10 hours later
Well I finally am back in town have have high speed internet access. The holiday season is always a bit crazy but this year was a bit special.
We started out by having dinner with my wife's parents, her brother and her father's sister and her husband and two adult boys. Normally we see my wife's father's side of the family on Christmas Day but this year we are driving to Milwaukee to spend time with my family. We had a nice dinner and exchanged gifts.
On Christmas Eve we were getting ready to attend a 3 pm mass with my wife's parents and her aunt's family on her mother's side when we got a call the father's side of the family showed up at her Mom's house. This was everyone from last night plus hew grandfather, her Uncle and Aunt from Baltimore and their two adult kids. So church got scrapped and we had a pre-Christmas eve get together.
After my wife's father's side of the family left we prepared for the planned get together of my wife's mother's side of the family. This is a big group since my wife has five sets of aunts and uncles on her mom's side. That ends up being a round 26 people with all the kids and grandkids.
On Christmas Day we wake up and open our gifts then get in the van and drive to Milwaukee. Back in the day when it was just me and my wife this was a five hour drive. Now I think since we've moved it's more like a 5 1/2 hour drive. Well on the way down it was a 7 hour drive from Minneapolis. Granted we spent an hour eating lunch and we had to stop for gas once so that added to the time. It was a good drive since Colin watched a movie and Leah slept for most of the drive.
We got in the house and everyone was waiting for us. It was my sister Anna's family and my mom and step-father. No where as big as the night before but a lot more chaotic. We met my niece's boyfriend who wore a skull zipper sweatshirt and got to play count the piercings on him and my niece.
Leah had gotten sick so we had just a restful day on the 26th and didn't do much. We hit the zoo on the 27th and had a good time. The Milwaukee zoo is quite good with lots of animals. Colin had a blast and really enjoyed the cheetah. Later that day we picked up my other sister from the airport and had anotehr family dinner.
Finally it was time to go home Friday morning. We tried to get out of town before the snow but we got caught in the storm around Madison and it was bad till Tomah. It was a slow drive and with Leah sick she was in no mood to in in a car seat that long. We left at 9:30 am and got home at 7:30 pm. On that drive we saw several cars and trucks end up in ditches, a few rolled over mini-vans and pickup trucks and one ambulance leaving an accident. Thankfully we made it home ok with no incident although after stopping for lunch and dinner on a drive from Milwaukee to Minneapolis both kids are lucky to be alive after that 10 hour drive.
We started out by having dinner with my wife's parents, her brother and her father's sister and her husband and two adult boys. Normally we see my wife's father's side of the family on Christmas Day but this year we are driving to Milwaukee to spend time with my family. We had a nice dinner and exchanged gifts.
On Christmas Eve we were getting ready to attend a 3 pm mass with my wife's parents and her aunt's family on her mother's side when we got a call the father's side of the family showed up at her Mom's house. This was everyone from last night plus hew grandfather, her Uncle and Aunt from Baltimore and their two adult kids. So church got scrapped and we had a pre-Christmas eve get together.
After my wife's father's side of the family left we prepared for the planned get together of my wife's mother's side of the family. This is a big group since my wife has five sets of aunts and uncles on her mom's side. That ends up being a round 26 people with all the kids and grandkids.
On Christmas Day we wake up and open our gifts then get in the van and drive to Milwaukee. Back in the day when it was just me and my wife this was a five hour drive. Now I think since we've moved it's more like a 5 1/2 hour drive. Well on the way down it was a 7 hour drive from Minneapolis. Granted we spent an hour eating lunch and we had to stop for gas once so that added to the time. It was a good drive since Colin watched a movie and Leah slept for most of the drive.
We got in the house and everyone was waiting for us. It was my sister Anna's family and my mom and step-father. No where as big as the night before but a lot more chaotic. We met my niece's boyfriend who wore a skull zipper sweatshirt and got to play count the piercings on him and my niece.
Leah had gotten sick so we had just a restful day on the 26th and didn't do much. We hit the zoo on the 27th and had a good time. The Milwaukee zoo is quite good with lots of animals. Colin had a blast and really enjoyed the cheetah. Later that day we picked up my other sister from the airport and had anotehr family dinner.
Finally it was time to go home Friday morning. We tried to get out of town before the snow but we got caught in the storm around Madison and it was bad till Tomah. It was a slow drive and with Leah sick she was in no mood to in in a car seat that long. We left at 9:30 am and got home at 7:30 pm. On that drive we saw several cars and trucks end up in ditches, a few rolled over mini-vans and pickup trucks and one ambulance leaving an accident. Thankfully we made it home ok with no incident although after stopping for lunch and dinner on a drive from Milwaukee to Minneapolis both kids are lucky to be alive after that 10 hour drive.
Comments