We started our adventure on Sunday July 18th and left for a quick trip to Des Moines to visit my brother and sister in law Andrew and Lisa...We didn't get to leave until Chris got off work, so we didn't end up at their house until 8:30 or so, and the kids were wound up from the excitement, so they stayed up late and played...we had planned to do outside stuff on Monday morning while Lisa was working, but it ended up being stormy and rainy so we just found a fun place for kids called Pump It Up...it had all sorts of fun inflatables for them to bounce and play on, the kids all loved it...then we went and met Lisa for lunch at a great place called Jason's Deli...so so yummy...they have free ice cream there, so the kids were in heaven! After lunch it was still wet and yucky out so we headed back to their house and the kids took a good nap (the only one of the whole vacation!) After naps, it was sunny out so we took the kids to a park to play before it was time for supper and then it was off to the Iowa Cubs baseball game:) The kids were excited and we had a great time...it wasn't much of a game, the poor Cubs weren't playing too hot, but we had fun watching and eating popcorn and enjoying the nice evening...
On Tuesday morning July 20th, we woke up to more storms and raining...Andrew made us some pancakes and taught Ayden how to flip them! We then made our way to Dr Lisa's office so that I could get my eyes checked, and Chris could try out some contacts to see if he likes them...We had an awesome time Andrew and Lisa! Thanks for all of the fun:) When we were done with that, it was time to hit the road again, and this time we drove to Cedar Rapids, where Chris' sister and brother in law and kids live...boy oh boy was that F-U-N!!! We got there about noon, had a little lunch, and the kids played non-stop with their cousins...what a fun thing for them...they all play together so well and had a blast with the trucks and tractors and all the dress up clothes...Kathy and Mark made us an awesome supper, complete with some sweet corn, the kiddos LOVED that, and then we got changed and headed to their swimming pool...it was a perfect evening for a swim and the kids had an amazing time...Ayden, Elliott and Ashly were so excited because they could touch in the big pool, so it was a very fun night of splashing in the pool:) Needless to say the kids all crashed that night from all of the fun playing with cousins!
Tuesday was also Chris and my 8th wedding anniversary! We had a great day together, it was just wonderful to be able to spend some time together as a family and watching our kids have so much fun! It is amazing to me that it has been 8 years already, I can't wait to see what the next 50 years together bring:) Love you honey!
On Wednesday morning, we woke up and got loaded back up for our trip to Minneapolis! We were so excited for this leg of the trip, because it was a mini-Briar Cliff reunion! Our friends Trent and Sue and their children Brayden and Adam live in Burnsville, and we have been anxious to see them, as have our friends Mike and Melissa and their kids Nick, Ben and Katelyn, and our other friends Sean and Nicole and their daughter Chloe...it just happened to work out that we could ALL make the trip up to see Trent and Sue at the same time!!! 8 adults and 10 children= crazy, fun memories!!
We got to Minneapolis around 2:30 on Wednesday afternoon and headed straight to Trent and Sue's house...the kids were so excited to play with their friends, and it was fun for us to be able to visit with our friends too!! Sean and Nicole were already there and Mike and Melissa and family got there shortly after we did...the kids played hard (big and small!!) Then we grilled burgers and hot dogs and had popsicles...After playing so hard, it was time to go check in to the hotel and get some rest...the kiddos crashed hard @ the hotel and slept really well
On Thursday, we had breakfast at the hotel, and then ventured back over to Trent and Sue's...the kids again played while the adults visited...then we all decided to go out for lunch! Yikes, 10 kids...it really could have been crazy, but it ended up working out perfectly...we went to have "Juicy Lucy's" @ the 5-8 Club...they were delicious and they had a perfect section for us outside on their enclosed deck, that gave us privacy and a perfect place for us all to relax that the kids wouldn't be disrupting everyone elses lunches! and they all were well behaved! very proud of them:) After lunch we went to Minnehaha Falls...its a great waterfall basically in the middle of everything with a nice park area...the kids wondered around and we got to all look at some gorgues scenery. Then it was on to The Mall of America! We didn't do a lot of shopping but instead headed straight for the rides...OH.MY.GOODNESS! The kids LOVED everything...truck rides, roller coasters, race car rides, balloon rides...they even got to meet Dora the Explorer and Spongebob...The big kids even got to go on a big roller coaster! Trent, Nicole, Sean, Mike and myself all went on the big Spongebob roller coaster! AWESOME:) 3 and a half hours later, we finally left the mall, kids were pretty much all on meltdown mode...they needed to eat!! So we got back to the house got the kids supper, the guys grilled us steaks, we did some more playing and then returned to the hotel for another good nights sleep!
On Friday morning, we got up and going, got checked out of the hotel, and headed to a great cafe for some breakfast to meet Chris' cousin Melissa...she is a nurse up there and was able to meet up with us, so it was nice to get to visit with her too while we were up that way...
Then we headed back to Trent and Sue's where we all just kind of hung out...the girls decided to do a little shopping, so we left the kids with the guys and took off for a couple of hours, when we got back, we decided it was time to think about heading back home...so we took off, stopped for supper, and a couple potty breaks later, and we ended up back home at about 11pm!! The rest of the weekend, we just relaxed and recooperated:) Grandpa Doug and Grandma Teresa came up to visit us on Saturday evening to hear all about the vacation, and yesterday we just bummed around!
I am back to work today with my daycare kids here and Chris heads back to work tomorrow! We had a very wonderful time together, our kids were GREAT and we just enjoyed getting out of town for a while...it is a lot of fun but very exhausting to do all that traveling, so I am sure we will be recovering for a couple more days and pretty soon it will be time to start getting ready for preschool again! This time 3 of them will be attending...oh my! I haven't decided if I am happy or sad about this yet, they are just growing up so fast!!
SO Thanks to everyone for all of the FUN times we had with you...we LOVE and miss you all:) Hopefully we can see you all again soon!!
