minnesota

When we found out that the Maxfields were moving to Minnesota last year we were excited to have them within a very reasonable driving distance (6 hours!). Now it's been almost exactly a year since they arrived and we finally got around to getting together last weekend. Now that we both live in the Midwest we'd like to visit at least once or twice a year, but between weather, babies and busy work schedules (call for Steven and travel for Anthony) the second weekend in June was the first time everything fell into place.

When we left our hours Thursday morning it was extremely humid. By the time we were on the north side of town it had started to drizzle. Within the hour it was raining pretty hard and didn't let up for the rest of our journey. We were still able to make pretty descent time, only stopping three times; once for gas and twice to use the restroom and stretch our legs.

We were so excited to see them when we got there!

It was raining quite hard in Rochester too, so we stayed indoors playing and visiting until it was time to eat. Will and Lauren packed some of their dress up clothes so Will was a knight, Lauren was a princess and Wes was a dragon for the hour or so leading up to dinner. Meredith prepared some delicious black beans and chicken in the crockpot and we assembled yummy burritos for dinner. We celebrated Will's "half birthday" with a cake Meredith made after Steven got home. Sidenote: Will knew that he was going to turn 5 and a half in mid-June and has been very anxiously awaiting the day when he could legitimately add the and a half to his age. He decided that he wanted to celebrate this occasion, albeit a few days early, with the Maxfields while we were visiting them.

After we put the kids to bed the adults did some more catching up and then went to bed because kids wake up early regardless of how late their parents stay up to chat.

Friday we were blessed with absolutely beautiful weather. Clear, beautiful skies with temperatures in the mid- to high-seventies with an occasional breeze. We had about a four hour window between the twins morning and afternoon naps and went to the coolest place--Zollman Zoo at Oxbow Park. What is unique about this zoo is that it only houses animals that are native to Minnesota.

The kids had a great time rushing to see each animal. It was while we were here that Will and Weston really became friends. The two of them climbed on rocks and ran around looking for bugs and other stuff on the ground that kids find interesting. Lauren was content to join in on some of the exploration, but stuck closer to the adults to "help with the babies."  We packed food to eat, so we ate lunch in the shade of some trees while the kids played.

After naptime we headed to downtown Rochester to see where Steven works. As usual, it took longer to get the cars loaded up and everyone out of the house so we didn't get to see the museum inside. The complex of buildings was quite pretty and the older buildings blended in rather nicely with the more recent additions.

Meredith filled us in with a basic history of the Mayo family who started the clinics in the 1880s. (From what I can remember) What made the Mayos unique for their time was their acceptance of new and innovative medical techniques. They did not feel that they knew everything and were open to new ideas and asked other doctors for input and to join their team. The collective knowledge and experience of the group was greater than any one doctor could provide and over time their practice grew. They also treated all patients the same, regardless of their race or class.

When Steven was ready to leave we drove about half an hour to a beautiful farm that opens on Friday evenings to sell pizza. The pizza is made with ingredients grown on the farm and is really delicious.

It was a busy night so we quickly placed our order, then explored the farm while we waited for our food. I just couldn't get over what a picturesque place we were in. Meredith packed some bats and balls for the kids to use, but only Will played baseball for very long. Weston and Lauren preferred to wander around and explore the farmstead.

Anthony was excited to find a Scandinavian game set up to play. He couldn't remember the name of the game, but he remembered seeing people play it at parks in Finland during the summer when he was on his mission.

 

It was such a great night and one of the highlights of our trip!

 

It wasn't quite time for the big kids to go to bed when we got home (the twins went to bed right away). Weston and Will played with the wedgits and Anthony and Steven talked about their fantasy baseball teams. Meredith and I were amused at the amount of time they spent analyzing their teams and strategizing trades.

We had hoped to get out of the house and do something outdoors on Saturday, but it rained most of the day. Anthony and Steven played an old school Nintendo with Will and Weston for several hours Saturday. Thank goodness for the internet, they were able to beat several levels of Zelda that would have taken them months back when these games were new.

As much fun as the male bonding via video games was, Meredith and I wanted to get out of the house for a bit. We decided to go to the local mall and try out some of the free play places available there so the older kids could burn off some energy.

We checked out Scheels first. They had a pretty cool play area that a section for big kids and those under three. Our time there was fairly uneventful until Will came out of the playplace sobbing. Apparently some boy told him he was going to put Will in a trashcan. Forever! This was very disturbing to Will and took him several minutes to get over.

Once he recovered he got back in and continued playing whatever it was he was playing with Wes. We were all hungry at this point so we hit up the food court for lunch. Thankfully we were able to fit in a few trips up and down the escalators on our way. It had been awhile since I've eaten at the mall and it was about the same as I remembered. Pretty good, not particularly healthy, and overpriced. But it is always nice to have a variety of options available all in one place that you don't have to make yourself. Once we were filled up we tried out another play area. It was fairly crowded because of the rain, but our kids still played mostly with each other. Will and Weston got increasingly physical over the course of our visit. They were full out wrestling by the time we left.

You can kind of see Will tackling Weston in the center of this picture, just to the right and behind Lauren. Wes never seemed upset, but I was pretty worried that Will would be too rough or hurt him. Boys.

We all had some quiet time after the mall. Lauren and I took a catnap together. When I woke up the boys were back at it with the Nintendo again.

There was a short break in the rain so we rode and walked to an elementary school to play for a bit.

Then it was home again for baths. Will opted out of the cousin bath time and Weston was too engrossed in his game to stop for a picture.

Lauren's always good for a smile.

Meredith prepared another yummy meal and dessert.

The kids played a bit more and then went to bed. Will's lucky his cousins were content to watch him play.

As usual, we had the hardest time getting Lauren to sleep. A few hours after the other kids had fallen asleep she was still up. I thought I could maybe hear someone moving around while we watched a TED talk and my suspicions were confirmed when I found her in the playroom as I was getting ready for bed. She wants to be part of all the action.

Sunday was church. The Maxfields have morning church, which was a pleasant change of pace from our 1pm schedule. During Sacrament meeting I was so impressed (as I was many times over the course of our visit) with how well Meredith and Steven handle having twin toddlers. Just watching them take care of the twins made me tired. They have a nice ward and both of our kids were brave enough to go to Primary.

 

 

We ate lunch and packed up after church. Will and Weston fit in some more playtime and Lauren got in some more time with the babies. I just wanted to keep talking, prolonging our visit as much as possible, but we needed to get on the road by about 3:30pm. Anthony had to catch a flight to Pennsylvania in the morning and I didn't want to deal with the aftermath of the trip by myself with kids that were up way too late. We timed it pretty well and arrived home right around 10pm. Both kids slept for about an hour in the car and weren't too grumpy the next day.

Thanks Maxifelds, for providing a fun weekend! Can't wait to do it again!

 

2015 :: week 25

June 14

Sunday was our final day in Minnesota. We went to church with the Maxfields, then spent a few hours with them at their home before heading back to Kansas. Lauren loved playing with the twins. She wasn't always able to really "play" with them, but she enjoyed following them around, helping them get toys, and giving them lots of love. She has talked the most about Derek and Nolan since returning home from our trip, and has named one of her feet Derek and the other Nolan. (So when I am helping her get her shoes on she asks if the shoe is for Derek or Nolan instead of right or left.)

June 15

In the movie Curious George's Halloween Boofest (a longtime John-kid favorite), Bill talks to George while brushing his teeth and has a mouthful of foam. Reenacting that moment is one of Will's favorite ways to prolong the bedtime process.

June 16

Tuesday morning I took the kids to our first free kid's movie this summer. Several theaters in the area offer $1 or free kid's movies Tuesday-Thursday and we've chosen a few we'd like to see. The kids have each seen two movies in the theater before and thankfully this one was free because it was our worst yet. It wasn't so much the movie (though I don't think I'll ever go out of my way to see Penguins of Madagascar again) but the fact that Lauren wanted to sit in my lap most of the time and Will had a meltdown when we had to visit the restroom mid-movie.

June 17

The water has been my salvation this pregnancy. My lower back has been so sore for the past month or so and the only time I get much relief is when I am either in the water or the hours after I attend a water aerobics class. Sitting is when it hurts the worst. I guess the buoyancy of the water takes the weight off my back and helps me stretch and move in ways that strengthen and soothe my back. I also feel like I am in better shape than I have ever been at this point in a pregnancy. Thirty-two weeks down, eight to go! This isn't a picture of the class I attended, but the class that meets right after.

June 18

Will and Lauren chose to snuggle together for our post-quiet time movie Thursday afternoon.

June 19

Will is working on folding and putting away all of his laundry all by himself. He's getting pretty good at it, though it hasn't seemed to save me any time yet...

June 20

When Dad makes lunch new and exciting entrees become available. Case in point: the hot dog and mac and cheese plate Anthony made today. Lauren, who normally loves hot dogs wasn't sold on the idea and stuck with plain mac and cheese.

2015 :: week 24

June 7

We went over to my parents after church on Sunday. Lauren and Will like to play with all the toys in their basement and worked together to build a wall.

June 8

Lately Will has taken to grabbing my phone and taking lots of pictures when I'm not paying attention. I found a series of pictures he took while we getting ready to head to the pool Monday afternoon, including this incriminating picture of Lauren.

June 9

We checked out The Princess and the Frog from the library and Lauren wants to watch it daily. Here the kids are dancing during one of the musical numbers. I don't feel quite so bad about them watching a show when they are moving around and playing at the same time.

June 10

Wednesday was hot and we hit up the pool for a little cooling off. As we walked up 2 buses full of kids arrived, so it was a little crowded. We stuck a bit closer together and still had fun. Sidenote: I really hate it when people bring water guns to the pool. I expect to get wet when I come to the pool, even splashed occasionally. But I really dislike getting sprayed with errant streams of water.

June 11

Thursday we drove to Rochester, MN, to spend the weekend with the Maxfields. It started raining about fifteen minutes after we hit the road and continued to rain for our entire six hour journey. We had perfect timing and arrived at snack time.

June 12

Friday was a nearly perfect day. The weather was gorgeous and we half the day outdoors. We spent the morning at the zoo and in the evening drove to Dreamacres, Pizza on the Farm. There is a farm about 45 minutes outside of Rochester that serves brick oven pizza on Friday evenings during the summer. While we waited for our pizza the kids  explored the farm. I like this picture of the three "big kids" simultaneously searching for the perfect rocks to add to their collections.

June 13

Saturday was another fun (but rainy) day in Rochester topped off with delicious brownies and ice cream before bed. Will and Weston had a lot of fun playing together and were two peas in a pod during our visit. Lauren was content to switch off playing with the big boys, the twins and by herself.

2015 :: week 23

May 31

We celebrated Matt's birthday after church on Sunday with a delicious stake dinner. After the mass consumption of calories we took an evening stroll. Will and Lauren were excited to show off their bicycle and tricycle riding skills. Tyler got a bit restless on the walk and hitched a ride on the back of Lauren's trike. Both kids were quite pleased with the arrangement.

June 1

Will and Lauren were very excited to give Tyler a guided tour of the farmstead. It was an unseasonably cool morning for the first day of June.

June 2

Will has had the date of June 2nd circled in his mind for weeks. It was the only day the Royals and Wilson were both in town, therefore it was THE day to see a baseball game. It was a perfect summer night, and even though the Royals lost (the Royals record when we attend games is not good) we all had a great time.

June 3

Wednesday was a rainy day. At this point in the week I was starting to feel prematurely anxious about how the summer was going to go. With all the rain we've received in May and so far in June our backyard and most of the parks near our house were full of muddy puddles, making it difficult to do much outside. We met some friends at the Cedar Ridge Coffeehouse to let the kids exert some energy outside the house. It was good for everyone.

June 4

The kids decided they wanted to "do some art." This can be a messy proposition, and it was, but cutting, stamping and gluing kept them entertained for quite awhile so it was worth the clean up.

June 5

Friday it felt like summer! We finally got to go to the pool. When we arrived back home we were greeted by this baby blue jay that was not pleased to see us. His parents have a nest in the large oak tree in our front yard and we saw him hop out the night before. Apparently he didn't quite have the strength the fly back into the tree and settled on our rose bush.

June 6

Saturday was a busy day with a move, birthday party and church training meetings. We were lucky to squeeze in a quick trip to the pool. Lauren has gotten very comfortable in the water, jumping off the side of the pool over and over.

2015 :: week 22

May 24

I made the kids re-take a "Mother's Day" picture with me before we headed to church Sunday. It has been another stormy week. Raining for a day or two with short breaks in between storm systems. Maybe some day it will start feeling like summer.

May 25

We went to our ward's  Memorial Day luncheon at Shawnee Mission Park. The kids had a blast playing with their buddies. Will claims he and his friends caught three snakes. Being that I never saw a snake and no one else made similar claims I have my doubts, but at least he was having a good time. In the late afternoon we made our inaugural visit to the neighborhood pool. Due to the it being early in the season and all the rainwater we've been receiving the water was COLD. But both kids jumped right in and never looked back so we still had a fun time.

May 26

It was a bit windy Tuesday and the kids were dying to go to the pool again. We decided to try a pool with sand so they'd have something to do if it was too cold. Will's sand love picked up right where it left off when we were in Florida last month and he had a great time digging trenches and building various other sand structures until we had to leave.

May 27

I had wanted to take my kids strawberry picking last year and didn't get around to going in time. My facebook feed had been inundated with people and their strawberries over the weekend and Wednesday was the day that worked out best for us to go which worked out nicely because it was also my birthday. I mistakenly chose the wrong route on my google maps app and it took us an extra twenty minutes to get there. It was the hottest day of the week and by the time we got to picking both kids were very hungry (I was too) and hot which made for some mildly grumpy pickers. We got a decent haul, picked up lunch on the way home and headed to the pool.

May 28

The kids built beaver lodges in our living room and played in them for several hours throughout the wet, gray Thursday. Will's in the one near the couch somewhere buried somewhere underneath all the blankets and pillows.

May 29

We ended up with a lot of fresh, ripe strawberries from our picking throughout the week (we went again with my sister Emily and her family Friday morning). After we put the kids in bed Anthony and I made 96 ounces of freezer jam. I recruited TJ to help me because jam is one of those things where you need a cook with an exacting eye. Precision in the kitchen isn't really my thing. Even though his attention to detail annoyed me a few times (it was late), it did come in handy as ALL of our jam set. Last time I made jam it did not set properly.

May 30

I mentioned that we've received a lot of rain this week. I think it has only not rained 4 days this May. Anyway, ss soon as Will realizes it has rained he's off to the back yard to collect worms. His love of worms has been passed on to Lauren as she has started to collect worm after it rains too.  Please look past all the weeds. This area of our yard is not a high priority.

2015 :: week 21

May 17

The mock orange bush in our yard has finally bloomed. We do nothing to encourage its growth, but look forward to its beauty each year.

May 18

This girl has princesses on the brain all the time. Here she is thinking about her plans for the summer while chewing on Ariel's hair.

May 19

I took my glucose test on Tuesday...and PASSED. I wasn't super stressed about it, but it is always good to have it done. I got really bad acid reflux after consuming the drink, but it's hard to find something that doesn't give me acid reflux these days.

May 20

Wednesday afternoon I hired a babysitter and Anthony and I met up at the Liberty Memorial. I bought a groupon for half price admission a few months back and of course, forgot to use it until the day it expired (which was Tuesday). We took the kids with us but it was a struggle, but the tickets were good for two back-to-back days the museum was opened so we decided to come back by ourselves. We had a fun time and have been scouring wikipedia and crash course history youtubes to supplement what we learned.

May 21

Thursday was Will's last day of preschool. He was in Ms. Lindsey's class for 2 years and we are sure gong to miss her and Mr. Laura and Ms. Elizabeth next year when he starts Kindergarten. His class put on a short "graduation" program and then we participated in some outdoor activities with the rest of the school. Summer has started!

May 22

My friend Emilee is due to have a baby any day now so some friends from the ward got together at Peachwave to celebrate her baby and eat some frozen yogurt.

May 23

Anthony and I worked hard in our yard Saturday morning cleaning out the gutters, mowing the lawn, weeding and putting out new mulch. Then we met up with friends at the farmstead in the afternoon and paid our dues with our babysitting swap and watched 6 additional kids in the evening.

2014 :: week 20

May 10

I wanted to get a nice Mother's Day picture with the kids in front of our flowers, but it started pouring rain about an hour before church. I had to settle for a picture on the fireplace. I also had to settle for a picture with a mad Will. When I picked his glasses up the night before one of the sides fell off in my hand. He was very upset with me for breaking his glasses, never mind the fact that the were basically broken when I picked them up to clean them. He's upset in this picture because I tried to get him to wear his old glasses to church and he thought they "felt weird." We left immediately from church to drop Anthony off at the airport and both kids fell asleep in the car. Late afternoon naps are not a great way to start off a week. That night neither child went to bed easily or fell asleep quickly, so I got to spend the entire day with them. Good thing I love them so much. :)

May 11

Lauren and I ran errands to get ready for our trip while Will was at school Monday afternoon. We stopped at the library and couldn't resist putting a few puzzles together. Lauren has gotten very into puzzles recently. She gets out a puzzle or two (or more) at least once a day. She's getting quite good and has declared herself a "puzzle expert." She'll do wood puzzles like this one, but more often than not she puts together our floor puzzles or a 48-piece Frozen puzzle (with a little help) she received at Tony's work.

May 12

The kids and I flew through Nashville to Washington DC Tuesday and to meet up with Anthony. He had another full week of work away and we wanted to get in on the fun. Our flights went about as well as I could have realistically hoped they would (I did not get to sleep). When we arrived in DC we took the metro to Rosslyn and met TJ who helped us find our hotel. Then we quickly left and headed to Union Station to board a train to Baltimore and the Orioles game. That day we traveled by car (to the airport), plane (from KC to DC), metro (airport to hotel and hotel to union station), train (DC to Baltimore) and van (friend Kevin drove us back to our hotel). Will was very pleased with the various modes of transportation we used.

May 13

After Anthony finished with work Wednesday evening we made our first visit to the National Zoo. Most of the free stuff in DC closes at 5:30pm, but the zoo grounds are open until 8pm. All of the buildings were closed, as were the shops and dining, but you could still walk around and see a few animals. The highlights of our evening zoo trip were a roaring lion, tigers, elephants, bald eagles and sea lion.

May 14

My friend Nikki and her kids met us at the Air and Space Museum Thursday afternoon. It was pretty crowded so after about an hour we took the kids outside and let them play on the mall. Will's favorite activity was to chase birds and Lauren's favorite thing to do was forage "dinner" for her bunny. Will had been looking forward to this museum the most out of all the things we were going to do in DC, but when I asked him what his favorite part of the day was he said, "making a new friend."

May 15

Friday night we finally got around to visiting the monuments. There was no way I was going to take the kids to DC and not get pictures of them at the White House, etc. The weather was gorgeous and despite a few setbacks, we had a great evening.

May 16

The last thing we did in DC before racing to the airport was visit the other air and space museum in Virgina. Pictured behind the kids is the space shuttle Discovery. At this point in the trip the kids were not humoring my picture taking very well.

2014 :: week 19

May 3

Often when we arrive home and get out of the car Lauren likes to slip in a tricycle ride around our driveway. I snapped this picture of her riding and our yard after church on Sunday. We did some yard work on Saturday mowing and weeding and in combination with the several bushes blossoming at the same time, our yard has never looked better. I'm glad I took this picture because with all the thunderstorms and hail we had this week our pretty azalea blossoms have since been crushed and fallen off.

May 4

Monday afternoon I bought a new double stroller. Our sit and stand works great for our trips to and from the pool, but doesn't have a great turning radius and I was getting worried about pushing it by myself around DC. A friend of mine posted that she was selling this gem after a trip to Disneyland so I decided to snatch it up. The kids seem to like it and it is much easier to maneuver.

May 5

Anthony left Sunday afternoon to spend the week in Boston for work. Luckily he was able to spend some time with his parents too. Tuesday night they went to a Red Sox game together. It isn't very often that he gets to spend time alone with his parents.

May 6

Lauren and I took some selfies to send to Anthony because we were missing him Wednesday afternoon while Will was at school. Lauren really tested my patience this week. I thought Wednesday was bad and things only got worse as the week went on.

May 7

I had hoped to take the kids to the park Thursday before it rained, but just as I got the energy up to plan a trip it started to rain. It rained pretty intensely for about 5 minutes and we even saw small pieces of hail. It slowed down for a few minutes and the kids had fun splashing around in the small puddles that accumulated on our driveway and yard. Unfortunately the damage was done and it was much to wet for us to venture out to the park.

May 8

We did a little shopping Friday evening. The kids love the small carts at Trader Joe's and against my better judgement I let them each use one. I had a hard time keeping them close once they spied the long, open aisles.

May 9

We were all pretty happy to have Anthony back today. For some reason this week was harder than most. Will and Anthony sorted the baseball cards alphabetically by team. Lauren just wanted to be close to her dad.