Diane and I got up early-ish and packed for the next phase of our trip. We said goodbye to mom and headed to the airport via uber. It had been really nice staying  with Mom.. Its good to see her in such a great surrounding. 

The flight to DC was uneventful.. we took advantage of a longish layover in Chicago to take a long walk there.. We’re there pretty often because we always fly United.. so it feels home-ish.
We landed at DCA aroudn 6-ish.. and Uber’d to see our frond Caroline and her baby Anna Kate.  Carolines mother in law.. and our good freind Kate drove in from state college to see us. Carolines husband Matthew was out of town.. but coming back on Saturday. CarolineMatthew and Anna live in a really cute town house only about 23 miles from our hotel… We got take out Indian and played with baby Anna. , 

 

Then over to our hotel for our NAE weekend

nite all, nite sam

-me

Today we met up with our very good friends Karen and Jeff. Jeff and I were office mates in england in 1984 and we’ve stayed good friends ever since. He’s one one of my most valuable mentors when it comes to figuring out life. Jeff and Karen moved to MPLS from Rochester a while back (10 years ?).. they live closish to my sister on the Minihahahahahahahaha parkway (I just love saying minihaha). They fixed us a yummy lunch then we all went for a walk along the lakes. It was so nice catching up !

From there we met Mary and headed to our nephew Jakes football game at Edina High School. I had not been to a football game in a very long time.. it was fun watching Jake play and interact with the other kids.  !.. he  even had a great touchdown experience !

From Jake’s game we headed to our niece Ellery’s soccer game. It was senior night for her.. where they celebrated all the senior players. The players all got recognized with a person they chose as an inspiration and a1st grade mentee. Ellery chose her brother Jake to take on the field with her 🙂  

Thats more sports than I get in a decade… it was fun !
We Then  went back to the house for some tasty take out noodles.. then back to moms to sleep 

Nite all, nite sam

-me

 

Diane and I woke early and went for a run around Boom and Nicolette islands in the Mississippi .  These islands are small chunks of land in the river with parks and cute houses… we did about a 5 mile loop.  My mom lives in a really beautiful place..   When My mom woke up we went out for another 3 mile walk around the same area..

 

 

After a quick lunch we headed out to the Minneapolis Arboretum (The Arb).. which was an amazing place !.. 

We ended up with a great Indian dinner at a place walking distance from my moms. Its a beautiful place to walk around at night

Another nice day !
nite all, nite sam

-me

Diane and I woke up before 4AM today to get to the airport for our trip to Minneapolis. We were heading there to see my mom and sister’s family on our way to  DC.. 

 

My sister Mary  met us at the airport with her old friend Cal who was also visiting. We headed back to Mary’s  and met up with my Mom. We all headed out for a walk in the great fall weather.. Mary  showed us this cool Pencil a friend had made out of a dead tree in their front yard. 

After the walk.. we headed back to my moms where I ended up sleeping for 2 hours.. then back to Marys for great take out sushi..  

 

Really nice to be here with family

nite all, nite sam

-me