Day 5 and then head home

I woke up at 4:45 AM and rested in the living room. Shelley and five children woke up at 7:30 AM, clearly exhausted from the busy past few days.

At 11:00 AM, they reserved two jet skis. After breakfast, we headed to the beach. I bought essentials, including ice, from the store. Back at the beach, I took photos while we relaxed. At 1:30 PM, we returned to the cabin for a snack and to unwind.

Since Shelley had a bunch of Grammy games planned for the week, only four were done that afternoon. By the time evening rolled around, we whipped up some fajitas super fast and then got ready for bed.

All the adults gathered around the fire, as it was our final evening together. As it had been most of the week, the wood was wet, and the fire was very smoky. We did our best to sit where the smoke wouldn’t bother us, but it didn’t matter where I moved—the smoke seemed to come right at me. It was such a bummer, but again, the conversation was good.

The next morning, I woke up at 5:45 a.m. and slowly began packing and making breakfast. Today, breakfast consisted of leftovers, including bacon, sausage, eggs, yogurt, watermelon, berries, and bread.

We packed right after breakfast, and by 9:30 a.m., the car was full and I was ready to leave. Everyone except Shelley decided to go for a walk to burn off some of the kids' energy before leaving. It was around 10:30 a.m. when they headed back to Minneapolis. I called Shelley to ask where she was, and she said she was in the middle of Brainerd, Minnesota. I wondered why she was there, and she explained that GPS had led her that way. It turned out she had entered Maple Grove Township, located on the west side of Brainerd, and then became lost entirely.

I guided her to the correct road to Maple Grove, Minnesota, where she was meeting Allison at a Chipotle. She had two grandchildren with her, and they needed to reach the airport by 1:30 p.m. If I hadn't called her and spoken with her, she probably wouldn't have arrived on time. It was very stressful. She arrived at the Maple Grove Chipotle about 20 minutes later than planned. That was a relief.

They arrived at the airport on time, and their flight home was smooth. Leslie picked up a large mirror from our house and left town by 2:30 p.m. They planned to stop in Des Moines, Iowa, and stay in a hotel to make the trip back to Fayetteville easier. I unloaded the car, unpacked boxes, and mowed the lawn before Shelley got home. Exhausted, we both went to bed early. We’ll rest for two days before moving her ailing father to Minnesota in Nebraska. The past two weeks have been packed and tiring.

Carry on my friends, carry on!