Dang it man, I really miss that crisp fall weather! Even in Texas we’ve gotten some cooler weather this time of year. But this year that has not been the case. There’s a chance we’ll break the all-time high today as we push 90 degrees. We had thoughts of taking Johnny out to the local pumpkin patch for some fall fun, but the idea of it being 90+ degrees makes that very unappealing. But, our lack of cool weather is soon to change as we head north for 10 days o’ fun.
Friday morning we’ll depart Austin for Minneapolis. It obviously will be Johnny’s first time on a plane and first time leaving the state. We’ll pick up a rental car, make a few stops, and hit the highway for South Dakota. It may be very late in the afternoon when we arrive, but the plan is to hit up the Willow Lake Halloween carnival with all of Johnny’s cousins on my side of the family. We’ll hang out on the farm all day Saturday and Sunday, and at some point early in the week we’ll return to Minneapolis where we’ll spend the rest of the trip.
I of course grew up with essentially one cousin, Katie Wilkins. Johnny already has Peyton, Emerson, Hudson, Colton, Hadley, Adrienne, Abby, Owen, Annika, and now Theodore as first cousins… already he’s not the youngest of the bunch! He’ll get to meet them all on the trip. Well, maybe not “meet” since he’ll be two months old, but there will be photos of him and his cousins posing together anyway.
Other highlights of the trip will just be visiting friends and Lauren’s family in Minnesota. Perhaps we’ll hit up a couple old favorite restaurants or something, but it won’t be the same as past visits where we go on beer binges. If we time things right, we might even be in town when Baby Walshichetti arrives!
Baxter, meanwhile, will be setting up shop at DogBoys, where he’ll have to spend 11 nights! It will cost more than a plane ticket, but it’s for his own damn good. After all the times friends have watched him for free, we can afford to splurge this once.
I don’t have any PTO left, so I had to take Baby Bonding leave and don’t get paid a dime for the 6 days of work I’ll miss. But, such is life.
Ryan Glanzer Blog 
We’re all excited to have the whole family together again. I’ll have the liquor stash stocked up, board games ready, (Ann is already getting her vulgar answers prepared!) and plenty of food. There will be no peace and quiet, so I hope you’re not planning on that. Happy travels! Can’t wait to see young Johnny again.