A Trip to Morels

Today the kids returned to school after a 4-day weekend. Jon was able to time it so that he had four vacation days to spend with us, as well. So we packed in as much quality family time as we could.

The "quality family time" started Friday afternoon, with a long overdue trip to Madison. Laurie and Mark agreed to put up with us (kids, dogs, and all) for an overnight stay, so we could meet up with the rest of the family and eat at their restaurant, Morels, one more time.

Morels will be closing the end of this month. It was a hard and painful decision for both of them; they have put their hearts and souls into the place (especially Mark), and under their care Morels has grown into something special. But the tough economy and many expenses related to keeping a large building operational finally caught up with them.

All of us who could make it over on Friday night were there-- Mom and Dad, Bob, and John and Jim gathered with us. Laurie ate with us, too, but Mark was busy hosting. He popped in to say hello and see how we were doing when he could.

It was busy there that night-- the place was packed. Laurie said that it had been that way ever since they'd announced their closing in the beginning of January. Sometimes there's a 45 minute wait for seating (and that's something... the building has a capacity of over 700).

Our group was given its own private room for dining, which was nice. Dad has trouble hearing in a crowd, and being off on our own like that made it easier for him to be part of the conversation.

The food (as always) was great. Several of us had the mushroom soup... I can't even explain how creamy and good it is. I also had pork schnitzel with spaetzle and sweet and sour carrots (hope I didn't mangle the spelling of those menu items too badly). The bread, the salads, the dessert (which included two of Laurie's mother-in-law's home-made pies)... were all perfect.

Laurie and Mark seemed in good spirits. It's been hard, but they always keep busy and do their best-- while still managing to be decent human beings. I'm just superstitious enough to believe that the good karma will come back to them-- what comes around goes around.

So we laughed, talked, and had a good meal. Another special aspect of the gathering was that it was just in time for Dad's 79th birthday on Saturday. Dad seemed to enjoy the birthday cards and well wishes from his children and grandchildren.

Coco LOVED staying at Laurie and Mark's house, which is a very pet-friendly kind of place. Dogs are welcome on the couch-- a little nicety that Coco seemed to embrace whole-heartedly.

It snowed while we were in Madison, and the snow continued to fall as we left on Saturday. But the roads weren't bad and everyone made it home safely.

Sunday we went to Cornell for a visit. Jonathan was able to meet us there, and our visit coincided with Jon's oldest brother Brent's visit, as well. Jon's parents were in good health and spirits. They seemed to enjoy watching the antics of their three youngest grandchildren.

I was able to talk to the Cornell minister this weekend, and he confirmed that we can have Leila's baptism at Bud and Jane's church in Cornell on Easter Sunday. They'll be having two church services that day, and her baptism will follow the 8:30 am service.

Jonathan came over Monday afternoon and had supper with us. He played chess with Michael (beating him at least once!), exchanged sassy remarks with Emma, and did some floor time with Leila. He stayed overnight so he could drive Jon to his job site in northern Minnesota (they left EARLY this morning-- 2 am!). Jonathan's using our car right now, following the untimely demise of his own car just before Christmas (it now joins the old red minivan in our Collection of Useless Vehicles We Might Fix Someday).

We only have two working vehicles, but these days Jon is able to use a company truck for his transportation needs. He wasn't able to have one over this longer, 4-day weekend, though, so needed a ride back. Jonathan kindly obliged.

It was good having Jon home for a few days. The kids "shape up" noticeably when Daddy's around. They hauled firewood and did fun things together, too. Jon and Emma rode the 3-wheeler over to Johnne's farm and picked up eggs. Emma's been helping feed last year's calves.

We finally hauled this plastic kitchenette out of storage in our old house's basement, so Leila can enjoy it. It's one of the few baby/toddler toys from the older batch of kids that I held onto.

It has little cupboard doors to open and stash food items, and should be a fun prop for Leila to practice standing up next to. Of course, once we resurrected it from the basement, Emma discovered her long-lost love for it. Tears were shed when she learned it wasn't destined for her bedroom, but a heart-to-heart talk with Daddy helped her accept the loss. Before long both girls were busy playing house.

If only we still had that little metal shopping cart that Michael learned to walk with-!