Giggle

Sea Life Aquarium

On Saturday the plan was to go to the Minnesota Zoo to see the new dinosaur exhibit with Liv, Isaac and Carrie, but Mother Nature had other ideas and decided to fill the skies with rain, thunder and lightening.  So we came up with Plan B and went to the Sea Life Aquarium at the Mall of America.  

We were smart and checked on-line for a coupon and I happened across an on-line deal on the actual Sea Life Aquarium website where all tickets were $9.99 for Memorial weekend if purchased on-line. Typically adults are $19.99 and kids 3-12 are $15.99 so this was a FANTASTIC DEAL!  We purchased our tickets and headed to the Mall of America.

It was CrAzY busy at the MOA - so crazy we had to park on the roof of the parking ramp. I've never had to park on the roof of the ramp in the 20 years I've been going to the mall. We couldn't turn around; we were committed, we had our tickets and the kids were excited to see sharks. There was no going back...we entered the mall with what seemed like the entire population of Minneapolis/St. Paul too.

Liv looking down into the shark and stingray tank

Zach looking down into the shark and stingray tank

Getting the entire perspective of the "dock" and tank below

Liv checking out the tide pool -- Zach is trying to see the star fish

Zach and Liv touching clams and then starfish

After the tide pool we moved on to see all the sea horses. Then we walked through the dark to see all the jelly fish...

Zach and Liv looking at the Jellyfish. That's Zach's hand on the tank.

Zach ooo'ing and ahh'ing over the jellyfish

Liv and Zach checking out the BIG jellyfish

Zach and the Jellyfish!

"Look Mommy SHARKS!" Zach and Liv were fascinated with all the teeth in the shark's mouths. This was a nurse shark and swimming behind it a sand tiger shark.

Zach and Liv

A big saw fish floating by...

Zach and Liv checking out a shark swimming right by the glass

As you can see both Zach and Liv were enthralled with all the sea life in the aquariums. They had a fantastic time!  So did Isaac and Elaina in the strollers; however this silly mommy didn't take any photos of them in their strollers.Well - you can see the top of Isaac's head in the photo above - that's Carrie pushing Isaac behind Zach and Liv.

At the end we asked the kids what was their favorite animal they saw today.  Olivia said the BIG turtles and Zach said the sharks and Jellyfish were a tie.

A great afternoon!  We ended the day with inviting Liv, Isaac and Carrie for dinner. Zach and Liv were excited to get some more play time in while the adults watched the little kids play.  Then it was time to say good night because tomorrow was going to be yet another big day together!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Tonight we celebrated Halloween with our friends; Eric, Carrie, Carter, Liv and Isaac.  We started the night with dinner so the kids would have the energy they needed to walk the neighborhood trick-or-treating.

I decided to go with a Halloween themed dinner and I made mummy dogs for the kids. What a mummy dogs? Hot dogs wrapped in crescent rolls mummy style. So easy to make, so cute to look at and so nummy to eat!

Aren't they cute??

That was the only 'creative' food I made this evening. Otherwise it was simple; tater tot hot dish, tater tots (if you prefer them plain), mandarin oranges, string cheese, green beans, and cheetos.  And simple pumpkin and black cat cookies for dessert...let's not forget the kids will be going trick-or-treating...

Then it was time for the daddies to hit the sidewalks with the kids and go trick-or-treating. But we HAD to take a few photos of the kids before the set off for the night.

Carter (standing) as Harry Potter, Isaac as Sock Monkey, Liv as a Mermaid, Zach as Captain America and Elaina as a Ladybug.

Carter (standing) as Harry Potter, Isaac as Sock Monkey, Liv as a Mermaid, Zach as Captain America and Elaina as a Ladybug.

Zach showing his muscles as Captain America!

Elaina the Ladybug who would NOT stop moving so I could take her photo. Silly bug!

Liv the beautiful Mermaid and Zach as Captain America!

Zach and Elaina

I know this photo of Elaina is DARK - but it's so cute. She's showing me the rocks she picked up. Of course these went into her mouth - everything does.  Even mommy's hair.

Then it was time for the big kids to go trick-or-treating with the daddies and the mommies stayed back with the little babies, handed out candy and drank wine.  (Why not?!)  We probably had about 100 kids come to our door tonight.  Elaina and Isaac thought it was great. Every time the doorbell rang they went to check out who was at the door too. Elaina caught on that each time someone rang the doorbell mommy (or Carrie) would take the big cauldron and the kids at the door would smile.  So needless to say Elaina was VERY curious  about what was IN the big black cauldron.

Caught in the act - Elaina trying to see what's in the cauldron.

When the kids returned from Trick-or-treating with VERY FULL bags of candy Carrie had a creative project set up for them. They made HAUNTED HOUSES!

Although...I think Liv and...

Zach ate more of the 'mortor' (frosting) than they used to put decorations on their Haunted Houses.

Zach's finished Haunted House! Boo! He's pointing at ghost marshmallows - he thought those were pretty cool!

Thanks for spending Halloween with us P-Family! We had lots of fun! Let's call it a date for next year too! *wink* If any other friends out there reading would like to join the fun - just let us know! The more the merrier!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Saturday at Aamodt's Apple Farm

This past Saturday afternoon after Zach's swimming lesson we met Carrie, her sister Amy, Carter, Liv, and Isaac for an afternoon at Aamodt's Apple farm.

Carrie and I were busy mommarazis so instead of writing about the day I share some of the photos we took throughout the day.

That's all for tonight. Thanks for stopping in!

Orchard Fun!

Zach, Elaina, Dave, Nancy and I all spent the late afternoon at Apple Junction apple orchard a couple of weekends back. I've been a bit behined in downloading photos from the camera. 

Nancy and Zach peeping from behind the truck

Now you can see Zach man!

Elaina checking things out.

Zach petting the goats

Elaina is watching daddy Dave and Zach intently.

Zach was having lots of fun petting the goat. He didn't want to move on and check out the rest of the orchard.

PUMPKINS! We didn't pick up a pumpkin that weekend. We'll wait a few more weekends before picking up any pumpkins. But Zach was excited! He said, "Halloween pumpkins mommy!! Halloween is coming soon!"

Before we left we picked up Zestar and SweeTango apples as well their super delicious homemade peanut butter! Apples dipped in peanut butter is a delicious snack!

That was our afternoon! Thanks for stopping by!

Twins Game!

Back on September 17th I took our friend Valerie to the Twins game to celebrate her birthday. I've been meaning to post photos since then and I'm just now getting around to posting these. Yeesh! (Sorry Val!)

Brian Dinkelman at bat! Go Dinkleman!

I was taking a photo of Brian Dinkelman on the board not to remember the miserable score at the bottom of the second inning. No...it did not improve much for the Twins. At least the weather was beautiful and the company was great!

I've taken many photos of Minnie and Paul...

Valerie and I

Valerie and I

Thanks for a great afternoon at the Twins game Valerie! I had a great time!! Happy Birthday!