The stimulation for this annual trek back to the midwest is Bestemor’s birthday, and this year we are celebrating the 97th one of those. It’s been a lot of fun to have this date seemly set aside by everyone every summer for the past bunch of years, and this year has been no different….execpt for the way that we had to make it happen.
Due to schedules, Ahna and Ezra left a few days before I was able to make it out of town – which meant that it was the first time that either one of us traveled alone with the little man. From all accounts, it was a relatively easy journey, with a few notes made for the next attempt. The afternoon after I dropped them at the airport was a moment or two of non-committal fun, including a Rockies baseball game with some friends from work, and a beer or two before heading home. Since it marked the first time that one of us traveled with Ezra alone, it also marked the first time that I was home alone without Ezra; and ‘alone’ was the perfect description of the feeling. I was amazed at how much I actually missed the two of them…
We reunited at the Minneapolis airport and immediately started the 2 hour drive down to the farm. On the road, we were able to experience the user-end of the scheduling and planning process of the MDOT…and I can positively tell you that it stinks. Three road closures and three detours marked the 90 mile stretch between the cities and the farm. Due to the aforementioned traffic, we arrived in northern Iowa a little later than we anticipated, and therefore weren’t able to stop by the farm that evening. Instead, we hung out at the hotel for a little while, then joined the Smith’s and the Bersagel-Braley’s for a nice dinner at the Subway/Burger King inside of the casino attached to the hotel.
The next day, we hit the farm hard. All day (after the morning nap), and all of us….totaling about 21 if I heard the number correctly. It was a thrill to be able to celebrate three different occasions all at once: Bestemor’s 97th birthday, Dave and Mary Jo’s 40th anniversary, and Ezra’s 1st baptism anniversary. The day was filled with the kids playing together and with lots and lots of yummy food. We celebrated all of this in the morning with a very special in-home church service given by Dave: it was really, really cool to see the whole family sitting in the living room of the farm together enjoying a beautifully crafted service.
The Life of a Little Hippie 
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