MN Zoo

We went to the MN Zoo which has a large indoor exhibit area, including an aquarium. Jake pointed out "Bruce" to Reagan.

American Girl Doll Cafe

Reagan looks through the catalog.

Rachel and Reagan with their Just Like Me dolls they got for Christmas - with matching outfits.

At the American Girl doll cafe. The girls dressed their dolls in swim suits (that Rachel got the day before from Grammie) instead of party dresses. We enjoyed our lunch and they even fed the dolls lemonade and muffins.

Reagan mostly enjoyed shopping. She was there for an hour trying to figure out what to buy with the $32 she had in allowance money. (Rachel had bought a stuffed animal with her money the week before our trip.)

Rachel's party at Grammie's

We celebrated Rachel's party on St Paty's day. Went to dinner at the favorite pizza place (of course Reagan and Jake didn't eat anything) and then came home for Chocolate cake (and again you can guess who didn't eat any). Rachel got some clothes from Grammie and some clothes for her american girl doll - the next day she would go to the American Girl doll cafe.

The girls decorated Easter Eggs early this year. Jake did not participate but he was invited this year. He chose to not participate. The girls decorated 18 eggs and then ate a couple.

Roller skating

We found a roller skating rink nearby my mom's house and took the kids skating. jake didn't have his skates on long enough for a picture, but atleast tried. We had tried rollerskating a time or two (unsuccessfully), but since Rachel now takes ice skating lessons she had the confidence to go out on the rink. Reagan needed to see Rachel out there doing it, and then she was more willing to give it a try. (And No, I did not fall.)

Legos

While at the MOA, we stopped off at the Lego store to play (and buy some legos of course). Reagan engineered her own vehicles. Jake had fun racing them.

Rachel's favorite thing in MN was the MOA rides. Her favorite ride was a rollercoaster that also spun around as it went on the track (which made me a little woosy last year since I had to go on it with her). She also liked the free fall ride. Reagan's favorite was the swings (see upper right corner). She went on it 5 times in a row - glad I didn't have to ride that one with her. And Jake's favorite was the bumper cars. don't give that boy a license.

First Airplane Ride

I don't like flying, but the 17 hour drive to MN is getting long. So I put on my brave hat and hopped on the plane with my 3 little ones. The 2 flights to MN went well. People complemented the kids on how well they behaved. The return trip, not so much.....

We were hoping to see some snow in MN, well, let me rephrase that. We SAW plenty of snow in AL this year, but not enough to play in. So we were hoping to PLAY in some snow. But the snow was pretty well melted when we got there and just about completely gone when we left. In fact, it snowed south of there and even dusted in AL while we were gone. But all but about 2 of the days in MN it was above 50 degrees.

Swinging

The best part of getting to play outside, is that all 3 kids can play by themselves. Reagan learned to pump this year, and Jake learned to ride the horse swing without his sisters doing all the leg work.

Birthday Girl

The pictures above were taken before church and then the one below was taken after church. She has one more tooth missing. It fell out in the van after we ate lunch at Pizza Inn. WHen we got home she ran into the bathroom to look at herself in the mirror...and dropped her tooth down the drain. =( I held her a good 10 minutes before everything was all better. I finally convinced her it was the hole she was going to show everyone, not the tooth. Then I realized that I remember when she first got that tooth, and then I was sad....

Little Gym

Rachel had her 6 year old birthday party at the little gym. They played games and got to play on the gymnastic equipment. She had a great time!