We’re back from my family’s annual weeklong vacation to Bay Lake in Minnesota.  My parents rented a cabin and my sister (Erica) and her family flew in from North Carolina and we had a grand ol’ time.  The #1 Overall Best and Most Wonderful Highlight for me, of course, is being all together; secondarily, I get a weeklong reminder of how excellent I am at outdoorsing and adulthood.  Et voila:

The Grocery Store

We celebrated my parents’ 50^th wedding anniversary in North Dakota the weekend prior to the lake, meaning we left for Minnesota as one big lump sum.

“It would be great if we were on the road at 11:00 am so that our three-year-old can have lunch and a nap along the way,” my brother-in-law said several times.

“We will absolutely do that,” we agreed.

As expected, we left at 1:00 pm.

The challenge with leaving at 1:00 pm and not 11:00 am is that we arrived at 6:00 pm – and while we’ve never departed anywhere in the universe on time in the history of our family, we have NEVER EVER been late for a meal.

“Dad and I are running to the grocery store,” my mom said as we unloaded the entirety of my parents’ and our households into the cabin.  “It’s a five-minute drive; we’ll grab something quickly and be back in 30 minutes.”

“I’ll come along,” I said, eyeballing the hungry and grumpy adults children.  “It will be so much faster with my help.”

“If you want,” my mom said.  “Although we don’t really need you.”

“Yes, you do,” I said.

The three of us piled into the car; my mom and dad sat in the front seat, and I in the back.  My dad plugged in the GPS, which told us to turn left at the first intersection.

“I’m pretty sure it’s right,” my mom said, pointing down a treed passageway.  “I remember it from last year.”

“The GPS says left,” I said, “And we drove in from the left, so it has to be left.”

“We drove in from the right,” my dad said.

“Regardless,” I said, “Follow the GPS.”

We followed Amanda (Have I told you that my nicknames at work and amongst my friend Matt are “Amanda-tory” and “Da-manda”?) and the GPS.

“We should be there by now,” my mom said after eight minutes had passed.

“The GPS says we will be there in five minutes,” I said.

“The GPS has said we’ll be there in five minutes the whole time we’ve been on the road,” my dad said.  “I think it’s glitchy.”

“No, it’s right,” I said.

We drove some more.  And some more, and some more.

“Hey, look; it’s our resort!” I said, pointing at the entrance sign – before realizing that we had just made a full circle around the lake.

We pulled into the resort, and this time we turned right at the end of the drive.

“This never happened,” I told my parents.

“What never happened?”  My dad asked.

“Exactly,” I said.

We were back at the cabin 28 minutes after we went the correct way the second time, which was nearly an hour after we left originally.

“Everything go okay?”  My sister asked as we unloaded the groceries.

“Peachy,” I told her.

Fishing

As you can imagine, with four little boys and three big boys, we did a lot, a LOT of fishing.  We fished off the boat.  We fished off the dock.  We fished off the boat while it was parked at the dock.  And by “we,” I mean everyone else because there’s never been a scenario in my 44 years where I felt the urge to pick up (or cut up BARF) a worm or pick up (or de-hook BARF) a live fish…or really do anything on a boat or a dock that did not involve sitting in a chair/reading a book/talking to someone/doing nothing.  I guess I once peed off a boat, but that was under duress.

After day four or five-ish, my nine-year-old realized that his mother was a bundle of boringness and decided the only way to make me a completely different human being awesome was to introduce me to the majesty that was fishing.

“Here’s your rod,” Nine said, holding out a rod.

“Thank you,” I said.

“And here’s a worm,” he said, holding out a worm.

“No, thank you,” I said.

“Mom, you have to touch a worm, it’s very fun,” Nine said – and then, realizing this was more of an uphill battle than he was willing to undertake, said, “I will put the worm on your hook if you take the fish off yourself.”

“Peachy,” I said, presuming my lack of fishing skills would barrier this situation from ever happening.

Two minutes later, I caught a fish.

“Hooray!”  I said.

“Hooray!”  Everyone said.

“Now what do I do?”  I asked, looking at this fish that was in great need to return from whence it came.

“Take it off the hook!” Nine said.  “That was our agreement.”

“Was it?” I asked.

“Yes, it…FINE,” Nine said, realizing that this poor fish deserved more than his ridiculous mother.

Back at the dock, I told my mother that I had caught a fish.

“You didn’t catch a fish,” Nine said.

“Well, I was holding the rod,” I said.  “So it happened.”

High Wheel Confectionery

It is a known fact that I am a ranch dressing and candy store connoisseur (although I have never once found a place that serves both).  As such, I can tell you that the #1 greatest all-time candy store exists in a town called Ironton, Minnesota.  The High Wheel Confectionery is three stories of fantasticness: the basement has racks upon racks of assorted sodas; the second floor has coffee, beautiful chocolates, and basically every kind of candy a person could want or need; and the top floor has toys and some of the best-curated books a judgmental old bag of a book snob like me could want.

We visited this candy store not once, but twice.  The first time was without my sister and her kids because she was having lunch with her best friend; my mom infilled their absence with a few small candies and toys for Erica’s kids.  My own children got the minimum amount of sweeties because their mother is a killer of joy when it comes to things that are high on fun but low on nutritional value. 

However – while I may be a grump of a mother and bookstore patron, I’m a pretty good aunt, if I do say so myself.  So, I may or may not have also purchased a few additional pieces of candy for my older nephew and I may or may not have slipped said candy to my nephew when his parents aren’t looking.

“This never happened,” I told him.

“What never happened?”  He asked.

“Exactly,” I said.

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The photo above is of the fish that I definitely caught myself.

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This week on North Dakota Today we talked about a group of Central Cass boys, my Nice “People” of the Week, as well as a way to make birthdays a little sweeter in Fargo, Moorhead, and Dilworth. Enjoy! (Valley News Live)

Summer is winding down, which means SUNFLOWER SEASON is just getting started. (Valley News Live)

I mean, there are worse reasons to visit every state. PS, did you know that North Dakota has a “Best for Last” club for people who visit every state and hit #50 in ND? (Fargo Forum)

Sehr Gut!  Grand Forks’ Erika Feole has been named the Teacher of the Year by the Foreign Language Association of North Dakota. (Grand Forks Herald)

Get your Power Rangers suit shined up for Bakken Con. (Williston Herald)

Quack quack. (Jamestown Sun)

I get an alert on my phone for North Dakota news and I got such a kick of the fact that today my phone decided the top news of the day was about Sophia’s curls (which, to be fair, are pretty amazing). (Valley News Live)

Kyle and his friends, Corey and Kelly, have a podcast called North Dakota After Dark where they talk about youth hockey in North Dakota.  The latest episode is up and is an interview with Annie Spicer.  Check it out. Bonus: you can watch it on YouTube. (North Dakota After Dark)

One of my readers, Faye, sent me a stack of nice news that she found in her own travels around the Internet.  Here they are (thanks, Faye!):

People love books: West Fargo Public Libraries hits record setting numbers. (Fargo Forum)

Mark your calendars for a Lego brick convention in Rochester this September. (KROC News)

Fighting closure, Churches United for the Homeless is able to stay open another month thanks to 400 donors who stepped forward when asked. (Fargo Forum)

Fargo City Hall lights up in celebration of inclusivity. (Facebook)

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