Our Week With Susan

Last weekend we made a trip to Minneapolis, to pick Jon's daughter Susan (my fabulous stepdaughter!) up from the airport. She finished her regular school year, but came to visit now because she'll be taking summer classes and won't come with David for our usual summer visit. But she was able to stay for this week in May, and we were very glad to have her!

The original plan was for Jon to pick her up at the airport while the kids and I waited at home, but we decided at the last minute to all go. We were a little bit nervous about travelling with Leila, but as it was she slept the entire way there. She also slept the entire time we were in the airport. She woke up a little on the return trip and gave us a few smiles, but didn't start fussing until we were home and I was ready to feed her.

Michael and Emma still had school last week, and Jon had to work, so Susan, Leila, and I spent a lot of time together. It was fun having Susan around-- she's 20 now, but much more mature than her age and great company. We had a lot of good conversations and went out walking with the stroller when we could. She held the baby a lot and showered her with love and kisses.

It was a neat time for her to meet the baby, because she's still little like a newborn but more responsive now. The smiling thing, for example, is very recent. It's really just been this past week, when Susan was here, that I was sure those were "real" smiles. So she was able to look into Susan's eyes and they could smile at each other.

On Monday, Susan and I took a drive up to Cornell, to visit her grandparents while Mikey and Emma were at school. While we were there some of Jon's siblings stopped by-- Sally, Ann, and Eric. Susan also visited with her other Grandma (Grandma Sue), and the two of them ended up coming over so Grandma Sue could meet Leila.

The next night we had Jonathan over for dinner. Jonathan lives and works in Eau Claire while attending school for business administration. We had him over again Thursday night, for a cookout in our backyard, so Susan was able to see him a couple of times. Jon grilled hotdogs and brats, and we had a picnic outside. Everyone played "baseball" for awhile, though it was done kid-style with a big plastic bat and a tennis ball. I even took a few swings! Afterwards we had a fire outside and roasted marshmallows. It was really a nice, relaxing evening.

On Friday Mom and Dad came by for a visit, after stopping over at Aunt Margy's. Mom let me look through some fabric that she has so I could make color selections-- she's making me a quilt for our bedroom. I'm excited... we haven't had one in awhile, and now I'm old enough to appreciate it better. Laurie learned to quilt, but for some reason I never developed that interest myself. But I love the finished product!

When it was time to take Susan back to the airport, we decided that everyone would go along again. We set out early Saturday morning, so were tired when we left but otherwise seemed okay. About an hour into the trip, I started getting really sick; more than my usual car-sickness. This was just coming on me when we stopped at a McDonald's for breakfast... I didn't feel good and couldn't eat anything, but was surprised and happy to see my cousin Ann Richter, her husband Randy, and son Craig (who is about Michael's age). Ann actually came out and hugged us as we walked through the door-- what a surprise!

Ann is one of my Aunt Margy's daughters, and has always impressed me with her warm, friendly disposition. They live in Amery, but were travelling when we met them (I forget which town we were in). The picture above is Michael and Emma with their son Craig.

Anyway, after the McDonald's, I kept getting more and more sick. I had to stop and use the bathroom a couple of times along the way, and it started to be a concern whether we would get Susan to the airport on time. We did make it, but it was close. We dropped her off by the check-in door, and while she was still outside our car, saying goodbye to everyone, I started throwing up. I felt like I had the worst flu I'd ever had. My body was achy, I was cold and hot, and my stomach was just wrenching. I've had a cold for awhile, so in between vomiting had to blow my nose and cough a lot. Misery! And very poor timing.

The ride home was dreadful. Poor Jon drove while I sat next to him and threw up in the diaper bag. The miracle was that baby Leila slept the whole time-- all the way to Minneapolis and back again. We made it home, and I went straight to bed. Once I was out of the car I stopped throwing up, so motion sickness must have been aggravating my flu. Still, I spent the weekend mostly in bed, able to take care of the baby but not do much else. I'm better now but still not 100% and haven't regained my appetite yet.

I hope this illness doesn't get passed on to Susan or any of the family we visited with this week!