Family Weekend

After the great day with my mom on Friday, I was bound to have a great weekend.  ;)

We planned a fun weekend as a family.  Saturday we were homebodies besides Jacob and Connor’s quick basketball skills,  we just hung out at home.

Yesterday morning we headed to the Mall of America and went on some rides. 

 

 

 

Then played in Lego land while waiting for our reservations at the Rainforest Cafe.

 

It was Lucas’s first time at the Rainforest Cafe.  He was pretty occupied and impressed by it. ;)

 

Then we checked into the Water park of America/Radisson for the night.    The boys were so excited about having bunk beds in our room.  We settled into our room and changed to head to the water park.  We weren’t wasting any time. 

 

 

We swam for over 3 hours Sunday evening.  The boys were having a blast.  We headed up to the room, took baths, put on our PJs, and ordered pizza.  It was perfect because Nolan (and I’m sure the others) had been wanting to watch a special Team Umi Zoomi that was going to be on and we were able to get it at the hotel.  They were pumped.   So they snuggled in their beds watching the show, while we waited for pizza.  Sounds silly to be excited about a show on TV, but it was just perfect timing and they were so excited. ;)  The boys, and actually Matt and I as well, were out quickly and early from our busy day.  This morning we woke up, had breakfast, packed up, and headed back down to the water park.  Again, the boys swam for a good two hours until our wrist bands expired.  We cleaned up in the locker rooms and then headed to the Arcade at the hotel.  

What a great weekend we had.  It was a much needed one, and so great to be together.  The boys were awesome and all got along.  We are going to have so much fun with things like this as time goes by. 

Christmas # 6 and a Great Surprise

Saturday morning started off bright and early with Connor's first basketball "practice". At first grade they have an hour of skills practice on Saturdays. They don't start playing games until 3rd grade. Matt is coaching Connor's team so it's pretty fun. He was so excited to get going. Look at that form already! ;)

Then we met Nana at the Mall of America for our Christmas get-together. Long story short....we originally had it planned for Barb to come down to our house for the day, however we had other plans in mind. Without going into detail we haven't seen or talked to Matt's sister, Angie, and her kids in a long time (too long).....and we all planned a surprise for Barb (and our boys actually). We decided to meet up at the Mall of America without her knowing that we were all going to be there. Barb started the day off thinking she was going to just hang out with us. We met her around 11ish and tried to stall as much as we could until Angie and the kids could get there around noon. We kept telling Barb and the boys that we had another surprise coming.

The boys were mesmerized by the dance competition going on, so we watched that for awhile.

Then we went and sat down for a snack and exchanged presents. Nana got us some fun and great stuff. I CANNOT wait to put our fleece sheets on the bed.

Then we got wristbands for the boys and Nana took them on the balloon ride.

While she was on the ride Angie and her boyfriend Neal and her kids Carter and Audrey arrived. We stood at the end of the exit of the ride and when the boys and Barb came down they saw them. It was priceless. The boys were excited and it took Barb awhile to register what was going on. I had my camera and meant to take a picture of her reaction....I will never forget it....however got wrapped up in the moment and didn't do it. She was smiling the rest of the day. It has been awhile since all of us have been together. The kids enjoyed going on rides for awhile. Connor pulled me close and said, "Mommy.....this (seeing Carter and Audrey) is the best surprise! Thank you." Melted my heart.

Nana and her oldest boys....

Angie and Lucas...

On the Log Chute...

Then we ate at

I love this place. The boys had never been there and enjoyed the experience. They already want to go back.

It was an amazingly fun (and a little exhausting) day.

(Don't want to go into details and hate to even admit it happened....but want to remember. After supper we went to go back on one more ride before going home and we lost Nolan....yep. in the middle of Nickelodeon Universe....talk about the scariest thing I have EVER EVER been through. The kid has no fear and is so independent and stubborn......scary stuff).

Mall of America

Friday night we finally watched We Are Marshall. Good movie. Matt got suckered into an internet deal trying to get a free phone (because he still hasn't gotten one from when he lost it in Vegas) so we now have Netflix. He wasn't too into it when I mentioned something to him about it awhile back, but we now have it! We won't go into any more details! ;)


Saturday the boys and I made it to the last park/playground in Owatonna that we hadn't been to (Wilson Elementary). It was our goal to go play at every playground/park in town. Then we went to the Blast, one of our favorite places) for ice cream. Of course we had to have Freezies later on that day also.




Sunday we met Papa John and Yaya at the Mall of America. The boys went on the rides in Nickelodeon Universe (old Camp Snoopy - I think it's been through three names now) and then Connor went home with them for his sleepover. The boys had a blast on the rides. Connor even went on a couple of the big roller coasters with Papa John. Connor, Jacob, Papa John, and I went on the Log Chute and of course I was the one that got wet (not bad at all, but the only one).





Jacob, Nolan, and I got home around 8ish, we took baths, and got ready for bed.
I was thinking Connor would probably want to call us because of some of our conversations we had previous to the stay with Papa John and Yaya. However, 9:00 passed, 10:00 passed, and I just figured he was so wiped out he went right to bed. Matt and I just got into bed and the phone rang at 11:00. Connor was a little sad and said he wanted to come home. I knew he was just so exhausted. Night time is the hardest when you're not at home in your own bed at that age. At the moment I think he really thought he could come home. I was trying to talk to him and calm him down, but he was so tired, he was yawning, crying, and trying to talk at the same time...."I ....just...yawn.......want.....to come.......home.". Luckily I was pretty tired and fell asleep easily, otherwise I would have been up all night thinking about him. He called this morning right away and sounded tired, but great. He was excited about the adventures to come for the day. We'll see how tonight goes!