MN

Since Anthony started his job in 2010, the kids and I have tried to tag along on at least one trip each year. Last week Anthony had a work obligation in Minneapolis, and the kids and I came too. Just as we did for our Utah trip, we left at lunchtime, after Will and Lauren were done with school.

I wasn't as neurotic about planning and packing for this trip, and as such, it was harder getting out of town. Anthony mowed our front lawn while I finished packing and brought each piece of luggage out to the van.
 

Our drive was relatively uneventful. Anthony and I listened to Empty Mansions and the kids watched movies, read books and drew pictures.
 

Thanks to the amount of travel Anthony does we were upgraded to a 2 room suite for our stay in Minneapolis. Will and Lauren were tired and went to bed soon after we arrived. Unfortunately, the first night was pretty rough for me. Lauren got scared and needed me to stay with her for about an hour until she fell asleep. Elliott and Anthony woke me up with their snoring. Will fell out of the bed, which woke me up, but not him. Then Anthony woke me up when he had to get up and ready for work. In total I think I was woken up about once per hour.

Will drew pictures on every piece of paper in the hotel notepad and Lauren played with Elliott in the crib while I took a shower and got ready for the day. The big kids are great helpers and really do love their baby brother a lot.

Around 10:30 we met Meredith and the Maxfield boys at the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley. The kids were excited to see each other and picked right up where they left off.
 

It's a lot harder keeping up with six kids instead of 5. Especially when you add twin toddlers to the mix! Luckily the zoo wasn't too crowded so they could roam a bit and we could still keep a good eye. The Minnesota Zoo seems to have more Asian animals than the KC Zoo, which has mostly African and Australian animals. The first animal we saw up close was this bear.
 

 Brown Bear

 

Then the bear seemed to want to get closer to us! Nolan loved watching him up close. I couldn't get over how large his paws were.

This leopard kept the kids captivated for awhile.

 

 

The trail looped around and we saw a tiger, camels, gazelles and a moose. Eventually there was a large playground and we took a break from walking around and let the kids play for a bit. It wasn't a break at all for the moms because it was harder to keep track of the kids. There was a large rope, climbing structure with several slides. Eventually the kids wore the moms out and we decided it was time for lunch. Meredith generously packed lunches for our entire crew. We walked back to the vans to retrieve the lunch and ate at picnic bench just outside the entrance. We had a good lunch, then returned to the zoo.

We started our afternoon at the "Discovery Bay," which is a cool building that hosted a variety of marine life. There was a small estuary and tide pool with appropriate sea life which you could touch if it got near you. The estuary had tiger sharks and rays. We all touched a shark! We also watched a short seal show and checked out a large tank with reef life.

Lauren posing with one of the "poor little poopsies" from The Little Mermaid, aka an eel

Once we had our fill of sea life we tried to track down the penguins. We took the long way and ended up on in the "tropics." It was hot and humid, but the kids were starting to get tired so it was easier for us to keep track of them.
 

Crocodile!

 

Komodo Dragon!

 

We eventually did find the penguins, but I didn't take any pictures of them. 

 

Grabbed a picture of the kids by the sign to prove we were there, then headed to McDonalds for ice cream cones--it was hot and we didn't want to pay zoo prices for a treat. At McDonalds Weston got in our van and we drove our separate ways--Meredith and the toddlers to Rochester and the Johns and Weston to Minneapolis.

TJ finished work around the same time we got back. We walked to a hipster pizza restaurant which was an epic fail. The kids were in no mood to sit in a booth, only 1 of the 3 even tried any pizza, and Elliott spit up his entire dinner on Anthony's sweater as we were trying to pay our check. You live and learn.

Our hotel was about half a mile from Target Field. We walked over, then waited for Steven to join us. They had an open area the kids ran around in while we waited. It was nice and peaceful.
 

The Twins play in a very pretty stadium.

 



The cousins had a fun watching the game together. As soon as the sun went down and the wind picked up it got quite chilly. Minnesota is j u u u s t a bit colder than Kansas.
 

Happy boy



Grateful for our hats, still having a good time




The kids were pretty wiped out. It had been a very full day! We still had to walk back to our hotel and car. I was impressed with Will for toughing it up and walking the whole way.

 

I had hoped to sleep in a bit the next morning, but the kids had other plans. After we ate breakfast we went back to our room. Elliott took a nap, Lauren watched a show on her bed and I worked on packing our bags. Will was there but I can't remember what he was up to. After the bags were packed we took a couple of trips to the van to load them. We checked out of the hotel and headed to...another zoo!

 

The Twin Cities are home too TWO zoos. The one we visited Thursday, the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory was free! As I pushed the stroller around the park I felt so tired. Luckily this zoo was a bit smaller. It also had a different batch of animals. Giraffes are one of my favorite animals and it is hard to see them up close at the KC Zoo.

Elliott had a great view, oops!

 

Climbing on adjacent giraffe statues. We stopped at a bench near these statues and ate some snacks.

We spent quite awhile in the primate house.
 

This monkey ruined my money shot. Just seconds before it was facing us and waving! I guess it's not just my kids that get tired of my picture taking.
 

Up close with the Gorilla

Will has taken to correcting people when he hears any misinformation at the zoo. On the left is a Galapagos tortoise. On the right is river turtle. While we were looking at the tortoise we overheard someone call it a turtle. Will quickly explained the difference. In case you were wondering, a turtle has webbed feet and spends most of its time in the water. A tortoise lives on land and has short, stumpy legs that keep it close to the ground and the shrubs and grass it eats. I'm impressed with his wealth of knowledge and quick recall, but feel a little embarrassed when he loudly points out other's mistakes. We are working on tact. :)



The tarantula that Kevin puts on Marv at the end of Home Alone was a highlight of our Christmas movie watching.

 

In the early afternoon Anthony called us to let us know that he was done with work for the day. He took an uber to the zoo and we headed to Rochester. I was zooed out. The poor sleep I got Tuesday night and all the walking from the day before caught up to me.

 

It caught up to Will too, though he denies falling asleep. Hmmmm.

We arrived at the Maxfield's around 2:30pm. The kids were excited to get out of the car and play with their cousins. It was a really pretty afternoon and we sat outside and chatted while the kids played some Star Wars inspired pretend.

 

I thought for sure Nolan would fall running down this hill, but he proved me wrong.
 

The Maxfields have a cool bouncy house the kids spent some serious time in while Meredith and Anthony grilled our dinner. Lauren didn't want the balls in there, but everyone else did.

 

Weston eats a "milk shake" and watches an episode of Dinosaur Train before bed each night and Lauren and Will were all too happy to join in on this tradition. After we put the kids to bed the adults chatted and had our own dessert. Steven picked up some ice cream and brownies on his way home from a lecture which were delicious. Anthony and Steven talked A LOT about baseball, both their fantasy teams and real life favorite teams, just like last time we visited. We stayed up much later than our usual bedtimes, but it was fun. Just like with our Utah trip, some of our favorite times were visiting with each the other adults after the kids were in bed.

 

In the morning we took things slow. Anthony had a bit of work to do and Steven was at work, so Meredith and I took the kids (minus a napping Elliott) to the Quarry Hill Nature Center. There was some nice taxidermy, fossils and animal pelts on the wall. Will was in heaven!

 

 

T-Rex face!

After we got our fill of the visitor's center, we set out to walk the trail. We were hoping to find the playground about a mile out, if we could make it that far.
 

We came across the fireplace for the old state hospital. It reminded me a little too much of the witch's oven in Hansel and Gretel. Apparently we took a wrong turn, because we never found the playground. We did pass over a little bridge and decided we'd let the kids throw in a few rocks. While the kids were selecting rocks to throw I looked over and saw this:

 

 

Being around snakes usually spooks me a bit. Being around a lot of snakes spooked me a lot! Especially since they kept coming out of the hole in the wall! In total I think we saw about a dozen snakes. Meredith and I effectively communicated our fear to the kids, they were fascinated by them, but kept their distance. They look like garter snakes, I'm pretty sure they are harmless, but I wasn't willing to take any risks. After the kids tossed in a few rocks each we headed home. Nolan and Lauren started to melt down and it was no longer fun for their moms.

 

After lunch we were going to make the big kids take a nap, but then they started playing outside together really well. Again, Star Wars inspired play, this time with animal and dinosaur figures.
 

Elliott ate some multigrain cherrios at dinnertime and the twins were happy to help him clear his tray.
 

I had asked Meredith about their diet plan before we came and she made spaghetti with zucchini noodles for dinner (the kids had regular pasta). Spaghetti is a messy proposition for toddlers, so Derek and Nolan got a bath right after dinner.

 

The big kids took baths too, then watched Dinosaur Train together and had some more chocolate milk. Weston was so sweet to Will. Will and Weston get along really well. In some ways, Lauren was the odd woman out, but she still had a lot of fun. Will and Lauren can be competitive with each other and other friends.

 



She had a great time doting on Elliott, telling Derek and Nolan what to do, and building with the huge tub of duplos.

 

The adults stayed up even later on Friday night! I'm so grateful that I genuinely enjoy visiting with my siblings and in-laws so much.

 

Saturday morning we hung out, visited and got ready for the drive home.
 

The drive home was relatively uneventful. We stopped at an Arby's in Des Moines for dinner.
 

Elliott was pretty excited about it. Their sliders are really good! When we got to the point that would typically be less than 15 minutes from our home traffic slowed down, then came to a complete stop. Apparently there was so roadwork being done that required I-35 to go down to one lane between 635 and Antioch. It probably added an additional 20 minutes to our return trip.

 

We had such a great time! We've put a lot of miles on our van over the past 6 weeks. Thanks for the fun times, Maxfield family!