Home to battle the bug

Cap'n Quinn has successfully invaded the north, only to return wounded, a victim of the region's most dangerous weapon -- its cool weather.

In other words, Quinn had a great time meeting Daddy's side of the family in Minnesota and North Dakota. But he came back with a chest cold and ear infections. He's a tough little fella, though, and he's handling it like a pro.

Our trip north was a great expedition.

We flew two hours on an airplane. Quinn slept.

We drove five hours to North Dakota. Quinn slept.

We did both of those things again. Quinn slept.

Quinn got baptized. OK, he didn't sleep for this one. Probably because it was a nice, private ceremony in Garrison at Shepherd of the Lake Lutheran Church -- nice both for its poignancy and its brevity. He wore the same christening gown worn more than a century ago by a grandfather on Mommy's side of the family. It looked like big, long, baby wedding dress. But it wasn't, so we'll call it a gown.

Quinn got to meet his Great-grandma Sack in Inkster, N.D., and also see where Daddy went to school at the University of North Dakota. He also got kicked out of his first bar (slash restaurant) -- not that that's ever happened to Daddy (cough, cough) -- in Grand Forks, N.D., though that was due to some jerk of a restaurant employee quibbling over the details of some new state law affecting minors in places that serve booze.

While all that was fun, minus the getting kicked-out part, the most important part of the trip was meeting with Daddy's family -- especially Uncle Ken, Auntie Tara and Auntie Toni. While he had already spent time with Grandma and Grandpa Siemers, he hadn't met Daddy's brother and sisters yet. That doesn't mean, however, that spending time with Grammy and Grandpa wasn't great. They were pretty impressed with his cuteness skills when he was a few weeks old -- now they're charter members of the Cap'n Quinn Fan Club.

To commemorate the trip, here' s a collection of pictures to enjoy.

Hangin' with Daddy at UND's Ralph Engelstad Arena:













Meeting Uncle Wayne (Daddy's old college roommate) and Auntie Christina in Grand Forks:













Getting baptized:













Getting some love from Auntie Toni:












Proud Godparents, Auntie Tara and Uncle Hal:











Liking the view from over Uncle Ken's shoulder:












Getting inspected by the DeShaw family:











My Grandma taking care of me: