Vacation - Day 6

Pat was outside early this morning, and Peter saw him and wanted to be with him, so asked. Pat said "Sure, just ask your Mom". Even though Peter was still in his pj's, I thought 'How often does Pete get to play outside with his pj's on? This is vacation ('macation'), why not!!' So, out he went....



Well, guess what else wanted to play? . . . the sprinkler system!


He was quite wet and cold, but had a blast!

This morning we enjoyed a super yummy breakfast, made by our personal chefs, Pat & Catherine, at their home. Eggs, toast, bacon, fruit, coffee. . . all the best things at breakfast time!
Today, we planned on going to the COMO Zoo, and maybe hitting the park (with rides for Pete) while we were there. But, again, plans change. After reading, knitting, talking and watching some T.V. (all things that take a LOT of effort :0) Tim decided to look up COMO Zoo, to find directions and to just check when they close. Well, they ended up closing in an hour and a half and it takes a good 20 minutes to get there. . .and traffic??? Aghhh! So, we hustled into the cars and drove there fast!
This is what this WHOLE trip was for, in Peter's eyes. . .the GIRAFFES!



All of the zoos here, locally, have either gotten rid of the giraffe section, or are remoldeling it for some reason, and giraffes are Peter's favorite animal! He has been asking to see giraffes for months! So, that was the first exhibit we went to. We were able to slow down and breath once we got there, but we didn't have enough time to ride the rides. Peter was NOT happy in any circumstance about that, but you get what you can get.
Tim and I decided to leave a day early for the cabin. It takes 2 1/2 hours from Pat's house just to get there, and with the 4th of July traffic. . .we thought we'd better leave early. Best part of our travel? Culvers, of course! MMMmmmmm! Their butterburgers and cold custard are the best around! We were quit full after that!
Off to the cabin we go. . .hi-ho-hi-ho-hi-ho!

Vacation - Day 5

This morning was had a early beginning. Pat & Catherine bought Star Wars Museum tickets, since this museum is only in certain cities, it was a great priveldge to see it!




This was right up Tim's ally.





It was amazing to see all of the costums and suits and small sets that they used in the actual movies. These 'small sets' had incredible detail. We watched short movie after short movie to watch how much time, effort and work went into making these small 'figurines' look life-like and real.



Wow!
- however, anytime there is a museum, Tim is the type of person who loves to read every-single-last-letter-of-every-word-ever-written. . . .so, we waited til he was done, and then we went home for lunch. We had really good subs, from a place called Jimmy Johns. . . best part, they delivered!
Pat had school tonight, so it was just the gang and Catherine for dinner, so Grandma & Grandpa graciously took us all out to a very nice restaurant, and we had amazing food! Catherine and I had some yummy drinks, and the desserts were to die for! Yumm!
Tim dropped me off to make another baby-food run, (of course at Cub Foods!!!) and back to the house we went to enjoy our full belly's and some good conversation until we rolled ourselves up to bed!


"Luke, I am your father!"

Vacation - Day 4

This morning was a very eventful morning that quickly took a turn.

I received a call from one of the care-takers of Aunt Eleanor (Tim's Great Aunt - who is 94, and staying home for obvious reasons). They called to let us know that Aunt Eleanor was taken to the ER, from ambulance, for a possible stroke. They saw her slump over and began to drool, got sick and then wasn't able to speak, so they immediately called 911 and the ambulance was there in 2 minutes. (Praise the Lord!!!)
They did a CAT-scan and found out that is was a mini-stroke, but that she also had an infection as well, that no-one knew she had. The doctor affirmed that these kinds of things are common in people that are Aunt Eleanor's age.

So, our Como Zoo and Park was put on hold, until we found out further details. Mom (Mother-in-law) handled this quit well and was able to rest in our Great God to take care of her at home with the people that He has provided for her. Our Pastor was amazing too! Dad (Father-in-law) called him right away, once we had heard the news, and Pastor went to the hospital to check on her. He's such a passionate man who has a true heart for ministry, and. . .boy, did he minister to us today! Thank You Pastor!!!!!

After all what said and done, we all went to IHOP's for lunch/postponed breakfast. I was feeding baby James (as Peter calls him) and happened to glance over at Pete, and wouldn't you know, he found a pretty girl. Way out of his age range, and way out of his league! :0) What caught my eye was Peter winking at her. And I don't mean a little 'wink' . . I mean, turning head in full circles, nodding and using both eyes to make it perfectly clear that he was WINKING at her. Of course, she loved the attention and winked back, smiled and completely lead him on. Patrick caught him in the act, and said "Peter? Are you flirting with that lady?" Now. . .most people, when being caught doing something, answer 'no' quickly after being confronted of their behavior, but not Peter. He said 'no' while starring at her. Thankfully, it was the end of the meal, so as we were leaving, she said 'He's so cute". What does a mother say to that? "Yes, thank you, but you are too old for him!"??? "Oh, thanks. . .stop egging him on!"??? "um, ok"??? I said 'thank you' and looked back at Peter taking his good ol' time leaving the restaurant and making sure that the last thing he saw walking out that door was that pretty girl. Oh dear. I didn't think this was supposed to happen this early :0) He MUST take after his father!!
After lunch, we headed to one of my favorite places of all time. . .Mall of America!!!!

Peter loved walking around seeing all the sights and sounds that were there!

. . . .then LEGO LAND!!!!!!




Tim and I bought some 'points', so that Peter could ride some rides. He had a blast!





We hit some of the Sporting Stores, to update our Twins and Vikings apparel in our closets. Even James got some cool gear for Summer. - (Thanks Mom!!!)

Pat & Catherine made a wonderful dinner for us that evening. Pat has a 'special sauce' for his ribs, yuummm!
Tomorrow will bring a new day with even more new and exciting things to do!

Vacation - Day 3

Today, we all got to sleep-in. It was nice!!!
James, of course, got up around 7:00 (he's off by 1 hour, but I'm not going to push this time-zone thing on him, so that I can get sleep when we go back home! :0)
Pat and Catherine both had to work, so Tim and I decided to do what we LOVE to do, on vacation, best. Absolutely NOTHING! And it was everything we dreamt it could be! :0)
Grandma and Grandpa arrived late afternoon, they arrived here in MN on Saturday, but were busy visiting family and friends. As soon as they arrived at the house, we gave some last minute instructions for them, while they watch James, and we were off to Peter's FIRST Baseball game - ever! I cannot even begin to tell you how much fun we all had, especially Peter! He sat through all 9 endings and loved every moment of it.



Of course, the popcorn, cotton-candy, hotdogs, hot pretzels, ice-cream and donuts probably helped keep Pete entertained!
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You know how they always have that organ music, for all of the 'fighter' songs and tunes. (I only heard 1 mistake. . .he did well!) Well, after each one you're supposed to yell 'CHARGE!!'. Being that this was Peter's first game, ever. . .we were trying to teach him when to yell, when to clap and when to cheer. After a few of these tunes, Catherine turned to me and said, "I think he's yelling 'george'" We laughed and waited until the next one, and sure enough. . .dom, dom, dom, dom. . . "GEORGE!!!!!" We laughed until tears!!! One of the TWINS best players, Joe Mauer was up to bat, and Pat kept yelling "GO JOE!", Peter added his own touch and yelled "GO JOE . . . GEORGE!!!!!"
This game was held in MN's dome. . . very cool (literally) - air conditioned! BONUS! What I didn't know, was that since it IS a closed in area, the air gets sucked in, so when the doors open, a gust (for a smaller term for TORNADO!) of wind comes over you and pulls you right up and out of the stadium. Tim told me to hold on to Peter, and away we went. It kind of freaked him out at first, but once through, Peter said "Wow. . .that was FUN. . .let's do THAT again!!!"
Poor kid was able to keep his eye lids up until 11:00PM. . .what a trooper!

Vacation - Day 2

Tim and I had enough sleep to trail-through the following day, so we went to church with Auntie and Patrick. We dressed the boys up and got ready to go. Peter and James got to play in their (amazing) nursery. We listened to a wonderful sermon and had a lovely day at the Lord's house.

For lunch, we all went to Baker's Square (a MN must!!!!). Tim, of course, had breakfast, and boy was it good! We all got a piece of our favorite pie to go, and enjoyed it later that day, after the kiddo's went to bed for their Sunday nap. We enjoyed a nice, relaxing time of 'absolutely nothing' for the remainder of the day. My favorite part of vacation. . .quiet, peace. . .sleeping in!

Tim and I made a run for more baby food, and donuts! Yummmm.
We are all very really excited for Monday. . . going to go see the Twins at a home game!!!
So, stay tuned for some pictures and more fun stories, coming to a blog near you!

Vacation - Day 1

We left for our first family vacation on Saturday (well, 'family of 4', that is). We started our count down with Peter for 'macation' (as he calls it) a week in advance, to build up his excitement. So, when I woke him up early Saturday morning and told him that TODAY was vacation, he was confused and kept asking how many more days. He wanted a number to put with it, but eventually 'got it' when we loaded everyone up in the van and started moving.

We stopped in Huber for breakfast at 10:00 AM at Daddy and Peter's favorite place. . .McDonalds. And who did we run into, but Aunt Dee-Dee (Caralee)!!! It was super cool for Peter and James! Peter got to order his apple-dippers with her and we got to chat for a little bit until she had to leave for work. That was special.

After we filled our belly's with very wholesome, nutritional food (hee hee), we loaded up and were off for more 'macation'! We rented a conversion van and only had to stop ONCE for gas! And, considering how much $$ it took to actually FILL the this massive vehicle up, that was a blessing in disguise. We didn't need to stop until lunch, so we went to Hardees, which is a personal favorite of Tim's and mine. We don't eat there unless we're ON a vacation, so this was a special treat for the adults. We then headed across the street to McDonalds. I wanted my Carmel sundae and Peter wanted to play on their gym-set. After Peter went through the 3-story play set a couple times, we were back in the van until Wisconsin. There was a D.V.D player and large T.V. set in the van, so Peter got to watch Ice Age, Cars and the Veggie-Tales 'Jonah'. That was a special treat for him. Dinner was a little quicker, since we were so close to our destination. We stopped by a gas station that also had a Subway inside of it. We had coupons, so we got a nice dinner for cheap. Inside the station was a slide and a little ride for Peter to play on. It was a good stretch for all of our legs. We arrived at Pat & Catherine's around 11:15 that evening, woke the kids up and headed in for a good night's sleep. Peter was in shock the whole time, he didn't know where he was, and asked wasn't sure what was going on. "Is THIS macation??", he kept asking. "Yes, Peter, now go back to sleep. . PLEASE!!"

Both of the boys really did fantastic! We could not have had this go smoother. . .a 7 month-old and a 3 year-old in a van, for 13 hours? They did grreeat!

Small Detail . . .

Forgot to mention the BEST part of our trip going up to MN. . . James said 'Momma'!!!!!!!

Pete plays 'Mommy'

My little guy is starting to bite me while nursing. . .fun, fun, fun! (- insert sarcasm here-)
One day, Peter heard me tell James, "No, James, don't bite Mommy".
So, the next day, Peter saw me nursing him, and said to James, "Baby James, don't you bite Mommy. You don't want to hurt her. So, you can NOT bite her. That's not nice. You need to be a good boy. . .like ME!!!"
Who needs parents when you have a smart (but yet, bossy) toddler brother!?!?

Adjust'n James

So, since our little visit to the UR with James, we have had to have him sleep sitting 'up' in his car-seat ever time he goes to sleep. This will help any drainage that he may have in the middle of the night, and his breathing, to get better. So, here he is, trying to adjust to his new sleeping position. Since he is a BELLY ONLY sleeper, this was quit the adjustment for him. The first night was a little rough, but he made it through. I discovered, that if I give James a blanket to hold, he'll smoosh it in his face - mimicking his face pressed against his bed - and eventually fall asleep. I thought he looked silly, so I got some shots of him doing it. What a pitiful little guy!

This and That

Just some cute pictures of the kids, in their usual 'casual' state at home! :0)