Our trip to Spamtown, USA

As usual, click on the collages for full screen viewing!

Last Thursday, I took the children to "Spamtown, USA"...aka: Austin, MN! We had not visited my parents for over a year and a half...so it was a pretty big trip. It was big for numerous reasons....keep reading to find out!

Wednesday night around 9pm, I received a call from my Dad: "Don't leave your house until I talk to you...a tornado has touched down, there is no power here..." YIKES. But it was a 'big trip' remember? Part of the 'big' was that Andy was traveling and flying into MN instead of flying back to WI. Yikes...somehow HE had to get home! Even on Thursday morning, there was no power and I was investigating hotels for us to stay in that weekend--it was THAT big a trip for us to make.

Thankfully my parents' power turned on...and it was quite a miracle--they had little to no damage and their power went on HOURS before their neighbors. We set out for MN around lunchtime, despite worries of more violent weather and quite miraculously, we had few raindrops...not the severe storms that radar was predicting for the path from WI to MN. The biggest challenge? The 3 ways into my parents' home were all blocked off due to fallen trees--thankfully we had cell phones, and we were directed onto 245th street! The above picture was taken 4 days after the tornado hit. The images in these pictures were seen in almost every lawn near my parents' home.

As mentioned, we had to pick Andy up at the airport in MN. Ava, Colin and I went to pick him up on Friday. But first, we stopped by Megan and Tony's house....to spend some time with Megan and Oscar....these are the photos that Megan took--as you can see, Oscar and Colin did NOT cooperate for a photo shoot...Colin was more interested in investigating Oscar's toys...and checking out the "whole house remodel tools" that were in the living room. I think Colin gave Megan an idea of what her life will be like in a few months! Ava thought spending time with Oscar was so neat--she commented--"I looked at him and he TOUCHED MY FACE!" and then giggled!

After we got Andy, we trekked on over to the Mall of America--Ava wanted to get her American Girl Doll's ears pierced! She, of course, loved the AG store and it was very hard to decide on just one outfit for her dolly. We also stopped in Nordstroms to see Margie's bows on display....and the funniest thing happened: A clerk walked by Ava and said "I like your bows! Did you get them here?!" My response "Uh, no....but her Grandma IS MARGIE...so the person who makes the bows you sell made Ava's bows!" The clerk was shocked--she didn't know there was a "real" Margie! The bottom right photo above is Ava holding one of Grandma's bows in Nordstroms!


A huge hit for us was my parents "new" pool--new to us! Above, you can see the fun Ellie had swimming in their pool--she didn't spend much time OUT of the pool!

Jayna also loved the pool....and she loved just relaxing at Grammie and Grampy's....and talking to Colin....she just loved it all.

And Avie...she too, enjoyed swimming....and learning how to shoot squirt guns...and playing with Colin in his 'fake' pool. The above right photo is how Ava watched a movie on the way home--she was worried it might be a little scary (an American Girl movie!)...so she put on her "mary" protection and could plug her ears with beloved blankie if need be!

Little Colin....No, he still is not walking...unless he has a toy to push. He loved swimming, and thankfully there was a little "pool" that we could trap him in...much more his size! The girls loved having him in the pool (How many Glynns does it take to take Colin into the water the first time?!??!)! Colin got to experience riding in the Princess Jeep...which he loved! On the way home, Colin was very chill--with a fever from teething. He was glazed almost the entire way home!

Another "big" reason for our trip was to celebrate Grampy's birthday AND Father's day on the same weekend...above is a picture of the big girls swimming with Grampy, Grampy blowing out his 2 candles, his cake, and Grampy's 1st grandSON, Colin Max. Happy Birthday, Dad!

And still yet, another "big" reason for our trip....for the first time ever, all 8 Gorden Grandchildren were going to be together! Tucker and his family were moving back to MN last Saturday and they pulled into Spamtown about 8pm with enough time for a quick swim, a quick snack and girl playtime before a very late bedtime for the kiddos. The girls were so cute together--all the girls have seen each other maybe 2 times in their lives...but they played like long lost friends! Above, there is a picture of Ellie with the newest girl, Caroline Mary...and then next to it is all of the Gorden GrandGIRLS: Caroline, Ellie, Jayna, Annabelle, Ava and Grace.

My mom has a TON of flowers and Andy enjoyed capturing their beauty...here is a snippet of what is growing around their house. And those of you who are wondering WHERE/WHAT "Spamtown, USA" is: Click here to read all about it. We highly recommend the Spam Museum for any of you who decide you MUST visit Spamtown!