Weekend Reunion

We headed to the cities for a reunion staying in a hotel near the Mall of America. The girls did relatively well on the drive up, thanks to a dvd player some friends loaned us.

Gabi helped Grandpa bring in the bags. If you can't tell, she could have ridden on it all day.
Grandma and Grandpa had their hands full. I don't think it was a very relaxing weekend for them, but we sure appreciated the help. Especially since Dustin couldn't make it. I don't have a picture of it, but Karis thoroughly enjoyed the pool. I love the look of pure joy that comes on little faces when something delights them. I feel like I've lost that ability to live in the moment completely when something delights me. Too often I enjoy the moment but I'm thinking of all the other things on my mind.
Gabi and I enjoyed the weather by going on a beautiful nature walk with some of my cousins and their kiddos that were around her age. it was a little more difficult than we imagined it to be having to carry a stroller more than we got to use it. Thankfully we had a couple of guys to make it a little easier on us, but still, with the majority of the kids being under two it was a challenge. We stopped to let them throw rocks into a oversized puddle. Gabi could do this all day. The adults stood back and watched, occasionally stepping in when a rock was going the wrong way, catching up on each others lives. All of the sudden I heard a thunk that made me cringe. Only one thing made that sound. A little head hitting a rock. My eyes found the source and discovered that it was my babies little head that was the noise maker. I rushed over as her screams filled the air. Blood was gushing out as only scalp wounds do. And I'm ashamed to admit this, but in the midst of my panic for my baby I inwardly cringed because I had chosen that day of all days to wear white. That though was fleeting, however as I pulled her, blood and all, close to comfort her. Family jumped in to put pressure on the wound which was thankfully close to the hairline. PTL! Her screams soon subsided, and the bleeding soon stopped, but we had a LONG ways back and it was an uphill climb with LOTS of stairs. I thought I was going to die by the time I got to the top and I'm sure we looked like the walking wounded with both of our faces blood spattered and my top COVERED in blood. I was grateful I got in on clearance because I was positive it was ruined. I thought we would be getting stitches, but my mom, a nurse, and my cousin a policeman, assured me they could fix her up with some butterfly tape, etc. I'm glad I have so many cousins because we needed all of them to help us. Some to go to the store, some to patch Gabi up, etc, etc, etc.... :-)
See, it really isn't that bad... just a scraped up nose and a fairly deep cut, but no bone showing, so I guess it wasn't that bad. She is currently fine, and the cut looks great.
Now for the most amazing tip of the weekend, and you probably already knew this, but I didn't. Hydrogen Peroxide takes blood right out of clothes. Out of pretty much anything, actually. My policeman cousin told me this. Yep, bubbles it right out. I saw it with my own eyes. My white shirt, which I foolishly worried about, is white again. You would never know that it had any blood on it at all. So, the next time you get blood on something, don't sweat it, just pull out the H.P. :-)