A few weeks ago we traveled to the big city for the annual Souhrada get together...all the aunts, uncles, grandkids, great-grandkids and grandparents meet every year, on the same weekend at a hotel in the city. We normally do not attend...but this year we decided to shock everyone and show up for a change!
This year the kids were old enough and it was only a 2 hour drive versus the normal 4 hour drive...we we figured we could handle it! We will see what happens next year being that we will be adding a newborn to the mix!
The kids had a fun weekend...the hotel had a huge indoor playground...and the kids took full advantage of it!
Both of the kids enjoyed the big open gym area the best. They got to ride on lots of cool push toys...it kept them very busy and wore them out!
I love observing the difference in my children...Elsie is painfully shy and passive...James is bold and forward! While Elsie was reserved and quietly having fun on her own...James was being a wild man! In one corner of the gym was a bounce castle...filled with big kids. James did not let those big kids intimidate him one bit...he climbed right in and held his own. He even knocked a big kids down! At one point I was on one end of the gym with Elsie and I looked up just in time to see James climbing into the jump castle all alone. I sprinted across the gym in record time...but I should have known James could have taken care of himself!
James discovered the use of a basket ball hoop while observing some big kids playing ball in the gym. He quickly found a ball of his own and did his very best to make a basket!
Elsie was completely in love with these crazy little bikes! She rode on this one for over half an hour...he hands were all red and swollen by the time we left! I need to scour the Internet for some of those fun bikes!
The indoor park kept the kids so busy they didn't even notice we forgot to use the pool...well, they did remember, but we were laying in bed for the night when they finally did remember!
We had a fun time...the weekend went by quickly...
Before heading home though we had to make a few stops...like Ikea!! We had plans to go to the Mall of America...but a little boy in great need of a nap prevented us from going! It was on this fateful day that we lost our camera! {we have since recovered and got a new lens for the D40!}
We met my sister and Ted {and their friends} at Ikea...to help them with Wedding ideas. Glass vases for the Candy Buffet!
We also found a few treasures to bring home...an ironing board, white coffee mugs so we can decorate them with Sharpie Paint Pens and a long roll of art paper...I could have spend way more time {and money} there, but James was on the brink of a serious nap-time melt-down!
The best part of shopping in the big city for the kids would be the escalator! They just can't get enough of it!
On our way home Elsie was able to stop at Toys R Us and get her beloved Barbie camper she had been saving her pennies for! She had gotten some Christmas and Valentine money from Grandpa S. over the weekend which meant she finally had enough money! She was so excited!! It was at this store that I asked Jon where he put the camera so I could take pictures of Elsie...Jon's eyes got huge, he flew out of his seat and had all the van doors open while saying, "oh my god, no way, I never put the camera in the car!" Needless to say I resorted to my phone camera and Jon sat in the car and made phone calls to the mall to check lost and found. We know how to make memories! We will forever look back at this little trip as "the time we lost the camera"!
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