Reason: To visit Andy's older brother Kris & his family.
Day One:
Rest...Rest...and oh yeah more Rest. After resting though we did go to one of Kamille's (my oldest niece) softball games. She is on a special team, like as All Star Team or something similar, and they kept winning so they kept having games.
Day Two:
The kids went swimming in the back yard and had a blast. Alex did not know how to use the Slip-N-Slide, so I picked him up and held him stomach side down and kind of tossed him down. At first he did not know what to make of it, but once he got up a realized what had happened, he came running back, "Mommy, mommy, do it again!" The next thing I know Little Jon is wanting to join the fun. They had a BLAST, which required a massive nap after wards.
Day Three:
Minnesota Children's Museum that took us about an hour just to find the parking lot. On the website it tells you that you can park for three hours for $3.00 at the World Trade Center ramp. What they didn't tell you is that the parking garage is catty-corner across the street from the museum....sooooo aggravating! But at least when we did find it, they have a sky-walk so you don't have to try and cross the street with the crazt traffic. Again the kids had a blast!
Day Four:
Mall of America and Ikea (which I LOVE!). The mall was ok....it's sooo BIG I didn't even know where to start, but it didn't matter because I really didn't have money to spend there. But we went ahead and ate dinner at one of the many restraunts...Kokomo's Island Cafe. Then we off to Legoland, where the kids had fun playing for awhile. The best part....there was a bench on the outside of the glass wall to Legoland and I had Little Jon standing with me so I could put something away before we go play...well he got so excited that he run right into the glass wall (which made this really nice thud sound) and bounced off it. I laughed so hard at him, it was hilarlious, but don't worry, it didn't even phase him, he just turned and run around it.
After the kids had their fun, we went across the street to Ikea....my new favorite store. I've seen it featured in the Amazing Race (the contestants had to count items in a bin before moving on) and ever since I've always wanted to go to an Ikea store. They have cute kids dishes for dirt cheap, so I picked so up, and also a set of really cute drinking glass.
Day Five:Albertville Premium Outlets where I found a lot of a great finds for really cheap prices (well compared to retail value). I bought myself a new Fossil watch for half the cost, and so cute jewelry. I also stockpiled on outfits from the Children's Place....I couldn't resist 40% off the already marked down price. I probably could of found more great deals, if we hadn't gotten tried of walking. There were way too many stores to even go into, and some you have to be careful, but they were just the regular store with no special sale items. (Oh yeah, the guys didn't go with us, they took the older two boys fishing, and they let Alex drive the boat.)
Day Six:
Minnesota Zoo and Ciao Bella. The kids even got to feed the giraffes, though Little Jon got mad, because he thought the cracker was for him, and when I hold out his hand, he gave the giraffe a dirty look and then looked at me, like he was trying to tell me that the giraffe stole his cracker. It was so cute and funny, but if you ask Jon he might tell you otherwise. We also just made it in time for the Butterfly Exhibit.
For dinner we went to Ciao Bella, which in my opinion is way too fancy to be taking kids to, especially when the cheapest meal is $14. (The kids meal are $6, but that's not the point.) It was an OK experience, might have been better without the kids, since we didn't get there until about 7:30 pm and didn't get seated for another hour (and, YES, we made a reservation!). Alex & Jon were really starting to get crappy, but I can't blame them, because it was really a hour later for them, since of the time difference. Alex got so made he didn't even eat his meal and starting crying that he wanted to go to bed....I felt for him, because even I wanted to do that.
Day Seven:
Have everything packed and ready to go by 11:00 am, which is when Andy's dad wanted to leave so he could beat the rush hour traffic in Chicago. Not such a fun trip home, and we still ended sitting in Chicago for about an hour and half. (If you want to know the details you have to call me and e-mail me.)
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