Awesome. Park.

Since moving here to Minnesooda (I've been trying to analyze the phonetics of how native Minnesotans say "Minnesota" and that's the closest I've been able to come) I've heard about the cool park system they have.  When we first got here, going outside was like stepping into the devil's bathroom after his shower.  It was miserably hot and humid--record breakingly so.  Oh.  And the devil had mosquitos.

Ok.  Maybe that metaphor isn't working.  But it was blasted hot and the mosquitos were unbearable.  By mid-July it started mellowing out and the August weather has been absolutely delightful--low to mid 70's most days with the occasional 80.

So it was time to try out a park.  I had heard that French Park was nice so we started there.  I don't know if we started at the top and are now going to be disappointed with all the rest, or if every park is this fantabulous.  But we had a rockin' time.  There was a little something for everyone:

A ginormous "big kid" play structure for Benjamin and Ainsley

A sand digger for Mede

A slide, a swing, and a cute, nameless new friend for Katie

Fruit snacks for Kimber

A shady front-pack for Brynn

A clean, indoor bathroom and drinking fountain for Mom (the building on the left....you have to shuffle the kids past a concession stand, but I'd take the smell of popcorn over porta-potty any day...even if I do have to field a bunch of "Mom, can we get this?'s"!)

We were packing up and getting ready to go home when we saw this little beauty waiting for us in the parking lot:

A tram to take us who knew where.

We had no idea where the tram went but it was free and parked at an official-looking shuttle stop.  I figured that, if nothing else, it would at least do a loop and bring us back to our truck if we stayed on it.

It turns out that it tooks us here.....



To the beach!

I think if it were warmer than 70, it would have been quite crowded.  As it was, however, there were just a few kids wading in the water.  It was perfect for a quick dip o' the toes.  There was also a fishing pier and a place to rent canoes and kayaks.  Turns out you can also rent GPSes (what's the plural?) for geocaching.  And, of course, this being Mini-soda, there was the obligatory lily-pad filled pond to go along with it all.

We caught the tram back to our parked car and had a 14 minute drive back home--perfect for a mom in the "gotta get home before my toddler falls asleep" race.

Hats off to the Three River Parks District. We can't wait to see what else you have in store for us!







Movers Rock...Mostly

I am eternally grateful for the professional movers who handily brought our belongings to our new home (and to Target for paying for them).  There's no way I could have packed up our house with a 2 week old without some permanent sanity loss.  So I'm not here to look any gift horses in their mouths.  And I'm no professional so I'm not here to tell them how to do their job, either.  But I will poke fun a little.

I opened my last box today.  Woo hoo!  It only took a month.  I still have much to unpack, but at least every box has been opened.  And this is what I found:

The Box

The Paper (with helper)

The Contents

Some baby food jars, a small oval box, a Christmas ornament, and a plastic sheep. 

I cannot over-emphasize the ridiculousness of that paper.



And exactly how the plastic sheep and Christmas ornament fit in there, I'm not sure.  But they all made it safely and soundly to our new home!



I'm BAAACK!

Alright, so I'm a little overdue.  Since last posting, we've had a few more kids, lived in a few more houses, and gained a few more pounds.

What a friend we have in time,

Gives us children, makes us....fat?

Something like that.  (Sorry, John Denver) 

And that cute little baby in the pictures of my last post?  Yeah...she's four and a half.

But we've recently made a big move to Minnesota and I'm determined to turn over a new leaf.  This is my big new start (or midlife crisis, one of the two).  I'm dusting off lost talents and recommitting to the pursual of uplifting habits that may have gone by the wayside in the last stressful years of graduate school (you know, showering....talking to people....that sort of thing.)

And I keep telling myself that I'm going to take up blogging again if, for no other reason, than to convince friends and family to come and visit us here in Mini-soda.  I've got to document the awesomeness of this state (and our family in it) so that my faithful reader(s?) won't be able help but come visit.  You with me on this one?

Yay for blogging!