MN Trip - Sunday 5/8

Sunday morning was Mother's Day.....and our last day on our Minnesota trip. We had a wonderful time, but were ready to get back home. (All except for Kelly!) Kelly thought we should just LIVE in the hotel. When I told her she would miss her school and her friends....she said "But Mom, they can just come visit me and swim and go to all the fun places!" It didn't really feel like Mother's Day.....well, it did since I had some over-tired children! We spent most of Mother's Day driving home.....and unpacking!

Kelly giving me the card, flower, and magnet she made for me at school.

We went to Mall of America for a couple more hours before heading home....since it was right across the street from our hotel. Grandma Peggy took Kelly and "Amy" to the American Girl store to get her dolls hair done! Kelly has had Amy for 3 years.....and her hair was pretty tangled!

Kelly watching closely and listening to how to take care of her dolls hair.

Adorable smile on Miss Kelly as she is watching.

Amy getting all cleaned up!

(You would have been shocked to see how much dirt, etc. came off that doll!!!!)

Kelly and the NEW Amy!

Molly got to go to Build a Bear for the first time! She has been "borrowing" Kelly's build a bear for awhile now......so now Molly has her own. Here she is showing what bear she picked!

Giving it to the lady and listening....

...watching closely...

...checking to see if it's just right...

...picking a heart...

...rubbing the heart...

....rubbing heart on check so her bear will always have smiles...

...putting the heart inside...

...washing and brushing her bear...

YEAH....Molly has her own Build a Bear now!!!

Kelly asked me if I would take her on the log ride for Mother's Day....since she LOVED it when she went with Uncle Brian the day before....here we are waiting in line.

Mommy & Kelly on the log ride!

It was a great LONG, BUSY, weekend!

MN Trip - SATURDAY 5/7

Saturday was a busy, fun-filled day at the pool and Mall of America. The kids had a great time in the hotel pool.....and we had two pool and two hot tubs all to ourselves!!!! There were a lot of college graduations and NO ONE was in the pool. It was wonderful! Kelly was in the pool at 10am......and didn't get out until 3pm when we were getting ready to take the 4pm shuttle to the Mall. Yes, she was in 5 hours!!! She only got out for 20 minutes to eat lunch that was brought to her in the pool area! What a life! Ben, Daniel, and Molly enjoyed the pool too. Molly actually did REALLY WELL! We kept her glasses on, and she got braver and braver throughout the day! The hotel had a shuttle to take and pick you up from the Mall of America....so it was nice to not have to worry about parking! The kids played at Legoland and met Dora & Diego AND Spongebob & Patrick too. All of those things were FREE too!!!! They even let you take your own pictures with the characters as well. We had a wonderful dinner at Rainforest Cafe!!! All the kids were great at dinner and were really interested in all the monkeys, animals, and the fact that it was raining while we ate! Oh, and did I mention they ALL ate well too!!!! AMAZING! After dinner, the older three kids were able to go on two rides. Molly was too little....and way past tired (two days in a row without a nap did her in)....so she got a Dora stuffed animal to snuggle with as the older kids rode a couple rides. Then back to the 8pm shuttle and bedtime! It was a great day!

The four older cousins.....putting their feet in the hot tub!

Ben (5.5), Kelly (4.5), Daniel (3.5), Molly (2)

Kelly is a little FISH in the water!!!

(My daughter after my heart!)

Uncle Brian with a train behind him in the pool.

Papa Michael and Molly kicking in the water.

(Papa couldn't get in the pool as he had surgery two days before we left.....on Monday he had a stint put in....but still came on the trip to see all his grand kids together!)

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture!!!!

Molly is enjoying the water!

Molly kept walking up and down the steps....look how far she is in the water on her own!!! (...and she's smiling too!) I think it would have been a different story if I took her glasses off!

Molly & Mommy

My two girls!

Molly was the first one out of the pool.....so she was keeping an eye on Matthew!

Molly LOVES Dora.....well, Molly pretty much LOVES any character she knows.

(Elmo, Cookie Monster, Abby Cadabby, Big Bird, Zoe, Scooby Doo, Barney, Baby Bob, Dora, Diego, Spongebob, Curious George, Clifford, etc.)

Molly went right up to Dora and gave her a BIG HUG!!!

Both my girls giving Dora some love!

Dora & Diego with Ben, Kelly, and Molly.

(Daniel wouldn't go in to see them)

The kids with Spongebob & Patrick

Legoland.....another thing that's FREE & FUN!

Miss Molly had fun at the smaller tables that were just her size!

Kelly enjoyed building at the bigger tables with Ben!

RAIN FOREST CAFE!

Wow....I can honestly say this was the FIRST sit-down restaurant that BOTH my girls were good and well-behaved the ENTIRE MEAL....and they ATE really well too! Gotta love all the animal noises and things going on to keep the kids entertained!

Molly is exhausted....while the older three kids rode a couple rides, Molly snuggled with her new Dora and was happy in her stroller...until she fell asleep.

Uncle Brian took the kids on the log ride.

Kelly came out and said "That was so much fun!!!! There was a really scary part....but it was so fun and I got wet!!!!!)

The other kids ride they went on

Look at the smiles on Kelly & Ben!

In the hotel.....all smiles after a fun-filled day!

MN Trip - FRIDAY 5/6

We spent Friday morning at the house.....the kids played and held Matthew! We packed up all our stuff (we stayed at Brian and Katie's for two nights) and headed down to the cities. Katie and Matthew stayed home and rested. The four big kids were excited as we were spending the day at the Minnesota Children's Museum. Everyone had a lot of fun and the kids played great together!!!

The first picture of all 5 kids!

My girls love their new little cousin!

Kelly & Matthew

Molly loved kissing "Baby Matt!!!"

Molly had a lot of fun playing the the kitchen at Brian and Katie's house....if you look closely on the left....you will see part of George too!

The big kids playing before we left on Friday morning.

Playing at the LEGO Castle exhibit at the museum.

The girls stacking the large legos.

Molly on the princess bench.

My sleeping princess!

Molly and Daniel playing at the water wonder table.....Daniel didn't stay long as he found the boats!

Molly LOVED this water table.....she stayed there for over an hour!

Water fun!

Loving the water!

Ben & Kelly having fun in all the BUBBLES!

Big bubbles!

Kelly putting her hand in one of the HUGE bubbles one of the workers made!

Kelly watching this worker (who was amazing!!!) "TAKE A BUBBLE FOR A WALK!" She followed him around and he let her pop it at the end!

Look at her smile!!!!

Bubbles are so much fun!

The boys liked racing the boats!!!!

Molly thought racing DUCKS would be more fun!

Go Ducky Go!

SELF face painting sure make a 3, 4, & 5 year old happy!!!!

Grandma Peggy was being a rock star with the kids on the stage!

My two little rock stars!

After almost 6 hours at the museum....we headed to the hotel to check in.....which was right across the street from the Mall of America and only 15 minutes from the museum. The kids swam for a little while and we had pizza delivered to the pool. By the end of the day....we had 4 tired kids!