A Bundle of Myrrh

Phil and I took a little “vacation” to Omaha this weekend…without our babies. I thought it would be so refreshing to be able to get a whole night of sleep again, but Clara actually began to sleep through the night right before we left! But it was nice to get away, have other people clean and cook for me and have some time to read a book for more than 15 minutes. For our first night we stayed downtown in a fancy shmancy hotel called Magnolia. Tres moderne et chic!

Since I’ve begun keeping a house I’ve become a big fan of hotels and I’m very easily impressed. I wanted to cry last year when we had to leave the Holiday Inn Express we stayed in for a conference we went to, and it was only because they had cable and a coffee maker, so the Magnolia was the cats pajamas of hotels!

Here’s their website for more information:
http://www.magnoliahotelomaha.com/omaha.aspx

A marble bathroom!

With the bigest guest shampoo and conditioner I’ve ever seen.

State of the art workout room with flat screen tvs ON the tredmills and sauna (that’s pronounced “sowna” if your Kristina).

Valet parking! (Phil was not the valet as this picture and caption might suggest.) Oh and I forgot to mention their complimentory glass of wine during happy hour and milk and cookies before bedtime. Zing!

Our second night we stayed in a “lodge” hotel. I have to say it was a bit more comfortable and more what we’re used to. While the “Mag” was hip and very nice, I was ready for some where I could finally let my belly hang out.

It had a cute little kitchen with Folgers coffee.

AND Bath and Body Works lotions and washes! Coconut Lime Verbena scented! Mmmm. What a luxurious vacation we had! It took me a day to unwind but then it was about time to come home, but I’m very glad we got to do it. I sure missed my babies!

Phil’s parents came up to watch the girls for us. Lily was a little wary of Grampy at first, but they quickly became best buds.

Your an instant best friend if you take her outside!

Finally a little time to get away. Phil and I spent a few days in Minnesota and Iowa. We stopped in Sioux Falls, SD to see “the falls”. We had no idea we’d find what we did in the middle of the city. It was worth the stop.

Lily wanted to see the falls from the lookout tower. I didn’t know how many flights of stairs it would take to get up there, we’d decided not to take the elevator. Not the best decision I’ve ever made. And after the hike up she couldn’t even see over the rail. Oh well.

We made it to Otter Tail, MN where we’d spend a few days fishing. You can see the cabin we stayed in behind Phil.

Northern Pike just can’t resist a juicy silver spoon lure. We caught a lot of these, which was very fun, until I learned they have teeth. We weren’t landing cute slippery little fish anymore but little finned alligators! Phil thought they were adorable.

They have tongues too!

I caught two of these monsters.

Here’s what we were able to keep. 3 Northern Pikes and a Bass.

I wasn’t sure they were dead but got close enough for a quick picture anyway. I think my hand was ready to dole out a “Vulcan Death Grip” should anything move.

I like my Pike much better this way! Yum!

On our way to Iowa we stopped in Stillwater MN the home of Loome Theological Booksellers. Phil was in heaven or something like it I’m sure he imagines. It was fascinating to see so many books in this old church. Here’s a little about the store from their website:

“Founded in 1981 by Dr. Thomas M. and Karen Loome, Loome Theological Booksellers is dedicated to providing discerning readers with hard-to-find scholarly and classic Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, and related books purchased throughout North America and Europe. Our bookshop, housed in the beautifully restored Old Swedish Covenant Church in Stillwater, is the largest secondhand dealer of theological books in the world. We supply institutional libraries, monastic communities, churches, clergy, scholars, and collectors with a vast array of books in theology, religion, and all related areas.”

Have you ever seen him happier?

My piece of heaven was found in dark chocolate peanut clusters at a little candy store downtown. Talk about “Vulcan Death Grip”, no one was gonna take that bag of chocolate from me.

Just outside of Stillwater was a German restaurant, The Gasthaus Bavarian Hunter. I couldn’t wait to have some schnitzel, Phil looked forward to the beer. We were pleased with what we found here.

How could we not have liked this place? As soon as I saw our waitress I knew this would be good! It made me really miss my dirndl.

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Our final destination was Fredericksburg, IA where Phil spent a year as Vicar at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church under Pastor Ron Koch. I was excited to see where he’d lived and learned so much about becoming a Pastor and to spend some time with the Koch family. The members of St. Paul’s were so happy to see him and meet me.

We stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast, quite luxurious I thought.

Our room had a king size bed with soft sheets and tons of pillows! A pregnant woman’s dream come true, next to all you can eat dark chocolate peanut clusters of course.

We picked up some fried chicken and had a picnic in the park.

Visiting Fredericksburg was a nice way to end our vacation. After a potluck the church held for us we headed home.