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Tour De Devils Lake

Yesterday most us us piled into two cars and took a tour of Devils Lake with my grandparents leading the way. Since both my grandparents lived out of town growing up, they had to stay with other families during the week in order to attend school. We got to see the houses they stayed in and the houses of their friends, cousins, priests and aunts. My grandfather told us how he and a friend made it a goal to get to the rooftoop of each building in the small town, a feat nearly accomplished.

We learned that my grandparents had a master key to the high school and would go wander the hallways and look at the art work (or make out, as my grandpa puts it). I’ve learned that both my grandparents were highly involved in student government with my grandpa acting as student body president. The stories they tell are so intertwined and where one lacks detail, the other fills the space.

The tour included former schools, the cemetery and a museum that used to be the sheriff’s house. At the museum pictures of my great great grandparents hung on the wall memorializing my great great grandfather’s time as sherriff. The old telephone directory holds the names of family members long gone. The house in itself was where my grandparents got their lone wedding photo taken and my grandmother spent many, many days of her childhood running up and down the stairs.

We recreated the wedding picture and finagled ourself into the display portion of the museum. Today we head out to visit the farms were both my grandparents grew up. Quite frankly, we’re gearing up to battle HUGE mosquitos. Apparently mosquitoes and thunder storms are a way of life around here and since we’re all wearing the Devils Lake colors, we ought to get used to it

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Midwest Style

When I was a kid and Spring Break, Winter Break or even Summer Break would arrive,  our family would most often be ready to book-it out of town the instant school got out. Often times the back seat of the family mini-van would be taken out and converted into some type of bed or area to lounge on for the longish car trip ahead.  With the car-top carrier over flowing with camping gear, stinky wet suits, surf/boogie boards and whatever else we thought we needed, I have no doubt that we looked like The Griswolds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This most recent North Dakota trip has catapulted my family back to those days in a round-about way and it makes me acutely aware of how lucky I am to have a family that goes on vacations together. As much as I hated sharing a tent with my two stinky brothers all those years, I’m so grateful that we had parents that were willing to take us places and spend time with us. That is true today just as much as it was a couple decades ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aside from the time that my dad made Phil and me walk through a lava field in Hawaii because we were fighting, I think I can say that my parents enjoyed seeing us grow up on those trips. This trip to North Dakota seems a bit like icing on the cake in terms of our nuclear family. We split off from the rest of the group the other day, taking more time to get to Devils Lake than the others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped for a couple hours in Old Jamestown and discovered that the fake cowboy town is actually a nice museum with a fantastic junk store.  After we got our token picture taken at the world’s largest buffalo, we splintered off from one another and wandered the one-horse town, happily discovering a fantastic collection of things that make us happy: Phil, a real working print shop, my dad, a junk store that he nearly got lost in the button collection, my mom, goats and ducks to share with Maggie, and Izak leather belts and wallets. I was none too pleased to snap photos and listen to the twang of cowboys singing old tunes.

It wasn’t posing in front of the world’s largest buffalo, or even discovering Old Jamestown that reminded me those car trips of my childhood where we’d all be jam packed into the car headed for somewhere other than home. It was the time that we spent hours later, after arriving to our hotel in Devils Lake, splashing around in the pool, playing with the huge beach balls….cracking up with every spike off of somebody’s head.

You see, we’re a quirky bunch. Full of humor, color and lots of zest. And we like each other. We love each other and choose to spend time together when we can. This, I believe, makes our family unique.

For the second evening in a row, we took over the hotel pool, had loud races from one end to the other and a splash-filled volleyball game. I felt like I was 12 again, trying to do the same thing as my older brother, bossing around my younger brother, and wondering if my parent’s hands were as pruned as my own.

We’re not crammed into the same car this trip, and we certainly aren’t sharing a tent. Maggie’s arrival has slowed the pace down significantly, and we’re all delighted to appease her. I think most of all we’re feeling grateful for this time that we have to spend together, because once reality shows up again we’re all going to hit the floor running and late night pool parties and large buffalo pictures just aren’t the same in the middle of  a work week.

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The Help

One of the best parts of this trip is having so many helping hands with Maggie and everyone is more than happy to get some squeezes in with her when they can.  It helps to have lots of eyes on her, but what I’ve really appreciated is how I’m not the only one brag-talking about her. After Chaya had a long stretch in the car sitting in the back with Maggie, she popped out and shared a bunch of Maggie-Is-So-Smart stories.

And then there are those moments that Maggie does something ultra-cute, but also kind of naughty. For example, the other day at a rest stop where we were all enjoying a picnic lunch, Maggie proceeded to drop blueberries (possibly chewed) into the pocket of Sue’s shirt. Funny? Yes. Memorable? Of course. Gross? For sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More than once we’ve all had our attention on the littlest member of our group because she is doing something fantastic that demands we pause and celebrate by watching. It is the absolute best feeling in the world, as a mother, to look around the room and see love in every body’s eyes for my little girl. I can only imagine what Maggie feels when she sees a familiar face light up because she entered the room. The girl is loved, loved, loved!!!

On a side note, we’ve still got Izak. Yay!!!