Minnesota Family Time

In the past, we have flown to the States for 2 weddings, one birthday party, and one wedding reception. This time, we planned to be there for 2 graduations, and one Mother's Day. But in a welcomed surprise we also attended a baptism, a T-ball game, a birthday lunch, and a family barbecue.

For most people, these activities are no big deal. You attend baptisms, family barbecues, and T-ball games all the time, especially if you have a big family or live in the same city as your loved ones. But for Benny and I, these standard family affairs are the activities that we read about on Facebook status updates or the recaps on Skype phone dates. Attendance usually isn't possible.

But the Volkmanns worked really hard to make our short time very special and I was so happy, grateful and in the moment, that I forget to take photos of the great things we did together.

The family

First on Friday, we had lunch with Benny's aunt and godmother, Margaret for her birthday. This wonderful lady turned 85 years old and we were happy to eat Mexican food with her, husband, and son on her special day. (I neglected to take a photo. Bad blogger.)

On Saturday, Benny's brother Jon and his wife, Kelly hosted a family barbecue at their house for the entire Volkmann clan. Olivia was terrified of these adults who knew her name, but was happy to play with the little people (her 7 cousins.) Benny and I are constantly amazed by how much Scott, Luke, Wyatt, Grace, Ava, and Sam have grown and changed since the last time we saw them.

Another attempt to take a photo of all the grandchildren. We are missing Luke in this picture, but as a bonus we have Jon and Grandma Marie.

On Sunday, we attended Hanna's baptism. Hanna, Benny's niece was born in February, and we were excited to meet her for the first time. What a sweetie. Olivia was happy to help with Hanna by rocking her in her car seat or patting her head. We often had to remind Olivia to be gentle with the baby.


Monday was a relaxing day, spent with Benny's parents. Olivia was showered with attention from Grandma Marie and she soaked it up. Grandma Marie
always had fresh fruit cut and ready for Olivia. And Olivia ate so many strawberries at one point I thought her skin was turning a shade of red.


As an added bonus, Grandma has a swing set and a park near her house, so we played outside as often as we could. Aunt Patti took the day off of work to push Olivia in the swing.


Tuesday was Grace's first T-ball game of the season. The weather turned cold and stayed cold for the rest of our trip. Apparently it was sunny and warm in April. We come from a sunny and warm climate and are treated to temps in the 50s, chilly winds and threats of snow flurries.

Grace's game face

On Wednesday we went to a Minnesota Twins game in their new(!) outdoor stadium. I'll give a full and separate report on that daylong event, including how many hot dogs I ate, later.

It was also Cinco de Mayo, so while Olivia slept and Aunt Patti babysat, Benny and I embraced our Yuma, Arizona past with margaritas. We had a date night! When Patti offered to watch Olivia for us, we practically ran out the door. We saw a movie in a movie theater. We haven't done that since before Olivia was born.

Thursday meant shopping at the one-day sale at Kohls (the girl needs 24 month clothes for this winter) while Olivia played with her male cousins at Grandma's house. And the day ended with one last meal together with Benny's siblings, parents and their children. The house was never quiet. The playing never stopped. Yet it was calm. It was a 6-day vacation that gave us a glimpse of what our life would be like if Benny wasn't in the Navy and we lived in Minnesota instead of Okinawa.

Olivia wasn't happy to leave on Friday morning.

It was time to head south and attend 2 graduations. The hustle and bustle of 7 cousins would definitely slow down in Iowa since Olivia is in the only grandchild on my side of the family. She had finally warmed up to the adults and even gave Aunt Patti a high five. She was determined to stay and play. She was determined she wouldn't have any fun at Grandma Donna's house. Until she crawled toward the toys and looked around waiting for a 2 year old Wyatt to rip it out of her hands. When that didn't happen, she giggled. Maybe being an only grandchild isn't so bad afterall.

My fairy godmother

Everyone should have a fairy godmother. My fairy godmother has red hair, drinks beer, and is the Boy Scout of mothers. She is always prepared. She is my aunt Heather.

During our most recent vacation, we decided to mix it up (and save some cash) by flying directly from Tokyo to Chicago. Yes, I know I've said before NEVER flying into OHare, but I have to admit, that direct flight was nice. Olivia did the best she has ever done on the plane, mostly contributed to the fact that our plane left Tokyo at 6 p.m. and she hadn't napped all day. After dinner, pajamas, and a short struggle that lasted 3 and half hours, she fell asleep spread across my lap.

But sleep was only a fantasy for me. Every 20 to 40 minutes, Olivia would wake up crying, so I would gently turn her over, rub her back, and hush her back to sleep. I did that for the remaining 10 hours of our flight. Not to mention that I was fighting some kind of nasty head cold, so my ears wouldn't pop.

We touched down in OHare in the afternoon, found our luggage, survived customs and immigration, before climbing into our spacious rental car that was listed as a compact. I couldn't touch Olivia's forehead from the front seat. So unusual.

We arrived at my aunt and uncle's house outside of Chicago in the evening. Exactly what time, I have no idea. Time means nothing after I've flown literally halfway across the world, haven't slept and am surviving on coffee. I remember the food, though. It was delicious. Olivia was happy to play with my cousins, who are closer in age to her than me. And Benny was excited to drink beer, and snuggle in an Iowa State Snuggie.

This brings me to my fairy godmother, Heather. Heather took great care of Benny, Olivia, and I. She let us borrow the best Pack and Play in the world, so Olivia had a place to sleep during our trek. She bought Olivia diapers, wipes, food, snacks, cottage cheese (which she is totally grossed by), and countless other goodies to keep Olivia entertained and prepared for the road trip to Minnesota. All I had to do was pack enough food and diapers for the flight. Heather took care of the rest and let me tell you it was wonderful. It saved me the panic of driving to the first Target we saw when we got on the ground or packing one suitcase with all these essential items.

Her thoughtfulness started our trip on the right tone. Like I said, every mom should have a fairy godmother like Heather when they travel internationally. Thanks again, Heather.

Happy Birthday Gramps!

Olivia blowing a Happy Birthday kiss.
After your eye appointment today, how many Olivia's do you see?


Today Grandpa Cliff has a birthday. I won't tell you how hold he turns, but that it matches the number of guard Josh Sitton's jersey on his favorite football team.

We love you Pops,
Benny, Michelle, and Olivia

In No Particular Order

Things I missed about the States:
1. Family and friends
2. The yah sure you betchas
3. Minnesota nice
4. Wide open roads
5. Rolling hills between Minnesota and Iowa
6. Snow (but in May? What a surprise!)

Things I longed for back in Japan (i.e. didn’t miss about the States)
1. ANA or JAL (Japanese airlines) customer service
2. Checking in for a flight takes 15 minutes, tops (United took us over an hour to check in after directing us all over O’Hare)
3. Mothers don’t get the “bonus” search from TSA when travelling
4. My bed
5. Sushi
6. Warm weather

Things I’m grateful for, but not limited to:
1. Great wife
2. Great family, including the in-laws and outlaws
3. Great conversations
4. DVR – thanks Patti and Bob
5. Great Grandma Lydia’s surprise appearance
6. Great seats at Target Field
7. Grandma’s triple berry pie
8. Grandma’s rhubarb crisp
9. Aunt Jane’s caramel apple pie
10. Uncle Jon’s pizza
11. Uncle Bob’s halibut and sweet potato fries
12. Microbrews
13. Great hosts that let us crash in their guest rooms
14. Great hosts Heather, Glenn, Evan and Quinn that put up with Olivia crying in the middle of the night because she thought it was time to start her day and she had a fever.
15. Waking up on our own without the O-alarm (because Grandma already got up and changed, fed, and was playing with Olivia)
16. The annual “try to get all the Volkmann grandkids in one picture” event, including watching all the grandkids swarm around in one room for 17 seconds, then disburse throughout the house like spontaneous combustion
17. Seeing the Twins play baseball outdoors
18. Cheese curds at Target Stadium
19. Walgreen’s children’s motrin – without it there was no way we could treat O’s teething fever for the flight back.
20. The man who woke us up at the gate in Osaka because Michelle, Olivia, and I had fallen asleep and almost missed our connection to Okinawa after our 4 hour layover.
21. Awesome co-pilot (same as number 1)

Unplugged and lovin' it

One month ago, Benny posted a silly video of him and Olivia. I didn't know that he posted it until I got an email from my cousin about it. At the time, things were a bit hectic. I was super sick with a head cold. I was working to get ahead at work, so my 2-week absence wouldn't be such a huge deal. And I also had the privilege of attending a Japanese fashion show (more on that later). I didn't pack until the hours before we boarded the plane. In all, I wasn't well prepared for this trip. I was just hoping to survive and reminded myself that this was our final roundtrip airplane ride between Okinawa and the United States.

Then on the 14-hour flight, I thought about this story I heard on NPR about unplugged vacations. No blackberry. No iPhone. No Facebook status updates. No blogging. No email. And in my head, it sounded like a dream.

I needed to break from the constant chatter generated by myself on the Internet. I needed to have conversations with those I was visiting. I wanted to live in the moment. No regrets. So that's what I did.

Now I'm back in the flow at work, facing the reality of my upcoming plan to hike Mount Fuji in 2 months. The suitcases are unpacked. The photos are uploaded from the camera. It's time to face reality and plug back in.

Sorry I was gone. I'm back. And I promise I won't unplug anytime soon.