The Odegaard family: in progress: There and back again: an epic family road trip

Family reunion in Iowa!

Nine days road-tripping with two small kids. What were we thinking?

Family reunion picnic!

Apparently, good things: we had a great time on our marathon journey through Iowa to Minnesota and home again. We spent time with dozens of friends and family members, tracked down a few long-lost sites and even, very uncharacteristically, slept in a few times. The kids loved it. Mommy and Daddy did too. Here are the highlights:

More family!

We began on a Saturday morning, with Grandpa following us. Spirits were high, and we needed no more than the occasional switching of carseasts into Grandpa's car to keep us happy. Elise was even too happy to nap! We arrived safely at the hotel and immediately set to racing around the hallways and jumping on the beds. Better theirs than mine, I suppose. I tried half-heartedly to calm them down but couldn't help smiling at their energy. I wondered how bedtime would work out.

Elise tolerating being held by
someone who's not Mommy
(Aunt Debbie)

Elise and Uncle Tom!

Our first activity was a kickoff for something like a family reunion. We met my aunts, uncles, cousins and more at a local restaurant. Then it was bedtime for my girls, and fireworks for everyone else (Uncle Tom + anytime close to Independence Day + an audience = fireworks, which I sorely missed!).

Catching up with family friend,
Prisiclla!

My strategy for getting Elise to be okay sleeping in a pack-and-play (and three different ones throughout the trip!) was to pretend it was the greatest thing ever. "Look, Elise, a NEW pack-and-play!" (she loves anything new). It worked, but maybe a little too well. So enchanted by her surroundings, Elise happily jabbered about them for a good 45 minutes, interspersed with the annoyed pleadings of her big sister to, "Be quiet and go to sleep, Elise!"

Matt runs a tight ship (feet on, hands
on, or you walk), but a fun
one as he entertains the kids!

Matt jumped at the excuse to hit the hay early--he headed to bed in hopes of being a calming presence. Now, the chorus I heard from my hideout in the bathroom (the only place I could have any light to read by), was, "Bibbity doh!" "Quiet, Elise!" "Shh, Kalina!" All were sleeping by 9 p.m.

Science Center in Des Moines, building
an arch! The blocks make great toddler
seats, but that doesn't get us very far!

The next day, after seeing a family friend, Priscilla, and two of her grandkids (who Matt graciously wheeled around in a luggage cart to keep them entertained in the hotel), we visited my college friend, Pat, and his wife, who were expecting a baby any day (still are, as far as I know). I'd intended on this trip to catch up with several old friends, some that I virtually have only seen on Facebook in the past 10 years--and so far, we were off to a great start. The girls cowered in fear from their over-excited beagle for an hour while the adults chatted--so, it worked well. Eventually, the dog calmed down, and so did the kiddos.

Bubbles! But when the wands started
to resemble weapons, we had to stop.

Afterward, scared off from doing naptime at my cousin's house because of a fever (and who wants to get sick on day two of a nine-day trip?) we returned to the hotel, where Matt and the kids napped and I relaxed with a good book. I wouldn't have requisitioned Matt to a dark, quiet room for two hours, but he again delighted at the opportunity for a little extra sleep.

Dominoes take serious concentration.

Then we headed out to a local park for an amazing, if humid, family picnic. The vast majority of my near relatives on my mom's side attended, and more than half engaged in a dripping game of ultimate Frisbee. Kalina and Elise both joined right in the general activities--although they'd barely met some of these extended family members, they seemed to feel right at home.

If you look closely, you can see them
on TV!

The next morning found us at the local science center, goofing off with Uncle David, Aunt Debbie, Grandpa, Uncle Tom and Angela. The highlight: when Kalina found a mini tornado exhibit and ushered us all to the safety of a cave exhibit in the vicinity. Uncle David kept wandering out, but the 4-year-old pulled him back in for his own good. No one got blown away.

Conveying food on the food
conveyor with Angela!

Afterward, Matt happily volunteered for nap duty while I spent more time with family. And once everyone was awake, we visited an elementary school friend of mine and her two kids. By this time, Kalina and Elise, who had been enduring the, "Ew, don't lay down on the floor, it's dirty!" of public places far too long already, thoroughly enjoyed being able to stretch out at a real, nice house. Shy Kalina and shy Logan, my friend's 3 1/2-year-old daughter, hit it off and managed to construct a Duplo structure in complete silence, while Elise got hold of a pretend camera and couldn't seem to stop saying, "Cheese!"

At Jess's house.

Elise will be your friend if you offer
her a Dorito. During a picnic by
Clear Lake.

Then, another dinner with family and bedtime. On our way out of town Tuesday morning, north to Minnesota, the next day, we stopped by my friend Debbi's house to see her and meet her new baby. We further punctuated our 4 1/2-hour-journey, and in fact turned it into an 8-hour one, by stopping to see Candy, my mom's cousin; Matt's dad's family farm; and Matt's Uncle Eric. We also enjoyed the scenery--windmills, cows and corn get us all excited. The drive was a breeze.

At Matt's family's farm!
Barely pictured: bees.

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We finally arrived and Grandpa Les' and Grandma Jan's house in time for supper--and not a moment too late. The paint was still drying from their recent kitchen renovation. The girls could hardly contain their excitement, nor could Mommy at being in a clean, nice house well stocked with produce, as opposed to a hotel and restaurants. We played inside and out before putting the kids down for bed in their own rooms.

Kalina learned how to break
eggs all by herself for this
birthday cake project!

We took it easy all day Wednesday--making a birthday cake for Kalina and opening some grandparent gifts, playing outside with bubbles, a sprinkler and sidewalk chalk, reading stories and such. In the evening, we braved the heat for a campfire and smores. Crazy-delicious.

"Planting" paper flowers in her
birthday cake garden.

On Thursday, we headed to a local park, where Kalina made a new friend and Elise glued herself to a bouncy motorcycle. Vrooom! That evening, we were in for a special treat: Daddy rented a pontoon! He and Grandpa Les took a spin on it first--and spent a couple hours catching no fish whatsoever.

Happy birthday, Kalina! Again!

The rest of us picked up sandwiches and boarded as the day was beginning to cool off a bit. Initially a bit wary, Kalina got her "sea legs" with some practice. Elise preferred the driver's seat. We kept it slow, at Kalina's request, and tried to avoid any and all waves left by other boats.

Elise kept the marshmallows very safe
for us.

Soon, we'd found a nice little cove for dinner--and it wasn't long before Kalina was asking to fish. Matt agreed (a bit reluctantly only because he'd been left empty-handed). Soon, her rod was in the water--and shortly thereafter, enthusiastic Elise's new rod was, too.

Look how far back we had to sit from
this nice little fire after a 100-degree day.

And then...a bite! Elise had caught a nice, little sunfish! How big is the fish, Elise? "Biiiiiggg!" said the little girl, arms spread wide. Everyone admired and Elise carefully petted the fish before helping Daddy send it back to its home. Re-baited, the hook when back in. And then...another bite! Another sunfish! We were starting to feel bad for Kalina when...a bite! She'd caught a smallmouth bass! She proudly showed off her fish and let Elise pet it, too.

Vroom! No doubt Elise will be asking
for a motorcycle as soon as she can
say the word. We'll pretend not to
understand her as long as we can.

Boating with Grandma!

On the way back, we saw an osprey feeding a sunfish to her nest of young. Not a coincidence.

Boating with Grandma 2!

We gave Elise the wheel for a while.

Two drowsy little fishergirls hopped off the boat just as the sun was beginning to think about setting (so, around 8:00 p.m.). They slept quite well.

Elise's first fish on her new pole!

Friday morning we headed to Como Zoo, as the weather was supposed to be a bit cooler. It was not. We all melted outside, but not until we'd seen a few hardy animals and one poor seal that looked like it could use a cool drink and possibly a refrigerator to hang out in. We also checked out the amusement park so that Kalina could see what one looks like. But that was enough.

Kalina graciously letting Elise pet
her fish.

Indoors at the zoo, we took a look at some live-animal exhibits (Daddy got dragged back and forth between the snakes, as both girls have caught on that he likes them) and panted our way through some heated, humid greenhouse areas that are just lovely in the cold, snowy winter. The biggest hit was the children's play area, where Elise could play with water to her heart's content, and Kalina could feed pretend zoo animals pretend food (there is no exhibit anywhere that is more up her alley). They also planted and watered a garden with Grandma, and Elise rode on a zebra.

We weren't really supposed to be on
these giraffes, so we only had a
quick ride.

Gardening with Grandma!

Back home, we enjoyed stories, games and playtime and...frozen yogurt! We decided Kalina needed a Mommy-Grandma-Kalina outing and we headed to a new shop. It was an instant hit (not that any of us harbored much doubt).

These zoo animals were very well fed.

On Saturday morning, we packed up and faced the terrible task of wresting Kalina away from her grandparents' house. There were tears inside the car and out, and Kalina decided that life would never be happy again. However, equal amounts of granola bar and planning about when we might see Grandma and Grandpa again cheered her right up.

Not supposed to ride this,
either, but that possibly
only made it more fun.

The final leg of our trip looked back at our college days! We met Jess and Curtis, friends who we'd known from Iowa State, and their kids on campus. With five children between the two families and pretty intense heat, we took it slow: a short lap that included the famous campanile and Lake Laverne--and the swans even showed up to greet us. Soon, we were on our way to our favorite old restaurant, Hickory Park. The menu, prices and food had barely changed in the near-decade since we'd last eaten there. We celebrated with ice cream.

We will be back to this yogurt place!

That night, we stayed at our friends' house--enjoying seeing all our kids play together and, once they'd fallen asleep, playing games like we used to do on occasion a lifetime ago. It was possibly a little too much fun, however, as we stayed up a little too late since we hadn't planned for Elise waking for the next day at 4:50 a.m. But we couldn't complain: both girls had slept great the whole trip. We sleepily left for home and pulled out all the special toys we'd saved for this most wearisome leg of the journey.

Elise picked me a flower!

Kalina has been wanting to
climb a tree, and we found
the perfect one in the

At home, we were met by Grandpa Tom, who played with the giddy children while Matt and I scurried around unpacking.

Truly a wonderful trip, and truly wonderful to be back home!