What to do on a week off (day 2)

Another day, another park.  This one seemed farther out, probably because we had to wind around Lake Minnetonka. It is a pretty drive and I realized (once again) that there are some places in this metro that are truly unique. It ain't our town !  This is where having money would come in handy (but than again... ).

I'd seen this park listed on the Three Rivers site many times. They've got different kinds of activities going on,  a lot of them on the weekends. It always seemed like a fun place for us city folk to visit.  It was.

The big red barn was locked up, but we were able to visit the chickens. You guys know that a rooster sounds different than a chicken. Not sure we've learned to identify one from a chicken. And I use the term "we" literally. Me so dumb. Me learn. Good thing I had kids to go over remedial items like this!

Oh, that smell!

What do you think? Should we take a walk? ;)

What to do on a week off

Grab a map and check out a Three Rivers Park! 

French Regional, to be exact.

Sound good?

Yeah, I thought so too.

Have Mommy pull you through the woods (Ms. ZOE)?!

Her chariot awaits.

Bridges are fun (and apparently worthy of extracting oneself from the wagon). I always think "Poohsticks" when I cross a bridge like this. We need to throw sticks over one of these days and see whose goes under the bridge first.

Feathers all over? Yeah, probably not good to let the kids pick up possibly disease infested castoffs from nature...but  I did. This was more than a week ago and you're still raring to go, so I think it turned out okay. 

And a turtle sanctuary at the beach?! Wishing you Dad wasn't working and was here with us...Well wishing your Dad was with us. Working is a good thing.

It was  a breezy cloudy day, but still nice to be outside.

The funny thing is pre-ZoRo I did hike at this park in preparation for a weekend backpack trip up North. What I didn't remember was that there was a rather large playground on site. Not Elm Creek, but still.  Based on the wear and tear (and re-pair), it must have been there those 8 years ago, but it wasn't high on my list of things to remember at that point in my life ;)

We still love you..

MN Childrens Museum. I was off work for a week (good timing for a break - yikes!), so we had time to explore our towns and on one drizzly day we ventured inside.  There was a new exhibit since we last went - Storybook something or other (me: not the marketering sloganeering spreader).  Actually a lot of kids books I hadn't read. Like this one.  Not a clue.

Interesting enough you both picked up the phone and pretended to talk, so the object above isn't totally foreign. You even tried to dial the rotary dial. 

Don't get too excited. This is how you both hung the phone up. I'm pretty sure there was a point in my childhood when this is all we had. And I recall when the phone company (one of them) started the "service" of producing that annoying sound when the phone isn't hung up. No luck here. So we left it for another unsuspecting toddler to find.

In the same scene, a tv "set". Yep, we had one of those mammoth pieces of furniture too. Bigger than this puppy. The one that predominated my childhood  (yes, they lasted years and years) had push buttons on the front. All the channels were there. 2 all the way up to 13. Not that we had actual stations on  more than 5 of them, but hey beggers can't be choosers is what I say (way too much).

The one book we did recognize was Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom. I didn't get a good shot of the display, but  I'd recommend this book for your late night reading roster. That's a good one. Read it aloud. Don't have a preschooler? That will only make it more interesting.

It was only when I got home that I noticed the woman in the background with the exasperated hand placement. Yeah, we've all been there sister.

And quickly becoming one of my favorite places: the curiosity center (again, I may have that totally wrong, but it's something generically vague like that...). This time it was 'create your own paintbrush'. Or 'let mom create your own paintbrush' while you play with all the goodies spread out before you. Reminds me that I should get out the kids scissors and allow for supervised cutting time. No more gobs of hair, mind you.

And what good is a paintbrush without some paint?

Did  yourt pictures turn out as gray and muddy brown swatches? Sure. But we had fun doing it, and that's what matters.

We spent the last part of the day in the baby/under 4 area. You guys still had fun in there and we capped it off with a little time on the comfy chairs in the reading area of that section. I like the kids sized chairs, bean bags and nice comfy couch from which to watch you crawl, climb and dump books all over the floor. 

Man, what a great place to be a kid.

Wedding Reception

Are for celebrations. Uncle Rob and great Uncle Ron to the left, to the left. Cake to the front and center. (recurring memory: Never heard this song, and apparently I may be one of few, judging by the amount of people on the dance floor moving right along...)

Some little guy and little girl had a lunchbox full of goodies (Toy Story! Hello Kitty! - hello Kitty;).

Zoe helped herself to the wedding favor - a nice chocolate bar with a custom label. A label your dad worked on by the way. Did you, could you admire his graphic design and production skills? No. CHOC-O-LATE. And a white dress. Amazingly I think we avoided getting it ON the dress.

Lawrida and Roman looking on at Shannon and Grandpa Mike's dance.

Roman and the groom, Mr. S. 

And the bride!

The wedding party got a turn on the dance floor. Where was Zo?

 Out in the lobby. Dismembering flowers with your Dad's cousin Ron's fiancee, Ashley.  Why? Mr. Microphone Man (the DJ) had a booming voice that totally freaked Ms Zoe out.  

The wedding party had an introduction before dinner. I walked Roman and Zoe into the dining room. We made a quick loop back to our seats and by the time we were ready to sit down, Zo was covering her ears and hysterical. We had to leave. I took her outside and we sat in the back of the van for awhile. Roman and Dad joined us a few minutes later. I think Ro wondered where his sister went....So we missed all the speeches and toasts...But we went back for dinner. And didn't stop moving until midnight.

Roman had a good time playing with his new cars.

He had plenty of playmates, including Grandpa!

Mr. Microphone must have been yapping up a storm.

Shameful mama moment: Sometime later in the evening when I picked Zoe up to dance with her and she plugged her nose. Sam Adams Octoberfest beer breath belongs in the realm of stinky animals. Touche, my dear.

And despite the blank look stare, Mr. Roman continued on to rip up the wedding reception floor. Dance floor? No luck, he wanted nothing to do with it. Running circles. And later the kids told me that someone told them to stop running. What's amazing to me is that they were ABLE to tell me this. Did I care that they were running? Apparently not ;) 

Daddy had to see it with his own eyes

The pink elephant off the interstate in Wisconsin

The one we saw in June with Grandma Candy.

Still there. Still pink.  But you know what? It's tough to get a good photo with the dude. So let's do closeups.

And one shot of Zo in her new rehearsal dinner tutu. I always think "Sarah Jessica Parker" when I see this then I hear the "da da da" from the end credits of SATC. And I didn't even really like the show. Doh, culture.

Scooters and Birthday, part 2

Get out there and SCOOT, kiddos!

You two had a discussion about the tassels on Zoe's scooter. I don't recall what you were calling them, except you made note that Zoe had them and you didn't. Huh. Anyway...

The birthday was a success, even while we kept it small and simple.

Daddy recording as much as possible and rolling his eyes at me when I position you poorly for his video journaling. Hey - I can't help it if you turn your back! For ever one looking at the camera I go 9 looking away! Welcome to the club ;)

We had the MN grandparents...

Uncle Dave and Uncle Andy and Aunt Laura who showed up later.  

See the Buzz Lightyear wings? They go up and down (unfortunately with very loud sound affects). And Zoe got a Tiana doll AND a princess doll with multiple princess dresses.