50th Anniversary Celebration!

This past weekend we celebrated my parents' 50th wedding anniversary, which was on December 20th. I had a hard time wrapping mind around all that happened in the past decade, so it's hard to imagine 5 decades of marriage! I feel incredibly lucky and blessed to have parents that are married, in love, and enjoy spending time together. Heck, they even work together as they have ran a business together for 35+ years! It took some planning, but I am so happy that all of the siblings and grandkids could get together to celebrate with my parents. We are kind of spread out across the country so we hadn't all been together since my wedding in 2017!

My sister Abby and her husband Ryan flew in on New Years Day. I was going to pick them up at the airport, but when Phil went to get my car out of the garage, he could not get the door to open. We have quite a few maintenance issues at our house so Phil was NOT happy. Since our garage is built on a hill, there is not a side entrance so we had no way to get our cars out of the garage. So Abby and Ryan took an Uber to our house. Ryan and Phil were able to get the door open and they ended up fixing it (for now - Phil thinks it's temporary and more work will be needed).

We hung out at our house and I made dinner. On Thursday, Abby ran (she's training for a 50k trail race) and Ryan went to a local gym, and then I took them to lunch at a Pizza place owned by this past year's James Beard Award winner - Ann Kim. It was great to get some extra one-on-one time with them. 

After Paul's nap on Thursday, we hit the road for the resort in central Minnesota. We had to fit 3 people's luggage, presents and food/cooking equipment in my Camry. It was packed to the max and was like a real-life Tetris problem. But we got everything to fit! With no room to spare. I sat in the back with Paul and entertained him with lots of books and snacks.

On Thursday night, we ate at one of the restaurants at the resort. Paul made my dad's day by climbing into his lap!

Papa Paul and Toddler Paul

 Unfortunately this trip coincided with a crappy sleep regression that Paul has been going through since Christmas. He's been waking multiple times a night and has been waking for the day quite early! At home, we let him cry during the night and will sometimes leave him in the crib until 6 if he's not protesting too much. But you can't do that when you are in a house with 18 other people. So we had some early mornings (he was up around 5:30 3 mornings - he "slept in" until 6:10 the last morning). Luckily my mom is an early riser so she kept me company and kept the coffee flowing.

Reading with Nana

Reading was a big theme for the weekend - I brought quite a few books along for Paul and he got to read with his aunties and nana. I read him a lot of books, too, as it was something that would keep him quiet on those early mornings!

Friday was the busiest day for me as my sisters and I were responsible for breakfast and dinner that day. For breakfast, I made 2 egg bakes and my older sister made a baked oatmeal that was delicious! For dinner, we made tacos and all the fixings. Our meals went over very well with the family! I also fit in some sledding time with Paul before his nap on Friday. Phil arrived on Friday night (he had to work Thur/Fri) - I was very glad to see him after 2 days of solo parenting! I was in bed early on Friday between all the activity and my early morning!

On Saturday morning, we brothers made a delicious breakfast and then we had a photographer come to take professional photos. I am excited to see how they turned out. Paul did really well overall! After pictures, we opened gifts. Paul didn't unwrap any gifts as he doesn't really "get it" yet, but he was excited about what he got - especially this duplo set from his cousin Evelyn.

After the kids and grandkids had opened all their gifts, my dad surprised my mom with a 50th anniversary gift!

He got her some diamond earrings and a necklace with a stone for each of their 5 kids.

That day, we spent time playing cribbage and watching some exciting play-off games. I went to bed before the end of the Patriots game so missed the exciting finish! We were all thrilled when the Patriots lost. Sorry, Patriot fans - your team is so disliked by the rest of the country.

Even though Paul didn't sleep well, he did really well, all in all. He sat on some laps, played well with his cousins, and handled being the center of attention very well. I only brought books, some of his little people, and 2 trucks. He played so well with his toys for the 3 days we were at the resort. It confirmed my hypothesis that the fewer toys we have out, the better Paul plays.

He's putting his little people down for bedtime in this photo!

There was a lot of time spent in jammies!

Including some new jammies from my grandma Janet. She gives jammies to all of her great grandchildren every Christmas (with the help of some shopping elves!). I love the ones Paul received!

On Sunday, we packed up and were on the road by 9. I assumed Paul would stay awake in the car so I wanted to get home in time for his nap. He surprised us and slept for a good chunk of the 2+ hour ride - which meant he did not nap when we got home! But oh well - at least he was quiet on the drive! We were home in time to unpack, do laundry, get groceries, and watch the exciting Vikings victory! Phil took Abby and Ryan to the airport and went to get Oscar from his moms, so I was on my own with Paul for a good chunk of the day. I managed to fit in a workout - he played really well with the basketball hoop and train table we have in the basement so I'm feeling good about my 3 workouts/week goal after seeing how well he entertained himself!

Now it's back to work and a normal schedule. We had a lot of fun over the holidays but I am SOOOO ready for a normal schedule and normal eating!!

How was your weekend? Are you super happy to be back to normal life, too, or are you wishing you were still in holiday mode?