Midwest Vacation Part II (Minnesota)

Ok, I know I've been a little slow getting this one out there. You all know me so that should be no real surprise.

From Iowa we headed North and East up to Winona in Minnesota to see Grand Grandpa Bill. I guess he hadn't been doing to well, but he enjoyed having Matthew come visit, and got to hold him a bit.

Hanging with GrandDan in the hospital -


Matthew having fun with great Grandpa -


Great Aunt Barb met us at the hospital for our visit, and helped take some pictures of all 4 generations.


It's hard to read, but GrandDan and my shirts say "My Indian Name is Runs with Beer", Matthew's says "My Indian Name is Runs with Rootbeer".


Everybody in the picture -


While waiting to visit great grandpa the second day, we played in the park for a bit. Matthew LOVES the swings.


After visiting with great grandpa and getting him moved over to a different wing of the hospital, we headed out to the Minneapolis area to stay with Anne and Don for a few nights before we had to fly home.

Matthew got his first cold while we were in Iowa, and it made it difficult for him to sleep. Check out those crusty bat cave boogers -


We went to the Minnesota state fair on Thursday, where we met up with my mom's sisters, and some of my cousins. One thing I learned at the state fair. You can sell any type of food imaginable to fairgoers, as long as you deep fry it, and put it on a stick.

I don't think Charlene was expecting the heft of Matthew. His still outweighs his second cousin by about 2x.


Going after Corrine -


Enjoying the attention from Laura and Martha.


The excitement of the fair eventually took it's toll -


This one's for Anne. It's not quite an animal outfit, but it's the best I could find.


Matthew has a fascination with noses. Here he is picking the cow's nose.


Matthew was unimpressed with the marching band


The next day my cousin Mary came over and met up with us to head out to Como Park zoo. As a kid, Elicia and I were dragged to Minnesota many times. Not ONCE did my parents bother to take US here. What's the deal with that? That was a really cool zoo, and it was just a donation, you guys can't use the excuse it was too expensive.

Apparently there are pictures of the little Virnig kids riding the giant tortoise at this zoo. They no longer let you ride the real one, so Matt had to settle for the metal one.

Riding with Mary -

And with Anne -


One of the main attractions is the Sparky the Seal show. Here's GranDan and Matthew watching the show. This show has been going on since GrandDan was a kid, so needless to say this is not the original Sparky. I believe this is the Sparky 17 show.



They have all sorts of animals, anybody else see the resembelance?


At the zoo, Matt got his first taste of icecream cone. I'd say he liked it. Check out that bib.


Sugar crash!


That night we had a congregation of Virnigs at Anne and Don's. I didn't count, but judging form volume alone, there were over a close to two dozen. Matthew had a good time hanging with the relatives.











Anne and Don have 2 cats. One of them made the mistake of leaving a tail sticking out from under the couch. Look who got ahold of it. The cat did eventual manage to escape.




The next morning after a having breakfast with the family, we headed out to the airport for the last leg of the journey.

Finally home and headed back to baggage claim. Matthew made sure mommy knew to how to hang on to the handrail. He's no dummy, he didn't want to fall down.


It was a fun trip and it was good to see everybody, but it was good to be home after 10 days and sleep in our own beds.

Thanks to Anne and Don for letting us take over your house for a few days.

Jake