Ok, so southern Minnesota didn't get us out of the 30's temperature-wise, but it did my heart (and my attitude) a lot of good. The SPAM museum was actually quite informative (there are 12 varieties of spam, did you know that?) and entertaining, the poolside rooms at the Holiday Inn were comfortable (enough) and the poool warm, but the company was what made the trip. My boys run as a pack with their NeskeMoen compatriots. The five of them span the ages of 6 to 11, none of them in the same grade, but they adore each other and play together incredibly well- never pairing off- the dynamics change throughout the day, but they are always positive. And all five of those boys adore the older Nielsen kids. While we were hanging out before a lovely dinner at Wally's house, I walked through the living room to find all of our kids literally kneeling at 14 year old Pete's feet. He was discoursing on some topic and they were lapping it up. Then they quit being so serious, outfitted themselves with Pete's nerf arsenal and had a battle royale.
I do believe the highlight of the trip for me was when we surprised Pete and Kara on their return from an overnight Speech Team event. You see, our three families have been going to DuNord together for years. And it has been a tradition that whenever we get off of the little shuttle that takes us from our tents over to the main part of camp, we form up a 'bridge' of bodies and cheer everyone off. It can get a bit raucous. So when Jen mentioned that their BUS was due back in the high school parking lot in 15 minutes, it was only natural that we should round up all 13 of us to go pick them up, DuNord style. I loved that when we hustled Ildar into the car he asked what we were doing and when I said, "We are going to completely embarass two high school kids" he was totally game. Didn't need any more info.
So three caroads of us pulled into the lot with a few minutes to spare. Other parents were already waiting in cars, and more drifted in before the bus arrived. As the bus pulled into the lot, the 13 of us piled out of the cars, ran to the door of the bus and formed up our 'bridge'- two rows facing each other, hands in the air, wild screaming- and several parents jumped right out to join us. I like how the Fairmont speech parents roll. The coaches were trying to have give some closing comments to their team, but all eyes were peeled out the windows, trying to figure out just what in the hell was going on. I heard later that when kids were asking, "WHO are those people? Does anyone know them???" Kara denied us, but Pete, after some hesitation, claimed us proudly. Kara only hid her face for a few moments, then decided to make the best of it. The team started piling off, initially a bit cowed, but you could see the smiles growing, see them walking tall, walking proud. And when Pete and Kara came off they did as they should be getting to the end of the line and then joining right in. Good kids, those Nielsons.
I love that all of our kids had absolutely no qualms about making a scene in a random parking lot. Even our exchange students- this had to be one of the more international bridges we have ever formed with representatives from both Russia and Hong Kong. As soon as the whole team got off the bus, all of our kids ran back to the warm cars and jumped in, as if nothing unusual had happened. We then sped back to the Neilson house while Wally and Jen delayed Pete and Kara a bit, so our kids could take up their positions with Nerf weapons on the roof of the garage. On to round two of the welcome party- the attack.
It was no glamorous beach escape, but it did my spirit wonders to be around good pals and have some deep belly laughs over the weekend.
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