Party of EIGHT: Road Trip to NoDak!

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Road Trip to NoDak!

Owen had been asking and asking to go visit Nana Bev and Popi Jerry's house for quite some time. But with school every day, it was hard to find the time to make the 7 hour drive. Finally at the end of May with school wrapping up and summer fast approaching, we had a week with nothing scheduled (which is quite a rare feat in our household!)

The boys were very excited about going to Nana and Popi's house. But neither of them enjoy spending too much time in the car, and a 7 hour drive with two crabby kids is not my idea of fun. So before going, we made sure to pick up a couple new movies to keep them entertained on the long drive.

With two new Thomas the Tank Engine movies ready to go, off we went! We spent almost a week in North Dakota and the boys had a wonderful time. Owen is very much a Nana's boy and doesn't like sharing her with anyone, so when Grandma Schatz drove up to see us for a couple days, Cole was very excited to have her all to himself. He loved dragging her this way and that and she happily followed along. He sure is a bossy 2 year old!

Owen loved going to the grocery store in the morning to help Nana and Popi (my parent's own the local grocery store). When he'd come home from the store, he would go on and on about how much work he had done. He helped Nana put out the fruit, veggies and milk. He even got to help Popi drive the fork lift to move the crates of groceries around and watch Popi make hamburger, explaining to us how "the meat looked just like spaghetti." Owen thought it was great being able to go into the freezer and cooler and to stand behind the cash register, all of which he isn't allowed to do when we go out shopping at home!

We had a great time relaxing at Nana Bev and Popi Jerry's house. The new Thomas movies were definitely a hit and the boys enjoyed watching them over and over again!

Cole, Nana Bev and Owen watching a Thomas movie

"Isn't this movie exciting, Great-Nana?" Cole and Grandma Schatz

Cole relaxing with a movie

We spent one day driving to Bismarck to visit my Grandma Klein. I hadn't seen her since my Grandpa's funeral, so it was nice to spend some time chatting with her.

Owen with his Great Nana Klein


Cole and Great Nana Klein

While there, Cole quickly found something that sparked his interest...a wheelchair. Cole just loves spinning wheels and soon he was asking (or more like demanding!) "Turn, turn!", which means "Can you please turn the wheelchair on it's side so that I can spin these super cool big wheels?" There wasn't enough room to turn it over, but Popi Jerry quickly rigged up a way to prop the chair on a box that was laying around which lifted it just enough to get the back wheel off the ground, making his Grandson one very happy little boy!

Cole smiling at Popi Jerry as he spins the wheel

As for Owen, he and the "cleaning lady" were getting into trouble. Grandma Klein's "cleaning lady" is basically a tall doll that goes over the vacuum to cover it up. And Owen would not leave it alone. He kept pushing and pulling on her. Finally as we were leaving, Owen gave the "cleaning lady" a big hug before pushing her over! You can just tell by looking at his face that he is up to something!!

Owen and the cleaning lady

Owen and Cole had a great time doing all sorts of fun things at Nana Bev and Popi Jerry's house, playing piano, running on the treadmill, making chocolate chip cookies, playing board games, driving the lawn mower and much more!