MOA and Aquarium

On Sunday Lara and I picked up my friend Jenny and we went to the Mall of America. We did a little shopping, then went down to the Aquarium. Lara was really excited for it, especially to see Dori, since she didn't get to see her at the zoo the day before. : ) She got a little scared when she looked up and saw the fish and "Bruce" swimming right above our heads, so we had to reassure her that they couldn't get to us.

Lara was also really excited to see all the turtles. She has a thing about Sea Turtles now. I couldn't believe how much they actually weigh! We were talking to a lady that works there, and they weigh around 400 lbs! But she did say that all the fish look 20% smaller behind that glass, so I guess that makes a little more sense.

At the end, there were a few separate smaller aquariums, and there was the perfect one for Lara. It had Nemo, Dori, the Puffer fish, and one other fish in it!

Lara also got a kick out of the Sea Horse aquarium, and all the Star Fish (Patrick). She was too afraid to pet the rays at the end, but could have spent an hour in the gift shop. Jenny bought her a stuffed turtle, and she named him Nemo. She loves him so much! After that we did some more shopping and then ate at the Rainforest Cafe. That was also a fun time. We had a wonderful weekend (aside from the Vikings losing AGAIN). I am going to the game against the Packers this Sunday, so they BETTER win! Otherwise I don't think I'll be able to come to work next week. There are a lot of Packer fans in the office! : (

Fun at the Zoo

Last weekend Mike went up north so Lara and I made fun plans to keep busy. On Saturday Steph and Logan came over, and after about 10 minutes of doing some carseat switching, we got on the road to the Minnesota Zoo. Lara and Logan kept each other entertained in the car on the way there. I don't know how we're going to do these fun things when baby #2 comes along, unless we get a van, but I don't think that is going to happen until baby #3! The kids got really excited once we got into the zoo. There were lots of monkeys running around for them to look at while we took turns in the bathroom. A lot of the animals were far away, so I didn't get a lot of pictures. I think the kids enjoyed playing on the playground just as much as looking at the animals! Here we are with a big pile of camels behind us.

Here's cute Logan at the playground. He is such a happy little guy!

Lara got crabby at the end because we were looking at fish, and one girl said something about Dori from Finding Nemo, and she didn't get to see her. She wouldn't let it go! Good thing we had plans to go to the aquarium the next day! The ride home wasn't quite as smooth as the ride there, but we made it. Steph and Logan stayed for about an hour so Logan could run around after a day of riding in the car and stroller. I made Lara walk at the zoo, and she did okay, but liked to run ahead, so I had to tell her the lions and tigers were going to come get her so she would come back. The E.T. thing doesn't work anymore, so I'm glad that did!

Wedding

Mike's cousin Dan got married on September 8th, down in Illinois, and Mike was in the wedding, so we made the trip down the day before. We were not looking forward to the ride down with a 2 year old, but Lara did very well. I was mainly nervous out my non-stop talker during the wedding. Mike's mom had to do a reading, and his dad was an usher, so that left Mike's sister Shannon and I in charge of Lara during the wedding. On Friday afternoon Shannon and I took Lara over to her aunt's house to help with the table centerpieces. I had a good time cutting flowers, and Lara kept busy playing with Matthew's toys, so it worked out nice. Saturday was a busy day. We went to the reception hall to put out all the centerpieces, then all had to get ready. We sat in the back of the church for the wedding, and only had to leave towards the end before they did communion because Lara had to go potty. I was very relieved that she didn't have any outbursts. I think we were far enough away for her to notice daddy or Nana. : ) I didn't take too many pictures, but here are a few that I did take.

Shortly after dancing, she was out cold...