages. Luckily, the rest of the weekend was warm and sunny. We took her kayaking on Lake Calhoun and managed to catch some rayson the beach. We went to the Mall of America, Walker sculpture garden, and saw a couple movies. We stayed in a hotel so that we could stay up late and talk. I realized that we are getting too old for all nighters. Most nights we were asleep by midnight. We were able to cram a lot of fun into 4 days, but I was still sad to see her go.

Next weekend my mother and sister will be paying a visit. I have noticed that I only get visitors between the months of June and August. I can't say I blame them, I would not visit Minnesota in the winter either. Even the summer is unusually cool this year, our high yesterday was only 66 degrees. Yippee! The other thing I love about visitors, is that I get to take time off work. I can't wait!

Jordan Family Vacation

We just returned from a fun-filled Jordan family vacation to Island Park, Idaho. It sounds like an exotic resort, but we actually stayed in a cabin in the wilderness. My dad rented a 15 passenger van for the week so we could all travel together. It was a little chaotic at times with 9 adults and 6 children in the same vehicle, but we had plenty of great family bonding and only a few meltdowns (mostly from Ryan). The cabin was big enough for the whole family. Ryan was glad that it had a hot tub, TV, and high speed Internet. This was my first trip to Yellowstone, and I saw plenty of buffalo, elk, and a bear. (We even had a moose wander into our back yard.) We saw Old Faithful erupt twice and several other geysers. We saw "Footloose" at the Playmill in West Yellowstone. We went to an IMAX movie and ate plenty of good food. We rented rafts and floated down the river. It was a lot of fun until I got soaked by Ryan, Tom, and Jarrett. (Thanks to Angela for bringing the squirt guns.) The water was FREEZING!! Overall, it was a really fun week. This is the first time that we have all been together for more than a day. A family vacation is never complete without family pictures! I hope we can make this a Jordan family tradition.