This weekend my family drove up to Minnesota to visit my cousins (mom's side). I absolutely love going there. They live out of the way, sort of in the country. I swear we drove past more farmland trying to get to their house than we pass in Iowa. And when we get there, our cell phones are in roam, neighbors are a good hundred feet away from one another, and town is about a fifteen minute drive away. The partial isolation is kind of nice.
I know it's not said as much these days, but I really do love my family. Sure, here and there we had a temper tantrum from the four-year-old and some insensitive comments from the eighth-grader, but who said families are perfect? Besides, I'm pretty sure the eighth-grader was more juiced up on his newly-acquired testosterone than anything else. Being with them, I can see their growth and learn new things (I didn't know Polish sausage was venison, or that vacuum salesmen could be so relentless).
What did we do? Aside from a day of shopping (in which I got some wardrobe updates, like these shoes), we spent a lot of time around the house. We played Frisbee in their cornfield (with this kind. It goes so far! We had to climb over the wire fence on the property line to go fetch it once, and another time had to climb a tree), swung dangerously on their tire swing, and were introduced to their four outdoor cats (Mittens and Lilly being my favorites). I would go on, but I suppose you know the typical family stuff: sitting and talking, etc. The last thing of note was play chess and watch "Get Smart", a movie that I had forgotten how much I enjoyed. My favorite clip is posted below.
All things must end, and it's nice to be back home. Visiting family is great, but we would probably be under each others' skin had we stayed longer. Our trip was short and sweet. The perfect kind.
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