Welcome to EXOTIC DULUTH!*

Every time anyone asked Ted where we were headed for vacation, he would say with a grin, “Exotic Duluth!” (Minnesota, that is.) Totally makes me laugh. I guess it’s funny because most people don’t think of Minnesota when they think of an exotic or exciting getaway. However, truth be told, northern MN is pretty spectacular in the summertime. I would know. I’ve been going there almost every summer since I was born.

So! Vacation came and went. I’ve been off the blog so long, I’m not even sure what to write. I guess I’ll start where I left off.

WE FLEW. ON AN AIRPLANE. WITH AN ALMOST TWO YEAR OLD. AND WE LIVED TO TELL ABOUT IT.

Yes, my stomach was in knots on the flight out there. Yes, KC did get a tad rambunctious on the first leg of our flight out. However, after that, she was completely chill. She slept on the 2nd flight to Minneapolis from Chicago. We had a brief glimpse of hell in the terminal on our journey back home when KC decided to pick the waiting area just 20 minutes shy of boarding to morph into a complete freak. She ran around and screamed bloody murder whenever we tried to hold her or stop her. She even picked this time to take a crap in her ALREADY JUST CHANGED diaper. This resulted in me wrestling her on the floor of the bathroom stall to perform the quickest change ever due to the fact that the plane was boarding and had already called “Group 4″ by that time. Blaag@#$%aaalalalala&*%$#gahhh. (New word. Feel free to use it.)

Miraculously, she got it all out of her system and morphed back to the adorable child I actually gave birth to just as we got on the plane. She really seemed to dig the planes. I also think she “got it” when we pointed to them out on the tarmac and told her, “We are getting on a plane!”

Basically, any Fear of Flying I had disappeared. Also, may I take a moment to add that the portable DVD player is the most ingenious invention know to mankind. For real. My daughter watched TONS of videos while we were on this trip and – I MAKE NO APOLOGY FOR IT. NONE. (She watches lots at home too. I make only minor apologies for that.)

HOOKED UP!

Seriously though, we had a great trip. We got to do so many things and KC had so many firsts…first zoo visit…first aquarium…first time meeting some of our cousins…first time seeing the Gordon family cabin and first time seeing so many of the landmarks that I grew up seeing on vacations with my parents. It was really awesome. WE HAD FUN. All three of us.

The amazing views from our rental cabin didn’t hurt either. We were really excited about this place and it totally delivered. Worth every penny. (It’s called Breezy Point in case you are ever in Two Harbors.)

Pictured here: Exotic Two Harbors

We drove around a lot on this trip. From a Duluth hotel, to the Two Harbors cabin and on to another hotel near Minneapolis. All the driving and packing and visiting could have made for some crabby moods on all our parts, but that didn’t ever really happen. Of course we each had minor moments. Daddy got pretty irate at AVIS on the way home. (Some nonsense about it costing $136 because we got the car back an hour late. I’m not even totally sure. AVIS, you officially suck to us now.) KC had quite a few moments in restaurants as well. Apparently we don’t do well at restaurants anymore. Just in time for vacation! Sweet! No big deal though. There was always room service, full kitchenettes or family cooking for us in places where “a kid can be a kid”. The misbehaving stayed at a minimum and generally only came from those under two(ish)…

See? Very minimal. Daddy is really quite happy here.

I want to thank all our family (both Gordon AND Doran) who were so hospitable while we were there. You guys made it easier for us to relax. GG and Gramps even took KC for two separate nights while Daddy and Mommy got drunk had romantic time together. Other family members gave us much needed breaks while we visited them via cousins who were of babysitting age. (Hmm. Babysitters. It’s about time we found one of those here in VA.) Really the biggest negative from this trip is the horrific pile of laundry I am working my way through. I packed too much, yet managed to not have enough clothes. Figures.

*To those who came to this post hoping for travel/city info on either Duluth, MN or Duluth, GA, my deepest apologies for misleading you. If you read the whole thing anyway, thanks! You totally rock. Either that or you were just to dumb to stop reading and continue your info search elsewhere. If you scrolled to the bottom as soon as you saw the asterisk in the title you are obviously too smart for this blog. Go away.