Minnesota Easter

Since we had a really early Spring Break, we were granted a second mini Spring Break or Late Spring Break as the school called it. We just had Friday and Monday off but we decided that gave us a long enough weekend to get out and go somewhere. Months ago I suggested that we see if our friends Jared and Katelin (the Mortons) had plans and if not, invite ourselves to visit them in Minnesota. We were planning to go up there last Summer, and then over Labor Day but both times other family visits and circumstances preempted our visit. This time we were both free and they graciously agreed to host us for Easter.

We headed up on Thursday and stayed until Monday. I am not sure we even collected 8 hours of sleep total in the 4 nights we were there. Jared and Katelin are our late night rowdy board game playing friends. We spent our days with the kids and nights eating, playing and laughing. So much fun! Here is a recap of our stay. I will try to keep it brief, but you know me...

Thursday- Driving to MN. No pictures, but the kids were great and even slept for the last few hours. We arrived at about 1AM and still managed to stay up chatting until 3 or so. I love when you see people and can fall right back into old ways without a moment of awkwardness. We were laughing right from the moment we arrived.

Friday- The Mortons live about 15 minutes from the Mall of America, so of course we had to check it out. We spent most of our time at the indoor amusement park. I didn't get too many pictures because we were riding, but they even have roller coasters and a log ride indoors. After the mall we headed off to their favorite Mexican place and had some yummy food. When we got home we dyed eggs and then sent kiddos off to bed.

I am actually liking my hair more and more but please excuse it in these pictures. It was either windblown or roller coaster messy the whole weekend.

Saturday- Saturday we went to an indoor park. I have been wishing for an indoor park in WI since I moved here. If I had money I think I would open one. If it is cold 8 months of the year, there should be an indoor park. MN has figured that out. You have to pay $5 to go in but it was so worth it. The kids had a blast in the biggest jungle gym I have ever seen. They even talked me into going to the very top with them and it was actually quite fun. You have to take several slides to get all the way back to the bottom again.

They also had a bike area with these cool bikes.

What are they called and where do I get one? Even Chloe could use the hand pedals and they all LOVED these things. After the park we headed off to tour the twin cities. They showed us some of the cool touristy parts of Minneapolis and St. Paul and took us to their favorite pizza restaurant which was quite tasty.

This is our only picture from our time touring the city. It was so cold and WINDY. My friend Jen, who has lived in MN told me that even though it is super cold it is not windy like WI, so maybe we brought the wind with us? Also, Katelin is a month away from having a baby boy. Doesn't she look great?

Then after kids were in bed we finally started planning for Easter. We ended up playing games, hiding eggs and putting baskets together until 4:30 AM.

Sunday-Happy Easter! The kids hopped out of bed at 6:45 and if it hadn't been for the holiday adrenaline rush I would have had a really hard time dragging my carcass out of bed. After Easter egg hunting, breakfast and some Easter morning playing it was time to get the whole crew ready for church. As long as I was moving I was fine, but when I closed my eyes for the prayer at church I almost fell instantly into a deep sleep. Poor Katelin even had to teach the Young Women, but we survived. Luckily Sunday it was 60 something degrees and sunny. The kids spent hours playing outside (they have a huge backyard) and we even walked to a nearby park for awhile. We had planned the traditional ham and potatoes Easter dinner but were too tired to exert that kind of effort, so Seth made crepes for dinner, which was actually supposed to be Easter breakfast but we were also too tired that morning. Don't worry the kids didn't notice their deadbeet parents. They were having way too much fun. They played beautifully together the whole time. On our last night we put the kids to bed and again stayed up chatting and eating dessert and thinking about playing a game but in the end the sandman won and we hit the sheets at about midnight, which was probably for the best since Seth had to drive the next day and Jared had to head back to work.

Easter Baskets all ready to go.

But then we moved them way up high in case the kids got up without us hearing them.

Time for some church clothes pics. But first, my Easter dress disclaimer. If you know me, you know I hate frilly. I like girly and would love for my girls to wear skirts and dresses all year round, but NOT frilly. Remember I wouldn't even allow a lacey white dress for Alyssa's baptism? I prefer leggings or tights with a skirt, or a casual sundress. I even blessed Chloe in a white sundress (in February) and blessed Alex in pj's because there was NO WAY I was going to put him in one of those weird white vest and bow tie combos. My mom, on the other hand loves cheesy outfits. I have begged her not to buy them, but occasionally she does it anyway. One year she even sent a bonnet for Chloe and I was so embarrassed to take her to church with it on. Seth usually agrees with me. So this year I was shocked when he brought me these fancy dresses for them to try on. At first I said no, reminded him they were not going to prom and hung them back up. But....the girls thought they were so pretty. I agreed to try them on and as I watched the girls ding dong back and forth like frilly little bells in the dressing room, I knew I was not getting out of that store without those dresses. So, we bought them and me and Katelin spent the weekend joking about their Quinceanera dresses, but they looked pretty and felt pretty so it was worth any amount of silliness I felt.

A lady at church on Sunday told me that Alyssa looked exactly like me, but in this next picture she is making a face that screams Seth to me.

I wanted Chloe to show me the bow on the back of her dress but told her to turn and show her face too. She was so confused, so you may notice Alyssa in the background giving her a posing tutorial.

Monday- Driving home. It is about a 6 hour drive, but we stopped a few times. We hit the Flying J. I didn't know they had one in Wisconsin, but they do. Unfortunately it is 4 hours from home, but I had to stop for cookies and they have the best ice drink (like a Slush Puppie, only better) and they have ice pellets for their fountain drinks. Heaven, I tell you. After we loaded up at Flying J we headed to Madison since we had never seen the Capitol. We looked around the Capitol and the UW campus and then headed home, with only one more stop for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

It was such a great little getaway. My kids have told me several times since that they miss their friends and I totally relate. It was so good to be with The Mortons again, but it reminded me how much I miss those guys. Thank you so much for having us Jared and Katelin. We will have to do this more often, because I am totally not above inviting myself again.