minneapolis week 1: uptown hangs, twins game, beating the heat

 we arrived in minneapolis on tuesday the 12th. the kids were so excited to see grandma cheryl and grandpa durant for the first time in 9 months, and their cousin jack who's been living in china for the past 11 months. i was also happy to feel a bit more settled for the next 3 weeks, even though we are still living out of suitcases and moving around the city a bit. 

the day after we arrived, thatcher had to leave bright and early for a conference planning meeting in st. paul. it's a 3 day event and most of the reason why we came here so soon after our europe trip. the reason we drove is because thatcher is going to bring back a bunch of stuff that has been stored at our parents' houses for the last 7 years. the kids and i will fly back in early august. 

that night he got to go to a minnesota united soccer game with his conference group.  

the kids and i spent the first few days hanging out at thatchers' parents' house. walking around uptown, visiting bryant square, painter park, free little libraries, playing duplos with cousin jack (who is almost 15 now and such a good sport about playing with the kids). thatcher's parents' got air conditioning in their house for the first time in 40+ years. we are heat wimps now after living in seattle, so it's very much appreciated! 

 

  

 

one night we all walked over to bde maka ska (formerly lake calhoun) and got to see the most spectacular sunset. summer days in minneapolis are too hot for me, but i love the warm summer nights here. 

 saturday afternoon the kids and i went to a twins game with my mom and brother. i hadn't been to one in many years, so it was fun. it was a hot day and not a lot of shade, but the twins won and we all had a good time. 

saturday night we stayed overnight at our friends liz, joe, lux, and max's house. we've had family sleepovers with them even before we moved to seattle, so we've kept up the tradition. it was a fun night of catching up, delicious food, and dog/cat snuggles.

 

 

sunday we headed to my mom's house for a few nights. in the evening we went to watch my brother play baseball for his adult league. i don't think i've seen him play since he was in high school, so it was really fun. 

on monday it was forecasted to be over 95 degrees, so my mom and i decided to take the kids to a big pool in st. louis park. my kids are finally pretty decent swimmers, so it's more relaxing/fun these days. it was a big hit with the kids. they loved the water slides and diving board and we spent 3 hours swimming there. it was the perfect day for it. 

 

 

that would have been enough for one day, but we had plans that night to meet up with our friends nate, missy, and their kids cameron, and mallory to go bowling. we bowled and had dinner at park tavern in st. louis park. it was a really fun night catching up with them.

i'll be back next week with more :)