Tuesday, June 14, 2016

My Trip Home to Minnesota

I'm taking a quick break from recapping our Japan vacation to share a few pictures from my recent trip home. I hadn't been back to Minnesota in exactly a year, and have since decided that was far too long between visits. Hopefully that'll be the longest I'm ever away! Unfortunately, Peter wasn't able to join me due to work commitments, so I was somewhat dreading the actual travel portion of this trip. Thankfully, the flights were relatively painless, especially when I realized I was eligible for an upgrade to United's Economy Plus seating on the way back to Melbourne. I was actually a bit bummed because it looked like I was going to have an entire row to myself until about five minutes before we took off, when a couple of standby passengers rushed on and claimed the seats next to me. Of course they did. I felt like I couldn't complain too much, though, because I was still in an upgraded seat, until about two hours into the 15 hour flight when someone in a row behind me vomited on the floor. So that was terrible.

Anyway, this was a really fun and exciting visit home because 1) I got to meet my newborn niece and 2) one of my best friends got married and I got to be in the wedding! Last year, I was only home for about six days, which was an absolutely crazy thing to do, so this time I made sure my trip was a good two and a half weeks, which allowed for lots of time with family and friends.

I took this picture of my mom's backyard on my first day home. I got really lucky in that I didn't really experience jet lag on this trip, so I was up bright and early the morning after I arrived and got to enjoy some nature from the porch. It's a nice change from stepping out onto our balcony here in Melbourne, in the middle of the city. It's funny because there's actually a major highway on the other side of the pond and the international airport is only a few miles away, but for whatever reason, my mom's house isn't impacted much by the noise.
The Bachelorette started on Monday, so my sisters and I gathered to watch, of course. I'm obsessed with JoJo. Obsessed. The next morning, we hit up this cute cafe called Yum for some breakfast and coffee. 
My brother's girlfriend just had a baby, Hadley, and she is absolutely adorable. She's a month old and I'm so glad I got to meet her while she's still so tiny. It occurred to me that the next time I see her, she may be on the verge of walking, which is so crazy. I definitely made the most of my time with her!
My dad's house sits on a pond at the end of a cul-de-sac and they get a surprising amount of wildlife for the suburbs. On this trip, I saw a large turtle and a couple of really pretty birds. The bird below appeared at my window at the crack of dawn nearly every morning, tapped aggressively enough to wake me up, and then flew off. 
I was home over Memorial Day weekend, which is the unofficial start to summer, so Kathryn and I decided to assemble her hammock in the backyard and enjoy the weather.  Unfortunately, we only lasted a few minutes before we were virtually eaten alive by bugs. Minnesota summer: 1 us: 0. 
I got to see both sets of grandparents on this trip, which was really fun! My grandpa is holding Hadley here:
We went to South Dakota for a couple days to visit my other grandpa, where we went to one of our family's favorite restaurants ever, Lunkers. Honestly, this walleye is unreal.


And now for the wedding festivities! So, there's a back story to this picture. My roommates and I, and a bunch of other friends, went on a spring break trip to Panama City Beach, Florida in college. Classy, I know. So we took a really cute picture on the beach while we were there, and we decided to recreate it now that all four of us in the original picture were in one spot.

Here's the original:
And our first attempt...huge fail.
 That's better :).
 Friends at the rehearsal dinner:
The beautiful Lake Minnetonka...I do miss those Minnesota lakes!
 Wedding day! Here is Erica getting her bridal makeup and hair done:
These hair and makeup people were legit. And Erica gave us adorable robes to wear while we got ready.
 The flowers were beautiful.
 Pictures before heading to the ceremony!
All six of the bridesmaids had different dresses, but they were all in the same blush/champagne color family, which turned out super pretty. 
The whole bridal party:
Right before the ceremony, I took this picture with Erica (who looked absolutely stunning!) and then it started pouring. The ceremony was supposed to be held outside, and guests were already starting to arrive when the rain hit. Everyone quickly moved to the chapel just a few hundred feet away, and although our shoes were a bit muddy, the chapel was beautiful! Plus, rain on your wedding day is good luck, right?!
As always, I wish I would have had more time to catch up with everyone so I'm going to keep harassing people via blog, text, etc. to come visit us. Our couch is really comfortable :). 

1 comment:

  1. Good report. Not sure which looked prettier, the wedding girls or the walleye!

    ReplyDelete

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Welcome! I started Laura and Peter Down Under in July 2014 when my husband and I moved from the States to Melbourne, Australia for his job. I blog about expat life, our travels, food, and whatever else comes to mind. Follow along on our adventures Down Under!

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