To Canada! Part Two

Charles and Grandpa Midwinter, also known as GG Al

The next day we were off to Brandon to see the Midwinter side of the family.  We met Parker (Charles' cousin) and GG Al at the Royal Oak Inn for lunch.  Parker happily entertained Solomon's hypothetical questions about mythical and fictional people/creatures and games (Q: What imaginary creature would you use to create an army? A: Dragons (Parker),  centicores (Solomon).  In fact it lead to an interesting conversation about gravity, space exploration, and if I remember correctly, battery technology.

Nova, Solomon, and Parker

We had hoped to see Uncle Brian and Aunt Carol as well, but Carol was quite sick and they were unable to come.  They kindly covered our hotel room, in liue of us staying at their apartment, which was the orginal plan.  

After lunch, GG Al visited in our hotel room and at the pool. Ariadne kept bringing him shoes.  The game evolved in to a tickle-tickle one.  They hit it off quite well!  As we headed for the pool, GG Al quietly slipped me a bag of candy for the kids, so that I could distribute it at an opportune time.  While the kids and I swam, Charles and GG Al got a chance to talk one on one.    

Ariadne and GG Al

The next day it was time to go home.  We passed the Half Way Tree (landmark from the Midwinter kids' childhood) on the way from Brandon to Winnipeg.  I had never been to Manitoba in the Spring, and while everything was greening up, I missed the colorful crops of Summer.  While Minnesota seems to have only corn and soybeans Manitoba has beautiful blue flax, bright yellow canola, and tall sunflowers that follow the sun each day.  

The Half Way Tree

Near the U.S.-Canadian border we passed a number of large wind farms.  Though I know these exist in Minnesota too, they were quite a spectacle.

Wind Farm

Our trip back we had a much happier baby.  The secret?  Let her play with objects that aren't baby toys! (but are still safe of course).  This included cardboard drink carriers, the silicon lid to my reusable coffee cup, shoes, and empty bottles.  

We relied on books on CD and music to entertain the rest of us.  'Lefty and Tighty' by the Okee Dokee Brothers became the anthem of the trip, much as Raffi's 'The More We Get Together' had been the only thing that could keep us going when we went to Oklahoma when Solomon was fifteen months old ('Rafi Song!' he would request again and again and again).  We also enjoyed the Okee Dokee Borthers song about alien neighbors, 'The Extraterrestrials'.  Around St Cloud Chuck broke down and bought a CD with some grown up music.  Diary of a Whimpy Kid, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon, The 100 Dresses, and half of The Extrodinary Education of Nicholas Bennedict were the books we listened to.  Who knew driving 30 hours in a three day weekend could be so painless?  (Yes, family who makes this trip more regularly, it would not have taken you 30 hours, but that was as fast as we could go).  All in all we had a wonderful trip!