Our Adventure Awaits...: A Birthday Surprise for Grandma

After our short visit in Ohio it was off to MN to surprise Ryan's mother, Brenda, for her 50th Birthday. We had been planning this trip for months and it worked out perfectly with Ryan work trip to Camp Lejeune. We made the 12 hr trip from Dayton to my parents house for the night. Then once we all woke up Sunday morning, we went to pick up Ryan's dad, Terry, at the airport and went to his parents house. Brenda had no idea we were coming. We entered the garage and Terry said to Brenda, "I got you flowers and another gift." He picked up Olivia and carried her over to see Brenda. Now, she had been fighting a cold for about a week, luckily the three of us did not get sick, so she wasn't in the best of moods. That all changeld when she saw Olivia. Brenda was speechless. I had the video camera rolling this entire time, and it is a sight to see. Unfortuneately, I am unable to get it on the blog right now but I'll keep trying. We think this was Brenda's best birthday ever!

The week we stayed up north was filled with relaxation. Ryan's sister, Sarah, drops off her daughter Lydia everyday for babysitting by Grandma, so we got to hang out with our niece all week. We went to dinner with family friends, went to the park with Olivia and got to visit Sarah's work for her birthday later that week. We also went over to see my parents in WI and had authentic Irish food (as you can get in WI) at a local Irish pub near my parents house called "Ryan's Pub". It was a long and tiring trip, the driving alone was calculated at over 45 hrs total, but it was great to see family again.