minneapolis week 3: como zoo, minnehaha falls, centennial lakes

 tuesday the 26th, thatcher, the kids, and i went to see our friends becky, jeromy, linnea, and britta in shakopee. jeromy has a meat smoker and thatcher has been dreaming of his pulled pork since last summer. :) we had a delicious meal with them and enjoyed catching up. a thunderstorm came through after dinner and the kids were running around the house screaming about the lightning and thunder. ha! we forgot to take any pictures of us, which was a bummer!

wednesday we moved all our stuff over to my mom's for our final 6 nights (and thacher's last night before driving back). in the afternoon we headed across the street to dennis and viv's because my lifelong best friend kelli was in town with her 2 year old and 3 month old daughters. i texted her for months to make sure our visits overlapped. ha! we had so much fun catching up with all of them. the kids were in heaven playing with addison and meeting baby clare. 

 

 

 

that night my mom's friend linda was picking her up to go out, so she took a picture of all of us on thatcher's last night in town. 

 after dinner my brother, the kids, and i went to dairy queen for ice cream. there's nothing like minnesota summer nights at DQ. 

 thatcher's childhood friend paul came over to hang out on my mom's patio and then thatcher and i packed up the car for his trip the following morning. 

thursday thatcher hit the road bright and early before any of us were awake. we had plans that morning to meet viv, kelli, kelli's brother sean, and the 2 little girls at como zoo with my mom and brother. we had a fun time looking at the animals and seeing the zoo through addison's eyes. so many animals were out and the weather was perfect. we had a picnic lunch with them, then came back to 'como town' to go on a few rides. ashford accompanied addison on her very first ride and her face was priceless! 

 that evening i went to a meet up with my current and former co-workers at 'malcom yard' near the U of M. it was a really cool food hall with self serve beer taps. it was nice to catch up with every one and meet our new sales and marketing guy who started in january. 

 friday was supposed to be a quiet day, but a bunch of things ended up getting added to our day. no complaints from me! the more time with friends and family doing fun things, the better! in the morning we walked up to pershing park with viv, kelli, and the girls. the kids had fun following addie around the playground. then we said our goodbyes to them for this trip. next the kids and i walked up to 'coconut thai' to have lunch with my former boss/forever friend karen. in the afternoon our friends joe and alice were flying in for the weekend, so i offered to pick them up at the airport and have them over to my mom's patio for a while. it was really fun to see them here and show them my childhood home. :) 

 
finally...yes this day was crazy....we went to my aunt and uncle's for dinner and had lasagna and sat on their deck overlooking shady oak lake on the most perfect summer night. 

saturday was much quieter. i went for a walk in my mom's neighborhood then my brother came over and we all went to culver's for lunch. i can't believe we hadn't gone since we are in idaho. ha! then we spent most of the afternoon visiting with cheryl, durant, and jack for jack's 15th birthday. how can he be 15 already?! the kids put on a little performance and it was hilarious. 

 we said our goodbyes to them as they were leaving town before us to go see cedar, erich, and telemachus. 

we relaxed on my mom's patio that night. 

sunday morning my brother came over with brueggers bagels for breakfast. then my mom and i took the kids to minnehaha falls, which was super dry from lack of rain this summer :( the kids played on the playground for a while.

then we decided to stop by the minneapolis institute of arts, which is a beautiful free museum. i hadn't been there in probably 10-15 years.

 

 

after we got home, i took a trip to target and ran into my friend michelle who i haven't seen in at least 4 years. it made my day! 

that night my mom's friend linda came over for dinner and we had pork tenderloin, baked beans, and salad :) 

monday was our last full day! it also marked 7 years since my dad died. lots of feelings <3. this goofy girl came down from her shower like this...

i took the kids to edinborough indoor playground in edina. they are getting a little bit old for it, but they still love it! we hung out at my mom's in the afternoon. my brother stopped over after work to say goodbye and my mom's friend brenna stopped over to meet us. for dinner, my mom, the kids, and i went to 'tavern 23' at centennial lakes. then we walked around the park for a bit and sat at the amphitheater for an hour to listen to the minnesota mandolin orchestra. it was such a beautiful night! 

 

 

this morning we were up bright and early for our flight back to seattle. it feels so weird (but good) to be home after basically 6 weeks between our 2 trips. we are looking forward to the last month of summer which will be spent hanging with friends, going swimming, the kids doing a couple camps at boys & girls club, and a family trip to lake wenatchee over labor day weekend for a wedding.