Joel, Ben and Cory...the Sullivan Cousins!
Joel, Kristen and Cory...apparently I fit right in!
Me making funny faces at the bar with Tommy, David, and Joey!
Uncle Dale, Cousin Joey, Ben, and Uncle Danny!
Ben and I in front of Mall of America! Ben is not happy in the cold!
Ella and her Aunt Jan!
The Sullivans!
The Amusement Park inside the Mall of America!!! Crazy!!!This weekend Ben and I headed to Minneapolis, MN for the Sullivan Family Reunion weekend!
It was a blast and Ben's family is so awesome, but the -20 degree weather is well... COLD!
However, there are a lot of things that happen in -20 degree weather that those of us from the south (aka..me) would never know.
For instance:
1. If you are outside for longer than 10 min and sniff, your nostrils stick together (this is based on experience)
2. If you blow bubbles outside they freeze in midair and land safely on the ground without popping. They get rock hard and bounce down the street (Thanks to Ben's 4 year old cousin Ella for letting us borrow a bottle of bubbles to test this theory)
3. If you are a dog and you go outside to do your business...it steams for approximately 5 minutes. (Again, thanks to Joel and Mindi's dog Gabe for the demonstration)
4. Everyone in Minneapolis goes to Mall of America on the weekend...and I mean EVERYONE!
So here's the recap of our weekend!
Ben was in San Francisco last week for work, and I was in Raleigh...so Ben and I actually met in Minneapolis. We were like one of those long distance couples greeting each other in the airport! (Minus tongue in mouth by the baggage claim of course! You know you've all seen those couples!)
From the airport we went straight to Joel and Mindi's house! Joel is Ben's first cousin.
There we met up with Ben's Parents, a bunch of his cousins, and 5 of Ben's 8 uncles & aunts! We ate pizza and drank a lot of beer and had a great time catching up!
I also got to spend some time bonding with cousins Ella, Olivia, Joey, Tommy, and David! They were all just too cute for words!
Saturday we were up and out the door and back over to Joel and Mindi's for a quick lunch. Then the group headed to Mall of America! I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.
Not only is it the biggest mall EVER but it's got an amusement park and a Lego Land inside!
There was a lot to do at Mall of America and it was just too overwhelming. We spent some time just walking and browsing around with Ben's Uncle David but I ended up spending the majority of my time at the American Girl store with Ella. Now I understand why little girls are fascinated with the American Girl phenomenon. I bought Little Ella a volleyball outfit for her American Girl! I couldn't resist!
After the American Girl store and a trip to Lego Land, I left Ella with her mom Mindi and headed upstairs to meet the men at the bar. Ben had been hanging with his uncle Danny and Cousin Cory at the bar for the past couple of hours so I realized I had some catching up to do! A couple of jager bombs later and we left Mall of America and headed to the Chicago Bar near the hotel.
That's when the Sullivan Party kicked into full gear!
The night ended with dinner at Dave's BBQ and a party in the Hotel Lobby!
Sunday it was to the airport and then we came home and crashed!!!
It was definitely a fun weekend and I am so happy I got the chance to meet so much of Ben's family!
Thanks for the hospitality Joel and Mindi!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment