Back in the spring, when my Uncle Ed passed away...we thought it would do Aunt Marsha some good to have some company come fall....and little did we know what good it would do us to get away and spend a wonderful weekend with a wonderful lady! So, on Friday morning, we embarked on a 8 hour drive to Rochester, Minnesota. The kids are great travelers...both to Alabama (13 hours) and to Minnesota (8 hours) they were great. They slept, played, watched movies and did little to no whining. Even newly potty trained Emmalyn did a great job with the trip! We only stopped a few times, including once at a Fuddruckers for lunch -- what a fun place!
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| Emmalyn - our lady-like traveler. |
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| Daddy & Em at Fuddruckers in Janesville, Wisconsin! |
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| We followed this vehicle for a short while through Wisconsin. |
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| This picture doesn't do the beautiful fall landscape any favors...it was gorgeous! |
We arrived Friday evening and right away, Colton spied the playset in Aunt Marsha's neighbors yard. It was apparent to Jason and I that God placed us in the country for a reason. My children have no realization of boundaries, neighbors things, etc. Aunt Marsha called the neighbor lady and secured permission for Colton to play on the swing set, and thankfully, sent her kids outside to play with them! It was PERFECT!! We enjoyed dinner in at Aunt Marsha's, although, we found that she loves to serve "nibbles", and due to the nibbling, we were stuffed before we even sat down to dinner!
Saturday was a jam-packed day. So much to do - so little time. We got up and ate a quick breakfast, before heading downtown to the Farmers Market. The kids loved it, and both were treated to a kids-soap from the homemade soaps vendor, and Jason tried a bison-stick. Colton & Em enjoyed bites too!
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| Beautiful Fall Colors! |
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| Soaps! | |
After Farmers Market, we came back to the house while Aunt Marsha ran a quick errand, then we loaded up and headed to the cities to the Mall of America. Our mission was to ride some rides, visit the Build a Bear workshop, see lego-land and have lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Check, check, check and check! Picture fun below:
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| Bumper Cars! |
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| You can't fake that awe & wonder! :) First time in a Ferris Wheel! |
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| Lego Playstation! |
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| Jason pretending that the Blue's Clue's ride was a bit much for him...HAHA |
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| Carousel Ride |
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| Looking out over Nickelodeon Universe from the Ferris Wheel |
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| They each picked out a bear at Build a Bear |
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| Then stuffed them. |
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| Gave them a bath. |
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| Named them and printed a birth certificate. Welcome to the family Jacob & Callie! |
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| Lunch at the Cafe |
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| Waiting to give the Gator their coins! |
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| Lego Land! (Sis was napping...) |
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| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles!!! |
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| I love this picture! Colton's first Roller Coaster Ride! |
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| Mom's turn to ride along! |
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| Family meets Spong Bob & Patrick! |
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| Peeps Store! |
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| Sleeping on the way home from the cities! |
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| Princess & her bear Callie! |
As if that wasn't enough for one day -- we topped the evening off with a visit & play outside in the back yard, and then a Chinese Carryout picnic on Aunt Marsha's living room floor! We attempted a children's movie and popcorn -- but the rugrats were on "Operation Don't Give In"....to avoid falling asleep after an exhausting day! :) Fueled by the amazing powers of unlimited soda & chocolate, courtesy of their new favorite Aunt. I now completely understand why Mom always thought Gram Hall spoiled the daylights out of us. It's in their GENES!!
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| Chinese Carryout Picnic |
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| Movies REQUIRE popcorn. |
Sunday we attended church, then hit up another one of "Mom's Memory Lane" requests -- the Pannekoeken. It's a dutch pancake house that we used to visit when we were kids visiting Aunt Marsha. The fun of the place is that the workers rush the Pannekoeken out of the kitchen while yelling as they go -- "PANN-A-KOOK-IN"...and I just knew the kids would love it. I was right.
From there, we toured the wonderful campus of Mayo Clinic. To this day, after being retired for a few, and having spent almost 40 years of service to this organization, it makes me smile to hear Aunt Marsha talk about this place with so much passion. She's so exuberant when talking about it, pointing out buildings, new discoveries, units etc. However, when I stepped back a minute...I realized that this place is not only her place of work, but where her love story was born. No wonder she's so passionate about it. She's got quite the love story.
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| Beautiful landscape. |
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| Beautiful kids. |
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| Oops. Caught Colton mid-sneeze. |
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| Ya, he gets that from his Dad! ORNERY! |
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| Meet the Mayo Brothers! |
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| And their Dad & one of the Sisters who started it all... |
From our tour, we ran home, changed into play clothes and headed out to do just that...PLAY!
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| We fed the geese at Silver Lake. |
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| The kids loved it, and were not one bit shy. |
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| Aunt Marsha loves bringing people here, because it's the same spot Aunt Dee used to come feed the geese as a 3-4 year old Mayo Clinic Patient, many years ago! |
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| Shades. |
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| While Em finished her nap in the car, Aunt M & I took Colton to a cute little park. Daddy rested his eyes with Em! |
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| It was adorable, and completely planned, funded and built by prominent families within the community, for the community! |
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| Tire Swingin' |
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| Hanging Monkey! |
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| Brave little souls! |
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| Wild Energy! |
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| Pretty Little Princess. |
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| These are poup-ule -- Emmalyn's favorite color! |
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| Thankfully, the neighbors were back home Sunday evening to play the rest of the weekend away. |
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| More nibbles. And good drinks! |
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| Glad my kiddos aren't shy! |
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| Aunt Marsha spoiled the kids (MORE) by giving them early Halloween baskets, complete with Wax Lips! |
On Monday morning, bright and (REALLY) early, we loaded up the van, and headed south. We had a wonderful weekend with a wonderful lady. I'm fairly certain the kids didn't hear the words NO for 36 solid hours and Jason and I were spoiled a bit too. Aunt Marsha -- I bawled myself to sleep Sunday evening, because our stay with you reminded me so much how a stay with Grandma Hall would have been, were she still here. She did many things so well, but she especially taught all her daughters (and sons...Grandpa Kent sure knows how to do this too!) how to open their homes and their hearts and most importantly -- how to spoil. Thank you so much for everything. It was a wonderful weekend with many memories to cherish for years to come. Thanks for letting our rambunctious crew land in your home for a few days and for showing us such a great time!
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