Weekend Review: MINNESOTA!

Well another weekend has flown by!  We had a fun 48 hour trip to Minnesota this weekend. Here are some pictures from our quick little trip:

We left the house bright and early at 5:45 am.  Here's a picture as I was driving of the beautiful sunrise. Beautiful picture, right?

 

The kiddos did surprisingly well on the drive and we made it to my parent's house by noon.  Brian and my dad packed up the car they were taking to the lake for Brian's brother's bachelor party.  Being the weird sister in law that I am, I made (with my mom's help) two cakes for his bachelor party.

I went to the thrift store a couple weeks ago looking for Barbie dolls and came across these gems.  I felt like a sicko buying these...why do Bratz dolls look like strippers?!?! And why do they have no feet?

Here's one popping out of the cake.

 

And here's the chocolate one on the pole.  I have a weird sense of humor, I know. But it was his 25th birthday too so he had to have some cake! :)

 

The guys headed up for the lake and the kiddos went down for naps. After naps we headed to the Mall of America (literally 5 minutes from my parent's house) and went to Rainforest Café for dinner.

 

Brady thought it was pretty cool...until the animals started moving and there was a thunderstorm.

Aunt Cat joined us for dinner too!

He was on edge the whole meal

but Layla loved it!

Brady was super happy to leave there and walk around the mall instead.

He loved playing legos with Aunt Cat

and going on rides with us. Yeah that's us on a tiny train. Wild Friday night!

Aunt Cat took over on some of the more nauseating rides, thanks Aunt Cat!! :)

Layla was so sad that she wasn't big enough for some of the rides

Both kids had lots of fun in the Disney Store....

in the princess section.

 

The next day it was really warm but we headed to the Como Zoo.

"No Mom, those are not horsies, they're zebras." Thank goodness for my zoo guide, Brady.

We got up close with the giraffes.

Brady even got to sit on one

Layla had one on her shirt but she there was no way she'd get up on one. Miss Sassy Independent Pants.

Just taking a break, sucking down the 'sauce.

Laura joined us and we looked at tigers..

and fake gorillas.

Aunt Cat and Nana joined us too!

Checking out the puffins

"Really? A picture while we look at polar bears, really?"

 

After the zoo the kiddos napped while I got my shop on at H&M and IKEA.

Up and raring to go!

 

That night Gramma watched the babies while I had dinner with Laura (friend since kindergarten and Brady's Godmother), Alex (college friend and roommate), and Sharday (college friend and roommate).   I of course didn't take any pictures but we had a fun time!

 

The next morning we got up and headed to the Humane Society because my parents decided they were going to adopt a cat. I was so out of my comfort zone (I am SO not a cat person) but the kiddos fell in love with this kitty named Daisy.  I have to admit she was pretty sweet so we got her and brought her back and the kids had a lot of fun!

 

Before we knew it, Brian was back and we were back in the car headed home to Nebraska.

Walking each other on a potty break.

 

A great but quick weekend home. Wish we could have seen more people but hopefully next time we go home in November, we'll get to! :)