Mall of America

Last weekend we headed up north to Minneapolis for a couple of days. It was a great little trip and we had such a good time!

First up: Mall of America. The kids were in awe of how big it was and and indoor amusement park was the coolest thing ever! Here they are checking out all the rides before deciding on which ones they should pick. 

 Ride #1: a little roller coaster. They loved it!

Then Andrew chose to do the bumper cars with Uncle Tim, 

 

and Kate and Aunt Angela did the ferris wheel. 

Next we went to the Lego store that had a whole wall of different colored Legos, 

 guys you could build yourself, 

 and of course...lots of sets to buy!

 We let them each pick out a set and they each spend some considerable time weighing their options. Both were quite happy with their choice!

 Outside they store they had several tables set up where kids could play. Aunt Angela & Uncle Tim were nice enough to supervise while mom & dad got some shopping in!

 Giant Lego dragon...

 ...and "paintings" all made out of individual single Lego bricks. 

 They were amazing!

 Last up: the candy store. 

 We then checked into our hotel and headed down to the water park. Since the Cyclones were playing in the championship Big 12 Tournament game, I had to get creative and watch the game on the ipad while the kids played. Luckily, they were quite tired and were ready to head up before the second half started so we could watch the end of the game in the room. 

 Checking out the view from the room the next morning. 

 We went down for round #2 of the water park right when it opened at 9:00am. First up was the "body surfing" ride. Andrew LOVED it and did it twice. 

 Kate started out great, but then was flung like a ragdoll to the top and over the wave, which was the end of the fun. 

We spent the rest of the day (minus a trip to IKEA for lunch & shopping) at the water park. The kids went down all the water slides a million times and didn't want to leave after close to 5 hours of being there that day. 

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What a fun spring break getaway! 

March Lately

March has been a fabulous month so far! 

One of the best: going to the Iowa State v. Oklahoma game with some friends from work. The first half was miserable but watching the Cyclones come back from 22 down to win by 7 was amazing. My throat was sore for two days afterwards from all the screaming! 

On the road heading back from Sioux City.  

 We celebrated Grandma C's birthday at Uncle Tom's house. The kids made and played drums for a special performance.  

 The card Kate made for grandma. 

 Andrew quickly spotted Uncle Tom's video games and was promised he could play after dinner. He was so into them that he even passed on cake!

 There was a week of absolutely gorgeous weather and we took advantage of it with evening bike rides. Bring on summer!

 Lots of playing with Legos lately!

 A bike ride date to the coffee shop with my favorite little people. 

 Love. 

 And yesterday we drove to Cedar Rapids to see my good friend Jenny and her boys. We had such a good time!

A Tale of Teeth

Last Wednesday Kate had five (5!!) teeth pulled at the dentist. Four on her bottom were to make room for the permanent teeth that were coming in, and a molar had to be taken out because of a bad cavity. 

Before picture. 

 The whole procedure took about 90 minutes. They had me wait in the waiting room, instead of going back with her...which was probably best. She came out pretty upset, but the nurse said that was just once they happy gas wore off. The 40 minutes after we left was pretty rough, but she recovered quickly, which helped me recover! 

Here she is showing Andrew all of her teeth.

 She labeled the baggie for the tooth fairy, just to be sure. 

 An after picture. 

 And the next morning...a book from the tooth fairy (the same one mom got for her first tooth!)

And $20! (Turns out the tooth fairy gives out more money if there are lots of tears involved!)