Lil' Log: Making it an Annual Event

Mama and I started our familial road trip solo this year. We departed Minneapolis on Thursday morning, fortified with scones, a decaf Americano (Mommy), and watered down coffee (Mama), heading due south to retrieve our little babe from Nana and Papou's house. The weather in Minnesota has been atrocious this week. Morris, MN was the hottest place on earth yesterday. Literally. Hotter than Dubai. Hotter than Bangkok, the shores of the Red Sea, and the Brazilian rainforest. So hot, in fact, that most of South Minneapolis lost power on Tuesday evening in the midst of a 120 degree heat index and dew point of 87, prompting Nana to kindly volunteer for an impromptu Lili stay-cation in Owatonna. Which actually worked out splendidly, since Mommy had loads of errands to run, copious bags to pack, and multiple Season 4 episodes of Dawson's Creek to watch. Priorities, ya'll.

After fetching Lili (and subsequently talking her off a ledge regarding the "too plain" factor of a miniature bunny and miniature duck I brought along as a road trip surprise) we hit the pavement en route to South Dakota. Based on our West Coast road tripping experience last summer, I figured (hoped) that 3 1/2 hours in the car wouldn't be too much of a debacle with the toddler set. And it wasn't. Too much. Until we a) stopped for lunch and Lili practically had to be sedated at the thought of encountering either loud music or other sentient human beings in the restaurant and b) she hopped up on her tiny soapbox and successfully lobbied against a much needed nap until we were less than 20 minutes outside of Sioux Falls. Good times.

When our caravan finally touched down, we were greeted with cold beers, a plethora of 7-year old treasures that were pure magic to our 3-year old, and an amazing dinner of salmon with red curry, brussel sprouts and walnuts, and corn salad. Decidedly delectable, South Dakota.