Finally, Tara's back!

I think the reason I've not been blogging lately is because I don't think much has happened. I wake up, feed a bunch of kids, drink coffee, wash dishes, dress kids, change diapers, do laundry, feed more kids, wash more dishes, drink more coffee, change more diapers, do more laundry etc etc etc ad naseum. Last week we shook things up a bit. I bit the bullet and booked us two hotel rooms!!! In a hotel with a pool! I also got us some tickets to the Science Museum of Minnesota! Woo hoo, we went on vacation! :)

Last Wednesday after lunch we loaded the van up and headed to the Cities (for my non-MN reader, yes, you, over there, that would be the Twin Cities aka: the Minneapolis and St. Paul area). We checked into our hotel and I took the boys to the pool while Jim stayed in the rooms with Avery so she could theoretically nap. I was brilliant enough to have the foresight to book adjoining rooms so Avery could go to bed in one while the rest of us could watch TV or just hang out in the other. After a dip in the pool and a quick shower, we met our friends Ben and Emily and their two kidlets for dinner. In Wisconsin. Now, having very little knowledge of Cities geography when Emily suggested that we have dinner at a diner in Wisconsin I thought she'd lost her marbles. Turns out that we were only about 15 minutes from Wisconsin. So, we had dinner in Wisconsin! The joint had decent food, but wasn't the most family friendly place in town. The kids did fine, but we were all anxious to get back to the hotel and more swimming!

Thursday morning we were treated to an extended continental breakfast in the restaurant adjoining the hotel and then we were off for the Science Museum. Jim and the kids had a lot of fun exploring the various science-y things while I pushed Avery around in the stroller. I am sure Avery was grateful for the few toddler friendly exhibit areas where she was able to get out and play a bit, too. We splurged on tickets for the Star Wars exhibit which my little Jedi nerds in training loved. The boys all got to try their hands at building a hover craft out of legos (and electromagnets) and all the males attempted to drive an actual hover craft which was a lot harder than it looked. :) Avery loved part of a movie presentation where a droid with huge expressive eyes jabbered at the audience. She jabbered right back at that robot! Turns out I believe the droid was speaking "Avery" and not just jibberish! Toby's highlight of the day was found in the dinosaur exhibit though not for the dinos themselves. He was over the moon with delight at seeing a display of the palentologist's tools. Toby the tool man, that's him! Evan and Aidan both loved the Star Wars exhibit for the props and costumes from the movies.

We headed back to town Thursday afternoon stopping to drop off our borrowed stroller and to pick up our computer (which had picked up a nasty virus that eventually started flashing inappropriate pictures across the screen). Jim and I put the kids to bed fairly early to try to get everyone caught up on their sleep. Didn't work, but at least we tried!

On to the current...Evan and I went back to school shopping today! Now armed with new folders, pencils and a ton of other junk, Evan is prepared to begin the third grade in just a few more days. Aidan asked me if he could go back to school shopping with Evan and me next year. I think I shocked him when I said, "yes because you'll be going shopping for kindergarten next year!" Man, how the time does fly by.