Skip to main content

Carter Family Weekend - Owatonna

Joelle
Well I'd be lying if I said the Carter Family Weekend over President's Weekend was fantastic! It was definitely one for the books with chapters I hope to never revisit.  And then there were the fun parts and the reminder of why we kept driving towards Owatonna even while I was getting quite ill.

Elizabeth on the 'lil slide
You see a family weekend isn't about just one person.  Family weekend is just that - a weekend about family!  And I'd have to say that the kids of the group had a blast!  Technically this was Carter Family Weekend #2, with the first round happening back in November.  This weekend was scheduled to occur at the Holiday Inn/Serengeti Water Park in Owatonna from Friday - Sunday with our family, Grandma and Grandpa Carter, the Ted&Kimber family from Apple Valley and a visit from Aunt Marlene and Uncle Dan Jensen of the Waseca area.  We also had a surprise visit from Bob's cousin Matt and his son Curran on Saturday!

We finally arrived in Owatonna Friday night after a very long, five hour drive and one visit with a state patrol officer making sure we were okay as Bob had yet another emergency stop along Hwy 14 for me.  Yes, it was a long, long, long, long trip for our carload.  In the meantime, the others had arrived and scoped out the Water Park for the next day of adventure!
Grandpa and Elizabeth

We got checked in to our hotel and settled in for some much needed rest and for me some non-movement time.  Saturday morning started with our complimentary breakfast and off to the water park we go!  Thank you to Kimber who was at the doors when they opened at 8 AM to reserve a table and chairs for us to claim for the day.  The girls were busy in the pool all day and had a great time.  Although the 10 minute breaks every 2 hours were killer!  Bob helped Joelle experience the water park and if I hadn't accidentally deleted the videos off of the new video camera you would get to see a super cute video!  (yep, look at the screen and see that all are selected before you click delete.)  So, still photos will have to suffice.
Emma and Bella (aka Little Mermaid)


Emma was able to convince Bella to try the slide and that became a hit!  Of course Lucille then joined in that fun too!  We took a break at 1:00 for lunch, when the Jensen family joined us for the rest of the day.  We felt fortunate to be able to celebrate Bob's birthday, our anniversary and Lucille's 7th Birthday all as a big group!  The cake was huge and oh so good from Carl's Bakery!!!

Emma and Birthday Girl Lucille

An afternoon and evening of swimming continued when Joelle and I both took a break for a nap and I to try to feel better with hopes of getting back on the road before the big snow storm hit.  Our plans didn't go accordingly and while everyone else was able to leave for home Saturday night, we fretted over what to do and in the end had to stay put in Owatonna until the next morning.  We were on the road by 7:30 AM and home in Granite Falls before 11:30 AM.  For the most part we were ahead of the storm, that is until we drove into it.  Good driving on Bob's part got us home safe and sound and that's where we stayed for the rest of the weekend.
Baby Naps!

Ted's nap time too...


Remembering that while parts of the weekend weren't great, the purpose of the weekend was on family and that's exactly how it should be...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Today.... The next chapter

And here we are... October of 2020. I'm not sure where the time has gone, while struggling between feeling it has gone too fast and yet being ready for things to move along and leave a few chapters in the past. To say that 2020 has tested our strength is a bit understated. But, even on our worst days and weeks - we have come out smiling.  Don't get me wrong, those smiles aren't always easy and sometimes they mask the exhaustion, the grief and the tears. But boy when they are truly out of happy moments and seeing how we survive from these difficult times, those smiles are worth millions. Today... was a day that hit me hard... unexpectedly hard. Today, being everything I need to be right now is hard...  it's exhausting... it's daunting... it's what this chapter is.  Today... oh boy today has been a hot mess... It was a recognition of how much I'm grieving and still so thankful for this life we have. I'm so thankful to have an amazing friend, Erica...
Post a Comment
Read more

And here we are in 2019!

I've gotten away from regularly writing, and with the start of 2019 I decided now is the time to revisit writing! It's a great way to look at events happening in our lives and remind ourselves of the blessings we have no matter how busy or complicated life gets! Part of 2019 includes returning to school work for me. As I look at my future goals for my career, I decided the time is now to look at getting my degree in Organizational Leadership.  I applied for admission to Metropolitan State University ( www.metrostate.edu ) and started courses in January! 1 week in and I'm already wondering why I thought this was a great idea. This first semester back at it will most likely be the most difficult as I'm taking on 3 courses - if I survive this, I'll be able to make this happen! What this means is fitting in course work during lunch breaks and after the girls head to bed, and of course hours on the weekends. If I look a little tired, this may explain the bags under m...
Post a Comment
Read more

Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye is never easy, in fact it's one of the most difficult things to do.  Our strength is being tested today as we make the decision for Botti that means we have to put his needs before ours. I will never forget the day we drove to get Botti.  It was a complete surprise to Emma, a Minnesota spring day, March 2006.  She was grumpy about having to go to the Twin Cities with us, thinking it was about getting stuff for the store.  But then we pulled up to Petco in Eden Prairie, again she thought we were just picking up things for the cats and Rosie.  Then we got inside and met up with the animal shelter there for pet adoption day and asked to see the collie puppies we had inquired about.  That's when we met Botti and a few of his litter mates.  His eyes captured our hearts.  Emma's smile was priceless when we asked if we should bring him home. Botti hasn't had an easy road health-wise, but he made it clear that he would always watch over...
Post a Comment
Read more