You might be wondering if we survived the trip to South Dakota, as no update was made after day two. Well, we eventually made it home.
Days Three through Seven involved restful sleep, driving, and fun times with Grandma Vicki.
Uncle Jeff arrived Friday, and we met up with him at breakfast time in Aberdeen. Viva slept very well after Thursday's full range of activities, but she was happy to lead the way to IHOP! We enjoyed the time to visit with Grandpa and Jeff, and Viva worked her two-year-old magic on the guys to convince us that we should take her back to Wylie Park and Storybook Land for day two.
It was a bit windier this day, and Viva now knew what to expect. Her real goal? Playgrounds. But that didn't stop us from seeing new things. Jeff showed Viva the land of the munchkins on the yellow brick road, we met Glinda the good witch, and we went over and fed the geese at the pond.
Later in the afternoon, we headed out to Grandma Vicki's place. Viva was in charge of selecting the music - country music, "girl songs!" were regularly commanded when I tried to hijack the radio for my own tastes.
Grandma Vicki and Genevieve found many ways to stay entertained for the weekend. There were paper dolls. Viva let me play with them regularly. There were new Princess movies. I got to watch those, too. Genevieve got to wear an apron and be a kitchen helper. She helped frost the cake (but with quick intervention from Grandma, was prevented from licking the frosting OFF the cake when done helping), baked cookies, and helped make messes out of her dinner. For part of our Saturday adventure, Grandma took us all out for the matinee at the theater, where we learned How to Train our Dragon - an excellent movie for all of us! Afterwards, Viva was treated to a trip to the Cowgirl shop to pick out fancy pink boots. Unfortunately, the Cowgirl Princess had gone without a nap, taken in too much sugar, and was just ready for a good scream. So she shared it with all of us. That ended the trip for pink boots.
On Sunday, we went to church where Viva was able to meet local friends, then it was back to Grandma's place to cook the big meal! Viva's generally familiar with having a Sunday family dinner. Sometime when she grows up, she'll hopefully understand the significance of the one she was at on this particular Sunday: as Uncle Jeff pointed out, for the first time ever, Great Grandpa Hanson was able to have dinner with his two children and grandson. Viva was the representative for the fourth generation. It was a great dinner, and we got a family picture, too!
Monday, Viva was able to go to school! She had a great time with the other kids at pre-school, and all reports were positive! While Viva was away, I had the opportunity to help setup Grandma's new computer.
Now she can read the blog from home!
Well, there you have it. A successful trip to South Dakota.
And we topped it off with a white knuckle drive through dense fog back to Aberdeen, another breakfast at IHOP with Great Grandpa Hanson, and some time at the war memorial at the airport.
How were the flights back? Well... flying to Minneapolis was great, and we were greeted by Kathy as we got off the airplane! She had presents for Viva and the boys. Viva took the opportunity to sleep most of the way to Chicago. We discovered that O'Hare has a nice playland. And it's huge. Scary big. And that my backpack + Viva's backpack + Viva = about 80lbs for me to carry to the end of the wrong concourse. We wrapped it up with a McD's Happy Meal and a video rental on the plane back so we could watch Alvin's Squeekquel and the Princess Bride. I'd mention that we also watched a 3rd movie, but that sounds excessive. And I've forgotten what it was.
Viva the Princess, traveler extraordinaire.
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