Meeting the Newlyweds and a Birthday Dinner

We were up at 5:45 a.m. (Tom an hour earlier) and finally got out the door at 8:00 a.m. There are always more last-minute things to do then we expect.

2015-06-26 003 002

We drove to Merrillville, where we chatted for a bit with Linda's parents, who had already eaten their breakfast. They took off (heading to Rush Lake, MN) and Grandma H & Uncle Dan showed up to eat with us and then take our dog Jolie for her two week vacation at Grandma's house.

2015-06-26 002 003

Our drive for the day was uneventful. Chloe put in a couple of hours toward the 50 she needs to log, which she began on last year's trip to Minnesota! We stopped for our traditional lunch at Culver's in Wisconsin. We had a few silly moments, and all enjoyed singing "You Make Me Smile" (Uncle Kraker) in harmony.

2015-06-26 004 005

2015-06-26 004 006

We arrived at our hotel, across the street from the Mall of America, at about 6:30 p.m. After freshening up a bit we shuttled over to the mall where we met our newlyweds, Seth & Maddie, who had been honeymooning in upper Michigan and the U.P. over the past week. After a little shopping we all headed to the Hard Rock Cafe where we celebrated Leah's birthday, complete with a live band that serenaded her with an improvised birthday song. It was really cute and a fun way to end our long day.

2015-06-26 004 012