we just arrived home Monday afternoon from a 5 day vacation to Nana Judy and Bapa Ron's house! we had a very relaxing time, and loved being there!
while we were there, Nana and Bapa celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary!
38 years later, and the silliness is still going!
the girls and i went over to Storybook Land, as we do every time we're there!
I love getting photos of the girls on bridges holding hands...
we were super lucky to be at their house this weekend, because the state PBS programming people were up there, so we had a meet and greet with some characters from our favorite shows!
Livie with Curious George (Avery was too shy..)
Liv and Clifford, who looks rather scared here....hmmmm......
Avery and Liv with Martha the dog, from Martha Speaks...
And, Liv with Buddy the Bird....
We hadn't been up to Nana and Bapa's since January, so we were able to visit and see Uncle DJ, Aunt Rachelle, and Baby Noah... (It's super cute to listen to Liv say "Dj, Chelle, baby Noah?...)
Here is daddy with Noah! Noah wore a Dale Jr. shirt just for daddy!
We went to a museum that daddy took me to the first trip I ever made to meet his parents. the girls liked it! here they are in some sort of native American hut exhibit...
they also had an exhibit of all of the telephones through the years. Here, Avery is dialing our phone number on one of those phones where you have to put your finger in the circle thing, and then wind it clockwise to the top...remember those? I still had one in our basement when I was in high school....
she's playing operator and connecting phone lines.....
the girls and i spent a lot of time in the pool, and we got a lot of sun! Here is Liv posing with Baby Noah before she went out for a swim!
We had such a wonderful time! Thanks to all our family for the fun weekend!
_________________________________________________________________________________
In other news.....today was Liv's last day with Megan, her speech teacher. We will be starting with a new therapist next week, and we are pretty sad about that. We have really enjoyed getting to know Megan, and she has helped Livie so much with her speech!
Be looking for the new and improved site to be up in the coming month...my hope is to have it up in August sometime! Also, be looking for some fun sales going on with the grand re-opening.
Thanks again! I am blessed to have this job, and it's because of all of you....
i know i don't have that many people who read my blog...that's not my goal...
but, what is my goal right now....prayer...
please, please lift up baby Stellan in your prayers. Every time you think of him, please offer up a petition on his behalf.
i spoke with MckMama very briefly this morning, and she didn't have time to talk. She did say, and I quote... "it's really bad Jennisa....really bad...he's in heart failure."
how those are words that as a parent you never want to hear. she has so much strength, but i think right now the whole family is at their breaking point.
so, whether i have lots of readers, or few....please, drop to your knees and pray for Stellan now...
we started off our day by swimming in the hotel pool! then, we leisurely got ready and went to the Mall of America again!
And, who did we see right away? DORA!!!!
Avery was too shy to go up to Dora, but Liv LOVED seeing her!
We had noon reservations at the American Girl Bistro. It has so many fun colors, and it's just so girly!
They have little booster chairs for the dolls to sit on so they can be a part of the experience too!
Here is Avery and Felicity!
and Livie and Molly...(look at the cute little menus that the dolls have to order off of!)
Liv was a little spitfire during our lunch...
the chef came out and said happy birthday to Avery, and showed us his little doll, AJ. All of the staff were so very nice and would stop by and tell Avery happy birthday!
Avery dined on hot dogs and french fries, and Felicity had tea.
Livie had fries and chicken strips, and Molly had pink lemonade!
Here is our table! What a fun lunch!
Then, onto Nickelodeon Universe! We went on lots of rides, and the girls had such a blast!
This ride was our favorite....watch the girls faces on these next photos...their looks of pure enjoyment are just priceless!
Whew....
after a fun filled day at the Mall, we went back to the hotel for naps, pool time, and then a late dinner at Culvers!
Saturday was the day we had to leave. We swam (again) in the morning, and then were on the road by 11:30. We did stop on the way home to get gas in a little town that now has a special place in our hearts....
What a fun girls weekend we had! We hope to do it every year!!!
the girls and i met Nana Dianne up in Mpls. on Thursday afternoon for a fun girls weekend!!! it was so nice to get away and have tons of fun!!!
after we arrived and got checked into our hotel, we had lunch and then took off for the Mall of America!!!
Avery (says she) had never been on an escalator before, so she was so pumped when she saw one! She had to go right on up with Nana Dianne and check it out!
she was so proud of herself, and she now thinks that escalators are soooo much fun!
after that, we went to the Underwater Adventures. the price was outrageous, but we had a great time!
look at how close we were to sharks!
and this is a belly of a sting-ray....one of the coolest things ever.... who knew they had 2 faces? :)
the girls were cautious at first, but came around. i guess it's a little scary for creatures to be swimming around on both sides and above you! :)
Liv loved the sea-horses....
"look....a dah!" (look, right there!)
there was an aquarium there that was made to look like the aquarium from the dentist's office in Finding Nemo....very cool, and we got to see the "real" characters from the movie!
they market it soooo good....a gift store right at the end, where you can't leave unless you go right through it!!! Livie did end up getting a Nemo....just not this huge one she wanted!
there was a fun play area towards the end, and that seemed to be the girls' favorite part...
my little treasures... (ha ha ha....cheezy....ha ha ha)
Next up.....the American Girl store!!!! the MAIN reason we came to the Mall of America!
Avery just couldn't believe her eyes. There were dolls everywhere, accessories, clothing...you name it, it was there..... "it was more than I imagined", was her comment after seeing it!
a little girls' paradise!!! here she is posing with Kirsten dolls!
Liv had fun too. She got a star sticker from a worker and decided to stick it on her head and do a little modeling.....
Livie played a bit in the Bitty Baby/Twins nursery at the store. I was tempted to get her a doll as well, but then realize that $55 for a baby doll is a tad ridiculous....especially for a 2 1/2 year old.
outside of the American Girl Store, was Lenny from the Wonder Pets!!!!! Avery went right on up to him, but Liv was a bit more hesitant....
after big sister showed her it was okay, Liv decided to go a bit closer....
and decided to pose for a photo!
we decided to go back to the Underwater Aquarium again, just to get our moneys worth....we kind of sped through it this time.....
Liv loved the escalator moving things that you stood on.....
she just decided to sit down and let it take her for a ride!!! silly girl!
after we were done at the mall, we packed up and headed back to the hotel for some swimming! If you follow me on twitter you'll see that I shared the news that Avery decided, on her own, to learn how to put her face in the water. It started slowly with just her mouth, and then she worked her way up to her nose. Slowly she ended up, before the weekend was over, going the WHOLE WAY under the water for a total of 8 seconds....we are soooo proud!
stay tuned for more photos.....i thought maybe 25 photos was enough for one post.... :)
LinkWithin
