Summer Vacation

Last weekend we took our first family "vacation" to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Zach's sister was getting married that Saturday but we drove up on Thursday so we'd have a whole day to do stuff, just the three of us before all the family festivities started. 

We left really early in the morning and David was an absolute DREAM in the car. He mostly slept. We only had to stop two times during the 8 hour drive. We let him play at a McDonalds Playplace the first time (Ew. Yuck. But, he had fun...) and then we had some lunch I had packed at a rest stop in Iowa (I must say, Iowa rest stops are pretty darn nice actually). Otherwise he was perfectly content in the car! It was great!!  

We got in around 3:00 and checked into our hotel which was located in downtown St. Paul, right across from the Excel center. We got settled into the room and then wandered around a bit outside before stopping for some snacks at a coffee house. We also entertained ourselves by throwing baby washcloths at David. He seemed to enjoy it.

 

For dinner that night we met up with Zach's Dad, Step-Mom, Uncle, Cousin and the Bride & Groom for dinner at a local place called Bonfire. I had a really good pasta dish with blackened chicken and extra yummy sangria.

The next morning David woke up in his pack & play around 6am so I reached over and grabbed him and put him in bed with us, thinking that we'd be up for good any minute. Turns out that little muffin just settled himself right in and slept until EIGHT THIRTY! An all-time David record. It was fantastic, I can't even tell you. So after a great night of rest we headed out first thing to get some breakfast and hit up the Minnesota Children's Museum.

 

 

Zach's uncle suggested we try Mickey's Diner, which he said was a "Minnesota institution". It was right down the block from our hotel and even closer to the Museum so we gave it a go. Oh my. It was old. Olddddddd.  We luckily got a "booth" and placed our orders. I tried to ignore the fact that everything looked kind of, um, dirty? I got the pancakes to split with David and Zach got a ham and cheese omelet. The omelet was good but the pancakes were AMAZING. Oh my goodness, they were so good. Possibly the best I've had. Worth the health risk ;)

 

The Children's Museum was also amazing. It came highly recommended and lived up to the hype. It was huge! Four floors and countless galleries for kids of all ages to just go crazy in. I wondered how David would do and he jumped right in. His favorites were the grocery store where he got his own cart to load up, the water room, the city bus and the restaurant where he was absolutely thrilled to find both a broom AND a mop. After several hours of hard core playing we headed back to the hotel for lunch and nap. We ALL crashed out for nearly three hours!!! Vacation is the best!

 

 That evening, Zach's family got into town and we all met up at the hotel restaurant for some drinks and appetizers. Grandma and Grandpa wanted a little David time so they sent Zach and I off in their new convertible to explore the Cities for a bit!  We headed over to Minneapolis and drove through the college to an area called St. Anthony Main (another Uncle Jay suggestion! 2 for 2!) where we did some people watching and had some really good burgers, fries and spiked lemonade. My kind of place! We didn't stay out late as we were trying not to keep David up TOO far past his bed time since the only time he really got cranky during the whole trip was right before bed.  

We got to sleep in AGAIN Saturday morning and met his mom downstairs for some breakfast before trying to decide what to do for the day. The weather was a little threatening and VERY humid so we thought about hitting up "the mall" but realized it didn't open until just an hour before lunch/nap time so we passed and just walked along the river for a bit. We took another LONG nap (have I mentioned how awesome vacation was?!) before getting ready for the wedding!

The wedding was about a half hour away in a town called Forest Lake. It was supposed to be in the back yard of the groom's parents house but it was pouring rain. Just a total monsoon! After a lot of back and forth they finally made the call to have the ceremony at the reception site, a golf course clubhouse down the road. By the time everyone got there the sky was blue and the birds were chirping. Isn't that how it always goes?! The wedding was nice, very simple and we all had a lot of fun. David and his cousin Jude (just 4 months younger than D) ran around outside like crazy goons and at one point I had to literally sprint across the fairway to catch a runaway David. We couldn't stay long because the little guy had officially reached the end of his very patient rope and was demanding a reasonable bedtime. So, we headed back and hit the hay.

We packed up and left first thing Sunday morning so we could get home to the dogs in time for dinner.  David, once again, did great in the car! This time we stopped 3 times and I had to sit in back for a little bit to keep him occupied before lunch but all in all he was a total dream. We had a GREAT time and it was just what we needed. 

Congrats Alicia and Michael!!

(also, I found a new free photo editing site. I kind of went a little crazy.Newbie alert! #sorrynotsorry ;))

Ninteen Months

Hey! Here's what's been up!

Memorial Day weekend we took our first trip to the lake as a family. We didn't go last year because I was terrified of throwing off Davids very fragile sleep schedule (nervous new mom alert!). And also because I didn't want to haul All The Stuff.  Little did I know that toddlers require nearly the same amount of Stuff. We only spent one night and the entire Escape was packed to the gills. Zach nearly lost it when he saw all the bags.  Heh.  ANYWAY. We had a good time and David really liked the lake. He got a little car sick on the way down, but there are a lot of hills and his seat is still rear-faced so I'm not too surprised. I'm just happy that he didn't actually "get sick"...

The most exciting part was checking out my dads new boat! He had to sell his original boat when I was born because it was during a horrible heat wave and they needed to put AC in our house. (I was such a jerk!) But anyway, 32 years later he has his boat and boy howdy, him and my brothers are on cloud nine about it. We thought David would be afraid of it for sure, but instead he curled up on my lap and fell asleep. Every time. Alright then! He also loved hanging out on the deck and taking trips down to the dock. He did not however, like sleeping in his pack n play and ended up in our bed for the first time in his life that night. It was certainly adorable but we are definitely not making a habit of that. I hardly slept a wink! We aren't sure when our next trip down will be, but I hope it's soon!

This past Sunday we took our first trip to the zoo for the year. I have very mixed feelings about the zoo, but we knew he'd like seeing the animals, so we got the Friends of the Zoo pass and plan to go several times this summer. He was pretty excited about the monkey's and thought the polar bear was alright (I think it's the saddest thing I've ever seen....) but really, he got most excited about the playground. Figures!!  He did seem to like the train ride though. Definitely did NOT like the carrousel. He kept saying "out. out. out" haha! We'll try again a little later I think.

He continues to talk up a storm, adding new words every day. He plays with his cars, trucks and "tractors" a lot more now and likes to line them all up on the coffee table. He adores Missy and the cat (almost a little too much). He always has to know where our toes and shoes are. At all times. He likes hanging out with Zach in the garage and finally worked up enough nerve to go on his first tractor ride this week. Now he's hooked. His hair also seems to get more blonde by the second. It is the craziest thing to me. He's just darn adorable right now. While the tantrums are starting to kick into gear, he's mostly the sweetest thing and I love the little person he's becoming more and more each day.

The next couple weeks are going to be big ones. Tomorrow we are going to Lee's Summit Downtown Days for my birthday (corn dog and funnel cake for dinner? Yes, I think so!) then we head out on our first road trip that isn't to grandma's house. Hotel stays and all. Then the biggest change of all comes after that when we switch his daycare. He's going from a center to an in-home. I am very anxious about the transition for him, but I know it's for the best so let's all cross our fingers he does well.

OH! And David is mostly excited that we can finally share that he's going to be a big cousin x2 this fall! My brother Vince and his wife Sheena are expecting their first and Zach's brother Josh and his wife Amanda are expecting their second! Hooray!

Till next time!!