Fun at Como

Today A and I headed to St. Paul to visit the animals at Como Zoo and an old friend from Red Wing, Siri, too. WOW! What a beautiful area and wonderful FREE attraction. I would highly recommend going if you've never been there. It doesn't disappoint. (I still cannot believe it has taken us so long to visit...)
Anthony was hoping for some bears to pet (that's what he kept saying on the drive to the zoo), but loved looking at all the other animals and getting in a couple of rides on cars and a horsie too. The favorite today would have to be the giraffes. A wasn't really into them so much --- he was more interested in eating his goldfish. However, Siri and I enjoyed them immensely. They are such amazing creatures with great personality. (The only downside is that I wish they had more room to roam. Their area just seems so confining, but I guess that's the whole point of a zoo, huh?!)
After the zoo we found a KFC and enjoyed some lunch and more conversation. Anthony had been quite subdued the whole morning, but he definitely warmed up and Siri got to see the true side of a toddler! It was great fun to watch her non-momma reactions to his dancing, goofy looks and ants-in-the-pants, can't-sit-down behavior. I think next time she'll be ready to change a diaper!

Mr. Personality!

The giraffe was playing peek-a-boo with us.

Thanks for getting together today, Siri, and coming up with the zoo idea! It really was great to see you. Now let's not wait another two years or longer to do it again. Seriously!

Stuart Little 2

The movie theater in Monticello has been offering free second run movies throughout the summer. I have been meaning to take Anthony to a Wednesday movie, but I was either in class or we weren't around to make that happen. FINALLY today we were able to go and he experienced his first big screen moment watching Stuart Little 2. As he was chopping down on popcorn and the theater began to fill up he was constantly asking about when he could see the mouse. The amazing part for me is how well he did throughout the movie. All together we ended up sitting for around 90 minutes and he did exceptionally well. Of course he was doing the usual toddler behaviors of walking down the aisle instead of sitting, asking several (LOUD) why questions and laying on the floor for parts of it, but I was pleasantly surprise it went so smoothly. The best thing is that the place was full of toddlers talking too loud, spilling popcorn and laughing way after the funny parts. Anthony blended in well!
Unfortunately, there is only one more Wednesday movie - Charlotte's Web - and I already picked up our free passes to go again next week. If anyone would like to join us and be a part of the fun, let us know!

Another One Joins the Club

Charlie and Arnold

On Friday night we headed up to Gilman to celebrate Charlie's 30th birthday with great food and even better conversation! (I still can't believe Laura likes dolphins so much!) Charlie and April have a great house for entertaining and lots of space for everyone. Plus, as always, Anthony loves playing with Mason's toys, hanging out with all of his friends and getting to eat popcorn as a late night snack.
It should come as no surprise that I was much too busy having fun and did a poor job of capturing the night. At least I was able to sneak in a few shots. Thanks again, Zimmer family, for another great get together!

Laura, Gretchen with Baby Changas (due in September!) and Joni

Wow! The Zimmers have been busy lately!
Not only did Charlie finish up his master's degree and they added onto their family with Baby Gracie they've also built an addition to their house, poured a creative patio in back, and made a massive sand box with a "road" around it. I've decided I'm no longer calling it their house, but rather the Zimmer Resort. It's beautiful!

Welcome Adulthood and New Furniture

The new living room furniture is here and I officially feel like an adult now. Sure there have been hints of adulthood along the way --- getting married, adopting Anthony, getting a master's degree, opening up a Roth IRA account, etc. --- but THIS makes it official somehow. To think that we're moving beyond college furniture into the next phase of life is pretty exciting. (Yes, you naysayers, we could have done this eons ago, but anyone who knows me would know that I'm all about saving and working my way up to certain things. Goofy? Probably. But definitely me!) On top of all of that, I know that I'm truly a full-fledged adult now because I was delighted to get the carpets clean before the new furniture came! Yikes! Kind of crazy, huh?
Yes, adulthood may come with some headaches and lots of bills, but this venture into a comfortable and grown-up living space has been wonderful.

The Cutest Little Baseball Player

Anthony still is in love with all things baseball - from watching the Minnesota Twins on tv to playing ball outside with his new tee. Is it possible for someone to love sports this much and then grow up having nothing to do with them? I think our future summers could be extremely busy going to practices and games.

Feierabend Cabin

Our extended visit up north was capped off with a wonderful, adults-only weekend at the Feierabend cabin. Anthony was delighted to spend a few nights in Deer River while we trekked further up to Sand Lake for some quality time with some great friends --- the Feierabends, Hares, Sellheims, Zimmers, and Joni. This is the second time we've time time up there and even though the weather was dreadful for a mid-July weekend, we had an absolute wonderful time. There was, as always, great food to be consumed, conversations to be had, games to play and time spent around a blazing campfire. On Saturday we took the pontoon boat out - all eleven of us on board - and toured the lake. You know you are getting old when you occasionally stop to check out and take pictures of eagles, loons, and heron as well as getting a rousing sing-a-long started to Garth Brooks. Whether it sounds fuddy-duddy or not, I completely enjoyed being out of the water with a great group of friends.
There were many highlights and laughs from the weekend even if no swimsuits were needed for the chilly weather. Loaded Questions turned out to be a super fun game in which I learned a great deal from the other six players. Sequence, though, was a lot of fun too and almost resulted in me not preparing the meal for Saturday night. (Thanks again Tracy and Joni for picking up my slack. I seriously can't stop when I start playing! I love that game!) April was a great partner --- we'll definitely have to team up again! Charlie's orange fashion show and Joni's deep intense fear of moths both caused a lot of laughs (and shock) and brought a lot of fun into our time spent together. Some of the best times, however, happened outside around the campfire and underneath a cover of stars. Our conversations varied from silly to spooky to serious --- all of them left me feeling grateful. How did we get so lucky to have such great friends?
The only bad part is that I failed to take pictures throughout the weekend and capture our time spend together. Instead, before leaving on Sunday, I took a few shots of the beloved, peaceful cabin and the beautiful view of Sand Lake. If you're interested check out Jenn and Luke's blog! I love their picture of Laura and her gigantic monster of a fish she caught on Sunday as well as Luke's description of the weekend!
Thank again, Super Luke and Jenn, for a wonderful weekend up north! We love getting a taste of the Feierabend cabin life every once in awhile.

Mini-Vacation to Duluth

The view from Canal Park has always been a favorite!

This summer Mark and I decided it would be fun to get away for a few days and take a vacation together as a family. We threw out lots of ideas, but ultimately decided to stay in Minnesota and go to Duluth for a few days. Mark took a whole week off, which left us with ten glorious days up north and three days by Lake Superior.
We stayed at the Edgewater, which turned out, surprisingly, to be a lot of fun. We were a bit worried because earlier this summer Anthony refused to go to swimming lessons and wanted nothing to do with the water. Turns out, though, he is quite the water bug and even got brave enough to go do the kids' water slides by himself as well as jump into the pool for me to catch him. He loved the lazy river, as did I, and we both giggled as daddy "drove" like he was stuck in rush hour traffic on 94.
All of this, however, almost didn't happen. When I was checking in there was no reservation for the Hanson Hat Trick at all. (Darn Internet!) Luckily, I had printed off my confirmation number with reservations dates, room and (great!) rate information. Somehow everything got screwed up when I made the reservation online and they didn't have a room available for us at that rate and for those dates. Joe, the great college kid, helped me out and we actually did get a room; however, I would highly recommend staying in their newly built facility. The old part was a bit moldy, falling a part and "interesting"... Lucky for them we're pretty easy to please.
I had my heart set on taking a long walk along Lake Superior and ending up in Canal Park. While we were in Duluth temperatures never went past 55 and it rained most of the time, which made that idea impossible. I'm thankful the weather cleared up enough that were were able to drive down to Canal Park so that Anthony could see all those white birds, watch the bridge lift up, see sail boats and throw some rocks into the lake. He had a great time and the hours flew past as we spent time exploring and having some cheap family fun.
The absolutely highlight for Anthony, though, came later when we took a train ride up to the Lester River on the North Shore Scenic Railroad. We decided to take the shortest train ride because we weren't sure how well he would do, but it's clear that we could have continued up the North Shore to Two Harbors and he would have been fine. He LOVED everything about the train and was completely enthralled with the entire experience. I enjoyed it as well and loved the history that was shared regarding the trains and Duluth area, but nothing could top watching Anthony's joy. He still talks about that train ride and can tell anyone who is willing to listen what color the train was, etc. etc. etc. I highly recommend doing this with your family if you're ever in the Duluth area. On the ride up we saw lots of wildlife while on the ride back we were able to stare out at Lake Superior. It was quite the experience.
Overall, we had such a great time. I am so thankful we are able to do things like this and spend time together as a family.

Cheese! I still get a kick out of his new smile that he's developed this summer.
He really liked these two characters, but not as much as being in the water. On our last night there he went down the yellow slide 17 times in a row. Lots of times he was getting splashed with water, but nothing was deterring him from having fun. He would wipe his eyes, look at me for reassurance and then take off again.

The bridge was a lot of fun to watch go up and down. We were bummed, though, that a big ship didn't come through. He would have really loved to see that!

Throwing rocks was as fun as always especially when daddy plays with you too!

"What are we doing here?"

"I get to go on that?! YAY!"
Anthony definitely had a permanent smile on his face when he realized that was the train we were going to get on.

He was very serious at first...

But he ended up having a great time!
The funniest moment for Mark and I was when we smelled something "interesting" radiating from our little guy. The train had stopped so I brought him to the bathroom to change his diaper. To my surprise, though, there was nothing. Within moments of walking back and having a seat the smell persisted. We were a bit baffled until Anthony declared that he wasn't pooping, but rather he had gas. I believe his exact words, very simple and serious, was, "I have gas, Daddy". This sent us into a fit of laughter. What a goofy little boy we've been blessed with!