Belview, MN and Old Sod Day (Sept 17-21)

This is going to be a long post.  We went up to Belview, MN to visit Great Grandma Bjorndalh and Bjorn's relatives.  The weather was so nice and cool up there and of course it was still hot down here so it was a nice break from the heat!  Gavin did really well on the plane ride up- we actually all slept the whole way, but considering that our flight was at 6:30 am and we left the house about 4 we all needed a nap!

When we got to Minneapolis we went to Avis to get the car and look at this bad boy!  I had a hard time returning it! 

Then we drove out to Belview which is about a 2 hour drive.   Gavin and I both slept again.  We hung out at Great Grandmas and walked around town.  I bought some raffle tickets again, but I wasn't a big winner this year :-(  Then it was time for the "big" parade.  Gavin was really excited for the parade and best part in this small town they still throw out candy- he had a grocery bag that was almost full by the time the parade was over!!  Here are some pictures from the parade:

Waiting

 I'm sure he was saying "This is taking forever"

 It's finally starting!

 The beginning of the parade.

 My favorite "float" there aren't any actual real floats in the parade.

 I should have take a picture of the huge bag of candy he had.

We spent a lot of time just hanging out in Grandma's yard with family.  One day we went to lunch over in the big town of Vesta.  Here's the cafe.  Where else would you find parking in the middle of the street it was so weird!

The cafe.

 Street parking- I mean how weird is that!

After lunch Gavin spent some time washing and fixing the bikes that Great Grandma had in her yard for decoration, but they still worked and Gavin rode them a lot when we were there. 

WD 40 would actually be a good Christmas gift idea for him.  He uses it a lot.  He has a lot of trouble with his bike so he spends a lot of time fixing it-- it's really cute.
We also had lunch at the cafe in downtown (only funny if you've been to Belview).  Here are a few pictures at the cafe:

 Everybody in MN loved his cowboy boots.  Even got lots of comments in the airport.

 Janet's sister and husband have a team of horses and a wagon.  So they hitched up the horses and took us for a ride.  It was pretty chilly and very windy, but it was a lot of fun!  Gavin LOVED driving them.

Our trip went to quickly.  It was great to see everybody and we all had a good time visiting.  Next year is the 125th anniversary of the City of Belview, so maybe we'll make it back.  We will not however come for a visit anytime between November 1 and May 1.  Some great family pictures-

 Need a donut for the ride to the airport!

 When we got into Minneapolis we went to the 5 - 8 club for a Juicy Lucy.  We saw it on the food network-- it was really good- there is another place that serves up a different version of the Juicy Lucy- we'll have to try them next and put our vote in our favorite!  But really can you go wrong with a cheese stuffed hamburger?

If you've always read this blog last time we went to Belview I won 2 Adirondack chairs in a raffle (click HERE for that post) - they finally got to come home. 



One funny story from the trip.  Gavin was looking for Janet and he said: "Where's Grandma, not Great Grandma, just old Grandma?"  it was too funny.



Y'all stay warm this winter!