Memorial Day Weekend

We're back from a mini-family vacation to Minneapolis to visit my brother. It was a nice getaway filled with activities and overtired children but we made the most of it! I'm sure no one cares about these types of vacation recaps but I figured I better jot it down for memory's sake. It'll probably be our last "family vacation" before Baker joins us later this summer.

My brother had just gotten back from his own epic vacation to Thailand and put up with us even though he was fighting some serious jet-lag. We don't get up there very often so I'm glad we made the trip and he was down to hang out!

We had driven to Des Moines on Thursday afternoon to break up the drive a bit. After checking into our less-than-stellar hotel (that's what we get for being cheap...) we grabbed dinner at Zombie Burger and then headed back so the girls could swim for a bit.

After a weak continental breakfast at the hotel on Friday morning, we headed north and decided to stop at the Medford Outlet Center south of Minneapolis for shopping and lunch at good old McDonalds. We found a few good deals and finally made it to our (much nicer, definitely new, not-at-all-smelly) hotel around 3:30 Friday afternoon.

The girls made themselves at home while we unloaded and made plans to meet up with Uncle Ty.

We picked Tyler up and made our way to supper at Pizzeria Lola. He lives near Uptown and it's such a fun part of the city. Lots of shops, bars and restaurants. I always look forward to eating when we go visit him. I also happen to be pregnant every time we go so the good food definitely makes up for the fact that I can't enjoy an adult bevvy at one of the rooftop bars...

After dinner, we headed to Lake Calhoun to walk around a bit and enjoy the evening. The girls played on the playground, walked around the lake and learned to skip rocks. The lake, like several others in the area, is in the middle of the city which is so convenient. I wanted to rent a paddleboat or something but we didn't get around to it. Maybe next time. We wrapped up Friday with a stop at Sebastian Joe's for ice cream before heading back to the hotel.

We went to the Como Zoo & Conservatory on Saturday morning to scope out the animals and sea lion show. It's a cute little place which happens to be free admission so we were excited to check it out. 

The carnival rides were not free but G was practically begging to ride a few rides by the time we circled back around so we couldn't pass them up. 

After the zoo, we grabbed lunch at the Happy Gnome before going back to my brother's place to look at pics from his vacation. Gracyn fell asleep and Leighton turned into a no-nap monster so we called it a day early and went back to the hotel for take-out and let the girls swim for a bit.

Sunday. Sunday was busy! Breakfast at the Hi-Lo Diner, walking laps at the Mall of America and more rides - including the girls' first official rollercoaster ride! - took up most of the day.

Leighton fell asleep during the 7 minute car ride to dinner so I sent Justin and Tyler (and eventually Gracyn) inside while I sat in the car with her to let her nap. She desperately needed it and slept for almost two hours (!!!) while I snap-chatted obnoxious pictures to the boys and ate the rest of J's deer jerky in the car while trying not to pee my pants. We eventually made it inside to join them and eat dinner at Lucky 13's Pub. Next was bowling followed by more ice cream (duh) at LaLa's.

By the end of the trip, my feet and ankles were swollen and my back hurt like a mother. #preggoproblems

We realized on the drive home that we didn't even get a family photo so we snagged one selfie-style with two sleeping kiddos in the back. They were exhausted and car naps made the 7-hour drive home a little more bearable.

G immediately ran to her bestie's house upon returning home - she barely lived through the weekend without her friends - and we spent the remaining hours of the long weekend outside with the neighbors. All in all, it made for a pretty decent holiday and some much needed time away as a family.

Now, bring on summer!