Our Little Family Vacation

Well, we've been busy having fun and running everywhere lately, so no surprise I haven't found time to post! I may have to do mostly pictures to catch all the way up:) 

Dave had a week off in early June and I know this sounds funny, but we kind of forgot about it. I know! Often those weeks off are committed to plans early on and we tend to not plan a bunch of trips ourselves (and oh yeah, we had another babe, so we didn't expect to go crazy this year:) But we realized we had an unplanned week to ourselves and so we (me! I wanted to get out!) decided not to just hang at the house and endlessly work on/create more projects to do/cleaning. 

We looked up the Twins to see if they were home (yes!) and decided to return to the Cities and replicate a fun trip we took up there two years ago (it was a little crazy repeating this vacation - last time we had a four-month-old Collin instead of Ayden!) Kate had been asking to go back to the aquarium and so - voila! Done! We booked a suite room at a hotel near the Mall of America and bought tickets at a premium so we could make it easier on ourselves with the kids. 

Last time! 2013 with little Collin

Last time! Little Kate:)

The beautiful morning of our trip (we had the best summer weather for it!)
Also, Kate's first day of swim lessons in Mauston

Traveling with kiddos these ages can be...difficult:)
But I kind of love how we have to take a slow, easy-going approach to our trips!
This is an unexpected stop in Eau Claire to play and nurse Ayden.

Stopped at the hotel, changed and heading to the game!
Dave had such a great attitude about the whole thing (timing, traffic, directions) and got us there at the perfect time!

The kids were stoked
and oh yeah...we stopped at Target and picked up some Twins gear (for Collin) 

Love the skyways in Minneapolis!

Of course a nice woman took our picture
(see the big glove in the background? We weren't going to wait in line. Maybe next time:)

I wish I could have videoed Collin for the first hour we were in the ballpark.
He was enthralled

Look who we found at the park! (my Uncle Jerry, Aunt Jackie, Cousin Tammie and her husband Mike!)
We had a lot of empty seats around us,
so I convinced them to come down for the last part of the game. Super fun!
I also spotted my mom's cousin Darryl and his wife when we were leaving the field at the end. It's a small world.
And we all love the Twins!

Hmmm...end of the game...can you tell?  :)

Walking back to the van...
The kids did AMAZING. I couldn't believe it. All of them. We barely got up from our seats, we didn't spend a fortune on food/drink. No one was spilled on:) Besides me if you count spit-up! They all made it to the end.
Honestly, the only bummer was the Twins lost!

We spent the extra cash on the good tickets and selectively picked our seats, the kids brought their gloves and were into it, I had a beer and nachos, we got to hang with family and it was easy getting in and out of the park. A total and resounding success. It was a very late night and of course, that messes with the kids, but they have never adhered to a strict schedule anyhow, so we can roll with that. 

Our hotel set up was this: a suite with two rooms/kitchen. The bedroom had two beds (didn't seem even a queen size, more like a full) and there was a huge bathroom off the bedroom. Dave and Collin slept in one bed, Kate and I in the other. Ayden in the pack and play. We were able to put them to bed and stay out in the other room later and watch some TV. The "living room" part also had a pull out bed which I used to nurse Ayden in the early morning. Then the kids played on it and watched cartoons in the morning. It wasn't too fancy, but it worked great. We also just walked across the street to the MOA. Nice. 

The next morning Dave drove to a Target to pick up a new stroller we wanted (woo hoo!) and the kids and I got ready and cleaned up the hotel room. They could watch the Metro come by every five minutes and the planes overhead...a nice distraction! We then headed to the MOA to see the aquarium and maybe do some shopping.

They woke up quite early for being up so late the night before

Watching the trains, planes and automobiles

Walking over to the MOA

First stop....coffee!!
(not Kate, just Dave and I:)

The aquarium! She loves it, but won't touch anything

Jellyfish, very cool

I get the heebee-jeebees with some animals. This guy included-
he was some giant crab from Japan. Look how big he is!!!

This tunnel goes on forever, so cool!

That is a giant turtle by Collin's head

Time for a snack!

We cut the MOA a little short of what I expected. We didn't go into Nickelodeon Universe and instead opted for naps back at the hotel:) We then were able to meet my Uncle Bob and Aunt Shelley for supper at a fun place that had moose and animals all over. Ayden was uncharacteristically fussy which had Dave and I a little rattled. The food was amazing, but I can't remember the name of the place! We then went back to the hotel to do some quick swimming before bath and bed. It was Ayden's first time in a swimming pool! Collin had more fun throwing balls in to Kate and some other kids that were there. Kate immediately attached herself to an older girl who was there  - thankfully the other girl was super sweet and friendly, all the kids thought our kids were fun and cute. So, that was actually really helpful! 

The next day we cleaned up, checked out and headed over to the Como Zoo and Conservatory. It was another beautiful morning and we certainly weren't the only people with this grand idea! I am still struck by the crowds everywhere during the summer. It shouldn't be a surprise, I guess. I'm very glad we didn't do a weekend! When we got to Como the boys were both sleeping and so I took Kate out and we walked to a playground that was drowning in summer camp/field trip kids - awesome. Kate was a little distracted by the kids - they were all Muslim and the girls had these beautiful headscarves and skirts, I think Kate wanted to dress like them:) Soon, the boys were up and we walked over to the zoo. However, I think our favorite part was the conservatory! It was just....gorgeous and a great way to slow/calm down the kids before our ride home. 

Climbing

This thing is cool

Happy after a nursing session in the shade

We forgot Ayden's hat in the car, so he got a souvenir!

The Fern Room

So beautiful!

Heading to the Japanese garden
The bonsai trees were so cool

This was so peaceful

The tea house

Family pic!

The ride home started out great, everyone slept. As we got closer and they woke up, it was a bit harder. We were home in plenty of time to unpack and have normal bedtimes. A fun trip and Dave still had another day off! (he worked Friday to make up a day he took during Ayden's paternity leave). 

We did what every family does when they get back from a vacation....
we went to the Dells! :) We went to Paul Bunyan's Cook Shanty for breakfast
and picked up Abby and our CSA share in the rain 

Umm...it is an all-you-can-eat family-style place :)
Fun atmosphere and gift shop, a Wisconsin Dells classic

We have started trying some solids with Ayden! He is SO interested in our food!
So far, we've just done sweet potatoes and he likes them!

Friday night we attended a wine event at the hospital, fun night out for us
(and Ayden, we took him along:)

I was wearing heels and a dress. I made our babysitter take a picture of us before they left:)

What a week!