Day at the Mall

Amelia's third birthday is this weekend! Yesterday Auntie Kim brought us to Sea Life MN in the Mall of America to celebrate! It had been about a year and a half since we had been there and in that time it was remodeled so it was a little bit different than we remembered it!

The jellyfish were a hit with Amelia again!

After Sea Life we went to Nickelodeon Universe theme park. I got enough tickets for Amelia to go on three rides. She went on the carousel, Azul's Adventure (the train from Dora) and Wonder Pets Flyboat (they sit on a bench and it went up and bounced down several times.) I went on everything but the flyboat with her - she asked me to sit next to her but I knew she could do it alone!


She did well until the last time it went up. She started to cry a little bit at that point.

Waiting in line for rides was the most patient I have ever seen this girl! She was so mesmerized by everything.

Before we headed out we had a late lunch/early dinner at one of the mall's food courts. Amelia was excited about her crown!

This little guy was a trooper all day long! He sat in his stroller content and (mostly) happy the entire day :)

We made a few stops on our way home from the mall making it a nice, full, long day. Everyone was pretty tired by the time we made it home! I got Amelia into her bed and went to get her the milk she asked for and by the time I got back with it she was out cold! We all slept pretty good last night!

For the Love of Cats

Last Saturday we took Amelia to the 'Saintly City Cat Show' which is part of the St. Paul Winter Carnival. Amelia LOVES cats and this was pretty much the coolest thing to her.


She ran from cat to cat and got really upset when she had to leave each cat.


She had two favorites and their owner was very patient with Amelia each time we stopped to see her cats.


As you can see she even opened their cages so Amelia could pet them but she was way more interested in opening and closing their cage doors than anything.

Since we were nearby we stopped in Rice Park to see some of this year's ice sculptures.


This year is the 125th St. Paul Winter Carnival and I liked this sculpture because it has each of the century logos for the event carved.

Mom and I:


Afterwards we had a cozy dinner at Mama's Pizza. By cozy I mean we fit all 5 of us into a little booth that would comfortably hold 3 or 4 people. It was interesting...


Nana and Grandpa had the pleasure of sitting with Amelia...who insisted on eating off of Grandpa's plate instead of her own (even though they had the same thing) and she was close enough to reach on over and help herself!

Family Fun Night

This evening Amelia and I went with my family to Macy's for their annual 8th floor Christmas display! We have been going each year since, well, forever. This is the third year that they have had the "Day in the Life of an Elf" display so I really didn't take too many pictures.



Amelia's favorite scene was one with dancing animals:


She didn't want to leave this one!

Afterwards we got her picture with Santa again this year and our photographer happened to be someone I was in synchronized swimming with throughout high school - small world! This year's visit with Santa didn't go too well...


(pardon the quality of this picture, it is a picture of a picture taken on my sister's fancy phone)

...she was terrified! Oh well. I think we might try again this holiday season and see what happens the second (maybe even third) time around!

Tonight there was a little birthday celebration for Uncle Kory but I am so beat from working all day before the family fun that I opted out of joining in the fun. I work at 4AM tomorrow so I know they understand! Hopefully they are having a fun (and safe) night out!

**Go HERE to see photos from last year's Macy's

What Have We Been Up To?

I haven't had Internet access for almost a week because I use my parent's wifi and they were having issues installing their new Apple Airport (router) so those of us with PCs were without Internet access since mid-last week. It's all straightened out and working again so here I am!

What have we been up to? LOTS!

Last Wednesday we took Amelia to the Mall of America to Underwater Adventures. Jason had never been there so it was an extra special trip! We didn't take a ton of pictures but here are a few:




After Underwater Adventures, Amelia took a little snooze in her stroller while Jason and I (mostly window) shopped:


We had a really great day together which I think we all needed!

Another fun thing we did just yesterday was going to the apple orchard! We went to Aamodt's Farm in Stillwater. Our first stop was yummy apple treats:


(apple cider, apple oatmeal cookies and apple crisp with cinammon ice cream!)

Amelia had a blast in the hay maze:




They even had apples low enough for Amelia to reach!


Yesterday was another great day for us!

We have been soaking up fall days this past week and it has been so awesome! I LOVE this time of year :)

State Fair 2010 - Trip 2

We went to the "great Minnesota get-together" yet again! This time Amelia and I went with my mom and sister (yesterday.)

One thing that we did that we missed last week was the John Deer "Little Farm." Amelia didn't have much patience to wait in the lines while we were there so we got through to this point:


She loved being on the tractor that was just her size! Since her legs were a little too short we had to push her but she still had a blast.

I got Amelia a couple of rabbit feet because she loves my moms' cats rabbit feet. She loved them so much that I had to hook them to her dress so she wouldn't lose them and have a meltdown. She turned a few heads...


Oh well. She was happy and had a good time. That is the important part!

My sister and I took Amelia on the gondola skyride that goes across the fair.


We took the round-trip and Amelia had a great time. She was so excited when we went over the giant slide. I can't wait to take her on it next year when she is a little bigger!

I think I ate more yesterday than I did last Thursday - if that was possible!


I even tried three new things; deep fried pickles, deep fried Reese's and the big fat bacon on a stick. Out of the three the deep fried pickles were the best which really shocked me!

We took a free shuttle from a Target near the fair and Amelia enjoyed having her own, big girl seat on the bus!



It was another succesful trip to the fair and I can't wait to go next year!

State Fair 2010 - Trip 1

Yesterday was the start of the "great Minnesota get-together"...also known as the MN State Fair...also known as the best time of year ;)

My parents, Jason and I went bright and early to enjoy the first day of the fair. We got there at 7 AM, before anything opened and it was so nice to be able to park nearby on the street, for free!

We like to get there early when the animal barns and the grandstand (shopping for mostly things you don't need!) are not as busy and you can get in and out in a timely fashion. It really works out great. Since we were there so early Amelia even got to walk a sheep. Yes, you read that right. She walked a sheep. In fact, she ran up to the sheep owner and ripped the leash out of his hand. Luckily, he was kind and said she could walk "Fannie" - so she did!



It was so cute! We saw lots of animals and Amelia loved every bit of it! In fact, by the time we were done in the animal barns she crashed and took a two hour nap while we walked through the grandstand! I think she slept so long because we reclined the stroller seat all the way back flat.



Amelia loved the John Deere tractors! She loves tractors much to her Nana's dismay. We let her sit on a few and she was so serious about "driving" them that she would not even look up for a picture!





It is true what they say up here - you can put anything on a stick! Check out this Texas steak dinner on a stick my mom and I shared:


It was actually very tasty! It just happened to be there when we were both getting hungry and needed something with some substance so we gave it a shot and it was great! Amelia took a second nap in the afternoon (score!) and for that one she fell asleep upright even.


In the agriculture building I got an apple cider freeze and it was so delicious! It made me crave fall even more - if that was possible. I got another one for Amelia after her nap since we are pretty convinced she is teething right now.


You could not take that thing away from her, she loved it that much!

My mom got a new rolling cart and Amelia was pretty insistent on "helping" her wheel it around...


...backwards.

Those were pretty much the highlights of our day at the fair so here are a few more pictures to share:







My mom, sister, Amelia and I are headed back to the fair on Wednesday for some more food and fun!

*If you noticed Amelia in several outfits, you should know we went through three sets of clothes! I was amazed.