Minnesota Vacation, Part 1

One of the reasons I was away from my blog for a while was because we spent a little over two weeks in our home state of Minnesota. This is always the highlight of our summer vacation, and this year was no different. The last couple of years Noah and I have flown while Brian and the dog drove, but this year we made it a family road trip. Noah was a total trooper for the 15-hour ride and aside from a few tearful, "I want to go home" moments, he was happy to sit quietly and play on his new LeapPad or watch dvds. 

We spent the first week with Brian's parents. The first day or two we were not very adventurous and chose to just recover from the long drive. Noah definitely loved every moment at "Camp Grandma." While I lack any interior decorating skills, my mother in law has just short of a million little decorative accessories lying around which were oh-so-fun to mess with. She also has a baby grand piano that he likes to tinker with.

As always, we spent some time at the country club's pool. I was rocking some pretty sweet heparin bruises on my stomach, but it didn't stop me from enjoying some sun and water play. The first day there, Noah was just about to test his courage by going down the water slide, but alas, the whistle was blown because someone pooped in the pool. Yuck. However, the next day Noah actually went for it. My father-in-law waited to catch him, but in the deep end of a pool that's kind of a hard feat. He did grab Noah just after he hit the water, but he was scolded. "Grandpa, you forgot to catch me!" Noah was also a total flirt and made small talk with a number of young teenage girls who were there. Sometimes he really reminds me of what his Uncle Kevin was like as a kid (or so I hear). 

One hot, humid day we tried out an indoor playground in Maple Grove. I didn't know anything about it, and it turned out to be a bit of a bust. They had a huge play structure which looked like a lot of fun, but it was all a little too big and tall for a three year old. The toddler area was pathetic with just a few large plastic animals to climb on and a three foot slide. Oh well. Afterwards we did lunch at my favorite Chinese restaurant, Leeann Chin. If you have never been to Minnesota, you are missing out. I just had to get a picture of Noah there. Shortly after, he spilled most of his milk all over Grandma Wendy. Oops!

Another day we hit the Minnesota Zoo to check out their dinosaur exhibit again. Noah was a lot less afraid this year and was willing to walk most of the way and even approached some of the animatronic beasts with a little encouragement. He also got to be nose-to-nose with a grizzly bear who was taking a dip.

While at the zoo, I caught sight of a little boy who looked an awful lot like a little boy from a blog I read. Then I saw his mom and twin sister and realized, "Holy crap! That is him!" At first I didn't want to bother them, but then I decided that it was too crazy not to. What a small world! If you want to check out her blog, it's at Once Upon A Time. She has the cutest boy/girl twins who are almost 2 months older than Noah, and I'm pretty sure she needs to be nominated for "most fun mom ever," if such a thing exists. 

Aside from all that, we spent time with Uncle Kevin and Aunt Erin, and great grandparents Jack and Nancy. We also played around the house a lot, blew bubbles outside, and enjoyed the sand/water table. My in-laws live on a small pond, so there are a lot of dragonflies and frogs around, both of which Noah enjoyed trying to catch. 

On our very last day with them, it was a cool, autumn-like day and we finally ventured to the neighborhood park.

Up next, our time with my parents!