A Fun Fall Weekend in Minneapolis
We had a really nice long weekend in Minneapolis. I had been wanting to visit my great friends there for a REALLY long time. My friends Libby & Jamie had twins (Emery & Easton) last April 1st and I still had not met them....I needed to see these little ones! My very good friend Dawn also lives there and I hadn't seen her for awhile either. SO....Justin needed to get some work done in the Minneapolis office and so we all decided to join him in the Twin Cities for a nice long weekend.
We made a fun vacation out of it all and the boys were VERY excited. We left Wednesday night around 8:00pm (bedtime for the boys) and stopped about 2 hours outside Minneapolis. The boys were SO wound up that they didn't even fall asleep until about 10:00. They were perfectly behaved, just too excited. They were even more excited when we got to the hotel (yes, around midnight!). They thought that being in a hotel room together was the greatest thing and they were both very giddy until about 1:00am! They were making each other laugh (actually, it was mostly Sam....who was trying to toot as loud as he could and then they'd both laugh hysterically)...it was actually pretty funny, although I just wanted them to sleep. That was our first night together in a hotel room and much much easier than I anticipated.
After breakfast at the hotel on Thursday, we made our way to Minneapolis and dropped Justin off at the IDS Center (where I started at McKinsey!). It felt good to be back there. The boys and I headed to Libby's house and arrived in time for lunch. I was so excited to meet Emery & Easton...they are so cute and fun. The little ones went down for a nap after lunch and Caleb played so nicely while Libby and I chatted away. We headed to a park after naptime...it felt good to get some fresh air and let the boys run around.
Friday, the kids all played nicely together and Dawn spent the day hanging out with us (she actually spent all day Fri & Sat w/ us all). We had lunch at Famous Daves (the original one) and spent time in a few fun shops (one had a tree house for Caleb to climb, the other had real animals all over the shop!). The kids all had fun playing together outside after naptime - it was a beautiful afternoon.
Saturday we went to a really cute pumpkin farm - - all of the kids had a blast. Caleb went through a maze on his own, everyone had fun feeding lots of animals, Caleb & Justin went down a big slide and all of the kids (including Justin & Jamie) had fun in this HUGE pit of corn. Make sure to check out all the pics. Caleb helped Jamie & Justin pick out pumpkins afterwards (he was very proud of himself) and all the little ones had fun making Jack-O-Lanterns after naptime. See pics...Caleb was so proud of his jack-o-lantern...he really drew the face by himself. I was impressed. The adults went out for a nice dinner after all the little ones were sound asleep (it didn't take much after a fun day outside). The weather while we were there was just perfect.
It was really fun to see each others kids. Jamie & Caleb were little buddies and Sammy got alot of Libby's attention. She was so excited to hear how well he talked and that made her happy to see what may be coming in the next few months. They were both shocked with how well he talks and what a little boy he is (he was on his best behavior there too....would say please and thank you without me reminding him and he was actually pretty gentle with toys!!). Sammy quickly discovered that Emery is the one he wanted to hang out with...she is alittle dare devil herself and is more likely to get in trouble than her brother. Sam probably thought that was cool. Easton and Caleb have the same laid back personality and gentle nature.
It was a GREAT visit...the kids all played really nicely together, I got in lots of much needed time w/ my great friends and even though there were 4 kids to watch, it was actually relaxing!!
We headed out Sunday morning and before we left town, we made a quick stop at a hotel to see Mary & Dick (family from Nebraska). They were there for a wedding and it was fun to see them...even if it was only for about a half hour. Caleb was excited to see them and he talked Mary's ear off.
We treated the boys to a stop in Wisconsin Dells on the way back from Minneapolis (about 3 hours from our place). It really broke up the trip and the boys were THRILLED to be at a waterpark. We decided to go to a smaller one....I wouldn't even call it a waterpark, but it was perfect for Caleb & Sam. We literally had the place to ourselves, which was very cool....the boys had a BLAST. We spent about 2 hours splashing in the water and headed out to a fun dinner afterwards. Sam & I both started feeling alittle sick and decided to drive the rest of way that night instead of staying overnight.
We haven't done much since we've been back....Justin is the only healthy one in the bunch. Caleb has croup (but is quickly getting over it)...and Sam & I are also feeling alittle better (we both just had a chest cold). You really wouldn't know that Sam is sick unless you hear him cough. He acts completely normal so it's not too serious. I still kept the boys from going to gym class and we will avoid a Birthday Party tomorrow (good thing I haven't talked it up much to Caleb...he would be devastated if he knew he was missing out on a party!!). I don't want to get anyone else sick and I want us all to rest up and feel good so I can make one last trip to Wisconsin this weekend before I'm banned from travel! I will escape while I can!!
We made a fun vacation out of it all and the boys were VERY excited. We left Wednesday night around 8:00pm (bedtime for the boys) and stopped about 2 hours outside Minneapolis. The boys were SO wound up that they didn't even fall asleep until about 10:00. They were perfectly behaved, just too excited. They were even more excited when we got to the hotel (yes, around midnight!). They thought that being in a hotel room together was the greatest thing and they were both very giddy until about 1:00am! They were making each other laugh (actually, it was mostly Sam....who was trying to toot as loud as he could and then they'd both laugh hysterically)...it was actually pretty funny, although I just wanted them to sleep. That was our first night together in a hotel room and much much easier than I anticipated.
After breakfast at the hotel on Thursday, we made our way to Minneapolis and dropped Justin off at the IDS Center (where I started at McKinsey!). It felt good to be back there. The boys and I headed to Libby's house and arrived in time for lunch. I was so excited to meet Emery & Easton...they are so cute and fun. The little ones went down for a nap after lunch and Caleb played so nicely while Libby and I chatted away. We headed to a park after naptime...it felt good to get some fresh air and let the boys run around.
Friday, the kids all played nicely together and Dawn spent the day hanging out with us (she actually spent all day Fri & Sat w/ us all). We had lunch at Famous Daves (the original one) and spent time in a few fun shops (one had a tree house for Caleb to climb, the other had real animals all over the shop!). The kids all had fun playing together outside after naptime - it was a beautiful afternoon.
Saturday we went to a really cute pumpkin farm - - all of the kids had a blast. Caleb went through a maze on his own, everyone had fun feeding lots of animals, Caleb & Justin went down a big slide and all of the kids (including Justin & Jamie) had fun in this HUGE pit of corn. Make sure to check out all the pics. Caleb helped Jamie & Justin pick out pumpkins afterwards (he was very proud of himself) and all the little ones had fun making Jack-O-Lanterns after naptime. See pics...Caleb was so proud of his jack-o-lantern...he really drew the face by himself. I was impressed. The adults went out for a nice dinner after all the little ones were sound asleep (it didn't take much after a fun day outside). The weather while we were there was just perfect.
It was really fun to see each others kids. Jamie & Caleb were little buddies and Sammy got alot of Libby's attention. She was so excited to hear how well he talked and that made her happy to see what may be coming in the next few months. They were both shocked with how well he talks and what a little boy he is (he was on his best behavior there too....would say please and thank you without me reminding him and he was actually pretty gentle with toys!!). Sammy quickly discovered that Emery is the one he wanted to hang out with...she is alittle dare devil herself and is more likely to get in trouble than her brother. Sam probably thought that was cool. Easton and Caleb have the same laid back personality and gentle nature.
It was a GREAT visit...the kids all played really nicely together, I got in lots of much needed time w/ my great friends and even though there were 4 kids to watch, it was actually relaxing!!
We headed out Sunday morning and before we left town, we made a quick stop at a hotel to see Mary & Dick (family from Nebraska). They were there for a wedding and it was fun to see them...even if it was only for about a half hour. Caleb was excited to see them and he talked Mary's ear off.
We treated the boys to a stop in Wisconsin Dells on the way back from Minneapolis (about 3 hours from our place). It really broke up the trip and the boys were THRILLED to be at a waterpark. We decided to go to a smaller one....I wouldn't even call it a waterpark, but it was perfect for Caleb & Sam. We literally had the place to ourselves, which was very cool....the boys had a BLAST. We spent about 2 hours splashing in the water and headed out to a fun dinner afterwards. Sam & I both started feeling alittle sick and decided to drive the rest of way that night instead of staying overnight.
We haven't done much since we've been back....Justin is the only healthy one in the bunch. Caleb has croup (but is quickly getting over it)...and Sam & I are also feeling alittle better (we both just had a chest cold). You really wouldn't know that Sam is sick unless you hear him cough. He acts completely normal so it's not too serious. I still kept the boys from going to gym class and we will avoid a Birthday Party tomorrow (good thing I haven't talked it up much to Caleb...he would be devastated if he knew he was missing out on a party!!). I don't want to get anyone else sick and I want us all to rest up and feel good so I can make one last trip to Wisconsin this weekend before I'm banned from travel! I will escape while I can!!
posted by Kelly | 10:21 PM
1 Comments:
Great that the weekend was good but not great that you are now sick. Oh well. The photos are wonderful. I love the pit of corn!!!!
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