Minnesota Day 2

We woke up on Thursday morning excited to try the breakfast buffet. And folks, this wasn't your run-of-the-mill breakfast feast---it was a superb set up of all your favorite morning treats.

I think their eyes were a bit larger than their stomachs--

--but honestly mine were too! In fact, we all enjoyed the muffins! They were soooooooooooo good. The absolute best I've ever had! They had apple-cinnamon which I tired once, carrot-ginger which I failed to try only because I tried to limit myself to one (okay, 2)and I couldnt' get enough of their orange-cranberry. OMG!! These are for sure the one food I take with me to a deserted island.

She was only a little sad that she couldn't join us! 

But she managed just fine with her binky and toys!

In fact, she was an excellent stroller-traveler. She was always happy and content as we cruised downtown Minneapolis. The girls had never see a sky-way, but they thought they were really neat. 

Here's the view from the sky-way which connects Target to Macy's. 

And our new favorite Target store--the girls just thought this 2 story Target was the best store ever! We actually spent a couple of hours here and the girls spent their own money on a My Little Pony toy (one each). I spent some money on new clothes. And all three girls were so well behaved while I shopped the racks and tried on clothes!

And I wished we had a fridge because there was a farmer's market up and down the entire street for several blocks. Tent after tent with fresh fruit, veggies and flowers. We even saw a few food trucks (which I would've loved to eat at and I wish we had one) and tried to eat at one, but they were all sold out of their food.

So we decided to become some of the only customers at the Melting Pot. 

And YES, we enjoyed dipping (mainly) bread in the cheese--I was the good girl who dipped my veggies in a minimum amount of cheese! Oh, but I enjoyed the bread as well! I was on vacation after all!

Mmmmmm.... cheese!

We walked back to our hotel so I could shower and so the girls could rest a bit. After an hour or two we headed back out and walked to Loring Park.

If you don't know, LP is just beautiful green space with walking paths and a park setting. It is gorgeous (and a fun place for kids to burn off energy). 

Even if they're forced to sit in a (dirty) stroller! 

Just some pretty flowers as we walked to our main destination-- the playground!

Some sweet girl had her first swing experience. And oh my, did she enjoy it!

Well, she does show her serious side sometimes, but on vacation...

...she knows how to have a good time!

The older girls played in sand, went down slides, and went swinging on a tire!

They were giggling and laughing the whole time. And those sounds were so joyous for me to hear. 

Not only was I taking a mental (and a real) photograph, but I was taking a sound memory as well.

It almost brought tears to my eyes to hear them squeal with excitement! 

Before leaving to go meet Daddy for dinner, they made a sand castle of sorts. 

After lots of digging in the sand, we brushed ourselves off and headed to the hotel to meet up with Daddy. We ended up eating at Rock Bottom Brewery where we gobbled up some Southwestern egg rolls (which I recreated at home... yum). And of course we could not stop entertaining a certain baby...

...by having her look out the window. You'll see in later posts that this was her favorite activity!

Day 2 was full of shopping, walking and playing. Day 3 is coming soon...

Minnesota Day 1

5 out of 7 members of our family recently went on a little mini-vacation. Daddy had some meetings in Minneapolis, so the two older girls, the baby and I tagged along for the ride. We dropped Bug and Boushka off with grandparents and made our way north around 8:45 AM last Wednesday. The trip was rather uneventful except for several miles in and around Madison County (yes, like the movie with Meryl Streep) Iowa. I think we stopped to potty, change a diaper, and nurse about 4 or 5 times within 10 miles.

The girls were sooooo excited to arrive. 

I was incredibly excited to have the chacnce to really focus on my big girls (and the baby of course). 

We made it to the hotel around 6:30 pm and immediately took in the views. Boy were the awesome. I don't consider myself a wanna-be city-dweller, but I can see the appeal it has in the eyes of many!

Even my little girls couldn't keep themselves from gazing out onto the cityscape!

Quite the view, huh? And this was only from the 6th floor. I can only imagine what it looked like from the 25th floor!

Once we stretched our legs and unpacked our bags, we decided to head to a local British pub. You can see the British flags that adorn the pub in the middle ground of the picture above. 

We didn't hesitate to represent our home state--actually, more like our home team!

And being cooped up in the car for 9 1/2 hours can make a sweet little girl want to be ornery and get rid of some energy. 

I couldn't blame her.... so I let the pillow fight ensue!

It was so nice to be able to do things there that we can't do at home. Having my big girls made life so easy for a few days (and no I don't want to get rid of my little girls by any stretch of the imagination, it's just sometimes more complicated to accomplish much when they're around).

I think we need to start having pillow fights at home just to get rid of some extra energy! It was so fun!

She was just posing cute before we jetted off to the pub! So naturally I snapped a shot!

They were in awe of how tall our building was... and in comparison, it really wasn't that tall next to the other buildings downtown. 

Upon stepping out of our hotel, a guy on a bike taxi said he gave free rides to princesses (he was just working for tips that night and the ride was free) so we climbed on and he took us to dinner. We could've walked, but we were trying to experience the city!

I took this shot while riding in the bike's back seat. I tried to sneak my camera out to take this picture because I didn't want to look touristy! But I don't think I fooled anybody!

Here we are on the taxi. Excuse my no makeup/sat-in-the-car-all-day face and hair!

Look at this Target. It's right next to Target HQ and it's two levels. This blew us away--us country folks ain't used to such high fa-lutent, fancy buildings and such!

We made our way to the pub and were seated immediately. They had the BEST somosas. All I remember about them is that they had smashed peas in them and came with a curry sauce. So freakin' awesome. I'd go back and order them again!

Somebody was trying to grab my food all night, so finally I stuck a fry in her mouth. No worries, she only licked it a couple times.

And they had this bowling lawn on their back patio. Unfortunatley, there was a private party going on so we couldn't join in the fun! But how cool does that look? 

We ended the night with a dessert and headed back to our hotel to call it a night. I didn't sleep well because hubs and I shared a double bed. We're used to our king and having our own island of comfort. Instead we kept kicking each other. Aw, hotel beds. Oh well. I got enough rest to get up in the morning and hit the shops... Stay tuned for day 2!

Birthdays

Well, as you can see from my previous post, a certain little Scrunchie turned 5 mos old. The next day, my husband and I both celebrated our birthday! It's kind of crazy to be married to a person you share your birthday, but it's pretty fun too.

We started the week on Monday with a dinner and gifts from my in-laws. They had the older three girls up during the day and a feast was prepared for us--complete with homemade cards and a dance, I might add. Pictures, you ask? Yep, I failed here!

Our actual birthdays were on Friday and it was a busy, busy day! After getting 3 whole hours of sleep, Scrunchie woke me up around 5:30 for a feeding. When I tried to go back to sleep... it was a no-go. So I told my husband I'd go make him some breakfast (this almost never happens--he usually doesn't even eat breakfast).

I made some eggs, hashbrowns and sauted some green pepper and onion, and shredded some cheese. I wrapped it all up in a (very local and very delicious whole wheat) tortilla and topped it with salsa and sourcream. He ate two and said they were very good. And since he's not much of a cake fan, I made him his favorite chewy chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. I think he gobbled up some before leaving for work.

The girls and I went about our morning and decided we'd take him his favorite lucnh--Chipotle! YUM! And yes, we also ate Chipotle--and to save time we ate it in the car. We figured it was easier to have him come out to the car than it was for me to carry the food, a toddler and a car seat full of baby (not to mention trying to keep the older three close by) into his place of work. The only problem...

I forgot forks (all but one of us had a rice bowl). So I found a restaurant down the road who let us take some plastic forks. Thank goodness!

 We left daddy at work and picked my mom up for a movie. She was taking all of us to see Smurfs! It was a cute movie and all 5 girls actually watched it--yes, even Scrunchie. She lost it during the last 10 seconds of the movie. Just as I was about to take her out of the theater, the credits started rolling--perfect timing, darling girl!

 Later that evening after hubby got home we opened presents (still need to try out my new cast-iron skillet) from my mom and then she took us to a Thai restaurant. I could build a meal off their appetizer menu--so good!

 Once the hooligans were getting wild and dinner was winding down, Matt decided he would take us all out to a local coffee shop for treats and live music. We ventured over there for chocolate cake, a latte, and some fun times.

 And just like the previous celebration--I didn't have my camera! Ugh, I'm pretty disappointed we didn't get pictures. But honestly, some days I'm just proud of myself for getting everybody to and from everywhere in one piece.

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday. Facebook is such a nice way to feel love on your birthday, but so is the good ol' fashion phone or a card--all of which I am grateful to have received! It's always nice not to feel like Molly Ringwald's characher from 16 candles :-) And thanks to our moms and some sweet friends who were extra sweet for my big 2-9! Love you all very much!

And now I'll go complete my birthday week (yes, I take a week to celebrate. Why not, right?) with some vino and Jersey Housewives!

Scrunchie is 5 months old!

Oh, my beautiful girl!

You are now 5 months old. Not to jump ahead much, but I'm freaking out that you are nearly a half a year old. WOW! How did that happen?

Well, first things first. I took your measurements today and you are

25 1/4 inches (45th percentile)and 15 1/2 pounds (60th percentile). I still adore your little leg rolls, neck rolls, 

and that beauty of a belly you rock!

Lately, you've been saying "no thank you" to nursing, and "bring it on" to the bottle. I hadn't planned on giving you any formula in the beginning. Then I realized it was a kind of necessary as we carry on with our very busy life--having four older kids who are still pretty young makes it kind of hard to nurse on demand during the day. And in this last week, you have been taking equal amounts of bottle and nursing. I'm not the biggest fan of your choice, missy! 

That being said, you are still packing on the pounds pretty nicely! You've nearly doubled your birth weight of 7lbs 15 oz. And you've grown over 4 inches.

You are still in 3-6 months clothing, and 6-12 month in Gymboree clothing. 

And today we decided you were ready for shoes. So we broke out one of the many pairs you were given at birth-- size 0/1. And they fit perfectly!

I also had to move you up to size three diapers. I think that is the fastest I have ever put one of my kiddos in a size three diaper!

You have rolled over. You did it the day you turned 4 months old. You do really well on your belly--pushing up so big and strong! You also sit for several seconds at a time. You've been doing this for a month and you keep getting stronger and stronger. The doctor says you'll be walking by 9 months with the way you balance when you stand and hold steady while you sit. 

Watch out world!

You inch along your playmat sometimes. I think we're seeing the beginning steps of crawling!

You moved into your crib during the past month as well. Right after you turned 4 months old, dad and I decided we all might sleep better if you were in your own room. 

You are perfectly warm in there (without our fan making you too cool), and it is quiet (no tv or snoring sounds from mom and dad). 

But your sleep still leaves a little to be desired. You go down around 7:30-8 still and then you get up at 12:30, 4ish, 6ish and 8ish. I should just get up with you at 6ish, but that might happen once you skip the previous two wake times. 

I bring you to our room in the middle of the night and you eat and sleep. And then I take you back to your crib. 

Pacies are still a "yes." Of all 5 kids, you have taken the pacie the longest. You still love your lovies--you have your zebra and your giraffe (stolen from Boushka). You are constantly shoving those things in your mouth. 

In fact, you shove just about anything you can get your hands on (including your own hands) into your mouth. You are incredibly slobbery and always drooling! Many people comment that you must be getting ready to teethe. YIKES!

 You seem awfully interested in big people food. You watch forks move from plate to mouth when you sit on dad's or my lap. Slow down!

I think we might give you a bite of avocado by the time I write your 6 month post. We'll see about that. 

You are a giggly and happy baby. You really only fuss so that you can have attention (or food). And attention (or food) you get!

Your sisters' attention is all you want sometimes. And sometimes you want mama to hold you close and play with you. And once I do, you instantly smile and giggle. And yes, that makes my day!

And sometimes you want your daddy's attention. He likes to make faces at you and you always smile. We love getting you to smile that precious, tootless grin!

You are an absolute joy and delight to have as part of our family. I can't believe how blessed we are to have such a healthy, delightful, strong, bouncing baby girl. You bring so much light to our lives. 

Hugs and kisses, baby Scrunchie!