7/18/11 - Tropics, Much

Well, according to the news, the Governor and legislative leaders are "getting close" to finalizing the budget bills, and hope to call the special session early this week yet. I'll still believe it when I see it. Regardless, I will not be going back to work this week...as I mentioned yesterday I'll be off Wednesday-Friday no matter what...Christian is off Thursday and Friday too, but it is looking like this will be my last week off. There is still a small chance the bills won't pass during the special session, but at this point, with all of the bad press, I can't see that happening. I'm thinking that the legislature doesn't want to look any worse than they already do at this point.

It's really, REALLY hot here, as it's supposed to be all week. Last night on the news we hit a record dew point in the cities...it was officially hotter here than LA, Dallas and Miami, and more humid than the Amazon rain forest! Seriously, we're talking hot people. Today was not much better. The girls and I had some breakfast, I did my unemployment paperwork and we played for a while, but they were way too antsy to just stay inside ALL day long. So, we lathered up in sunblock, put on swimsuits and played in the back yard for a while. I filled the pool...it was FREEZING cold, but within about 20 minutes it felt like a sauna. The rain through the sprinkler for a while, but weren't huge fans of it. Finally, it was nap time. Thankfully the heat and water meant an even longer than usual nap time, which was great!

After naps, we cleaned up the house, Christian brought home some take out for dinner, and we headed back into the tropics. Tonight's "preparation for the birthday party" task was cleaning out the gross sandbox. The sandbox was infested with bugs this winter...I think a mix of being covered and being under the tree. So, we emptied it, cleaned it out and moved it to the other side of the yard (just have to get new sand now)...we were not out there long, but the girls and

sweat through our clothes in record time, that's for sure.

We got in a little more play time, then it was time for bed and baths. The girls went right to bed again, just like they usually do. I SO miss being up north, but it's nice to have the girls back on a routine though.

Here are a couple of pics from today. Olivia insists on filling the pool (she doesn't believe me when I tell her you can just lay the hose down...). Amelia just wanted to play with the water coming out of the hose, LOL.

7/17/11 - Back to Reality

Well, it's back to reality today. Back home. No more "cation". This really was the best weekend...I could not have asked for more. Time with my handsome hubby and my beautiful girls, time away from the stress and uncertainty of the job situation, new adventures to share with the kids. Christian and I were equally bummed the entire car ride home. As we said goodbye to the lake on our way out of town this morning, we knew we'd be back next year, and the year after, as this will be a new family tradition for us!

We started off the morning just like yesterday, wake up, breakfast in the hotel lobby, showers and getting ready. We packed everything up and loaded up the truck, checked out, then stopped by the lake on our way out. The girls spent some time playing in the flower garden, and we watched a couple boats go by. We thought about hanging around town for a while, but it was way too hot and WAY too humid to spend much time outside anyway, so we started on our way home. Luckily this time Amelia fell asleep shortly after we hit the road, and slept the entire ride home. Olivia fell asleep for the last half of the ride. So, it was a nice, peaceful ride home.

We picked up the dog on the way home, and we immediately unloaded the truck and I unpacked everything. I didn't want to risk having it sit around all week, and wanted to keep my nice clean house, clean! Christian and Olivia were off to his parents house for dinner while Amelia and I hung out at home. I wanted to relax and watch me some Big Brother, and the girls needed some time apart after this weekend glued to each other, so it worked out well.

Finally, it was time for bed! The girls were clearly happy to be back in their own house, in their own beds and back on routine. Bedtime went much smoother than it did at the hotel, that's for sure! You could tell Christian was pretty bummed to be heading back to work in the morning...he took this upcoming Friday off so we can get ready for Amelia's birthday party, and he's already thinking about asking for Thursday off! LOL. I am entering week 3 of being laid off, and it should definitely last the entire week. Though the Governor and some of the legislators are at the capital working on the bills, they are not even close to being done yet, so there is no special session in sight quite yet. We'll see, it works out better for me if the shutdown lasts this entire week anyway since I have to take Wednesday-Friday off anyway...saves me some vacation time I guess (silver lining?).

Here are a couple pictures from this morning, I seriously wish I were still there...

7/16/11 - Day Two, Busy Bliss

Well, it was pretty amazing waking up on vacation this morning. Knowing we had an entire day of fun, adventures and no worries ahead of us. We did have a pretty long night thanks to some late night (early morning) partiers in the hotel. Luckily they were eventually kicked out, but not before causing chaos in our room for a while. It was rough getting the girls to sleep with all of us in the same room to begin with, but all of the noise didn't help. We were up for the day at our normal time, ate some breakfast in the lobby, showered and were on our way.

Our first stop today was the Lake Superior Zoo. And, we were very pleasantly surprised...it was a really great zoo! The girls had a ton of fun, and I must have sweat off all of the vacation junk food I've consumed so far it was so hot out. We spent a few hours there, grabbed some lunch and headed back to the hotel to get some rest from the heat for a little while. After we re-energized, we headed down to Canal Park for the evening...the BEST part and what I'd been waiting for since we got into town. We took a "dip" in Lake Superior for a while, walked along the "boardwalk", played in the "sprinklers" they had going in town, stopped in for the BEST ice cream I've ever had (Amelia enjoyed her very own, FIRST Ice Cream cone, and LOVED it), and just enjoyed ourselves. We took a nice long drive up the "coast" before heading back to the hotel for the night. We are definitely planning next years trip early and splurging on one of the canal hotels because I want to be able to spend more time on the beach, that's for sure!

Once back in the hotel, we ate some dinner, watched a little TV and relaxed for a while. The girls went down much better tonight, so hopefully we'll have a quieter, more sleep filled night tonight!

Here are tons of pictures of our adventures today.

7/15/11 - And, We're Off!

Today started off very hectic, and very busy. This weekend is FINALLY our weekend getaway up to Duluth, and we've been waiting on pins and needles for it to come. Finally, time to escape reality and get away from everything for a few days!

We were up bright and early. Christian fed the girls and got them while I ran a few errands...Target and Rainbow to get some groceries for the trip, Petco to get Chuy a new harness (so my mom can take him on some walks while we're away) and Perkins to get some yummy traveling Muffins (a road trip must have for me). Then, we loaded up the truck (it takes a lot more luggage than you would expect with and 1 and 2 year old in tote!) and were finally off. One last stop at my mom's to drop the dog off, and we were on the road.

My goal was to be on the road during nap time, in hopes that the girls would sleep on the way. Well, that didn't happen. Amelia was freaking out, I think her teeth were really bothering her. So, we finally stopped at McDonald's to get out of the truck for a bit, eat a little food, take a potty break and I fed Amelia before we got on the road again. FINALLY, she passed out and slept the rest of the drive. Olivia only took a short nap before we arrived at the hotel. We checked in, unloaded some necessities, then were off to get in as much time as we could in town.

We stopped into the Aquarium for a while, and it was VERY cool. Lots of stuff to do. There was a park right outside, so we stopped in and let the girls play for a while. Then, we were off to find some dinner. We decided to splurge on a nice sit down dinner and it was TASTY! It was getting late at this point, so we just went back to the hotel for the night. I'm a little nervous about the four of us sleeping on one little room, but we'll see how it goes!

Here are a few pictures from Vacation Day 1! Lots of adventures planned for tomorrow, I can't wait!

7/14/11 - Me Time?

Today, the girls were off to spend the day with my mother in law. That "me time" I speak of, is really "clean the house time", which is easier without those rugrats following me around, undoing everything I do. So, once they woke up, and I fed Amelia, I dropped them off, then got to work. It's time for our Spring/Summer cleaning, of course just in time for Amelia's birthday party next weekend. So, today's task was the upstairs. I went through and scrubbed the girls' room, our room, the living room, the kitchen and the dining room. I love that brand new, just cleaned look! Next week we'll be doing the bathroom and the downstairs. YAY!

Christian and the girls ended up having dinner over at his mom's so I could finish in peace. It was time for baths and bed shortly after they arrived home. I quickly gathered up their clothes and necessities for our vacation so it was ready to pack in the morning, then we put them down. Christian and I spent a little time together, lounging and relaxing on the couch for a while, excited for our weekend getaway.

That was our exciting day! This morning there was some "breaking news" about the shutdown situation. The Governor agreed to the legislators last budget proposal, with a few changes, so we'll see. They'll be working all weekend I'm sure to come up with some bills, then he'll need to call a special session and they'll have to actually pass and sign each bill, then call us back to work. I'm guessing we'll still be off all next week, but maybe sometime the week after things will be figured out. I guess we'll see, at least there is some progress being made...

Chuy was my little shadow today. Here is a picture of him all snuggled up, I think he enjoyed the quiet more than me!

7/13/11 - Just Another Day

Well, just another day at home for me and the girls! We finally have some great weather today, so after breakfast and a little playing, we headed off to another park for a while. Today I was quite annoyed though...there was a little girl, maybe 10 or 11, that would not leave us alone. She arrived shortly after we got there, and just kept asking me question after questions, asking if she could hold Amelia, help with this or that. Olivia had to go to the bathroom and she asked if she could take her? Seriously, just WAY too much. I finally told her we had to head home, she kept asking me if she could help get the girls in their car seats and stuff. Then said she had to go home because she wasn't allowed at the park if there wasn't anybody else there. I think her parents need to adjust those rules a little bit...I'm there to play with MY kids, not watch your kid. I was very annoyed by the whole situation.

So, we ate some lunch and went down for naps as soon as we got home. I did a few load of laundry throughout the afternoon/evening. The girls were very antsy after their nap, so I took them on a nice long walk by myself, and arrived home just in time to meet up with Christian. That was about the excitement of our day today.

Here are a couple of park pics. Amelia is really getting into exploring the park these days. This park only had one "baby" swing, and of course Olivia HAD to go in there when Amelia was in there, so I put them both in, LOL.

7/12/11 - Our First Toddler Tuesday

We live very close to the Mall of America (the novelty of the Mall has long worn off on me). I've always been super jealous because they host "Toddler Tuesday" every week, where they do some fun event for kids, some of the restaurants offer free kid meals and there are just a bunch of deals for little ones. Of course, it's always during the day, so basically useless for working parents. But now, I finally get to take advantage, and it's a great way to get the girls out of the house! Today, they had the Teddy Bear Band. And, it was all in preparation for the new Winnie the Pooh movie...so we got free passes to an advance screening of the movie, we got to make little "Honey" flower pots, got some snacks and got to listen to some fun music. YAY! We met up with Kelly and the kiddo's, so after the show we took the girls on a couple of rides, grabbed a bite to eat, did a little shopping, and that was that!

We didn't get home until after 2:00, WAY past nap time, so the girls went right down for their naps. Christian worked some OT, big surprise, then stopped to get a haircut, so it was just me and the girls for a majority of the evening. Once he was home we just ate some dinner and hung out for a little while. Another super exciting night for us!

Here are some snaps from our mall adventures!

7/11/11 - 10 Years

10 Years...a lot can happen in 10 years. As you get older and older and older, 10 years starts to seem like a small chunk of time in the grand scheme of things. Right now though, 10 years seems like a long time. I mean, it's basically a third of my life right now.

Well, today marks 10 years since Christian and I went on our very first date. It's hard to believe. One day complete strangers, the next day...we started the rest of our life together. I probably went over the whole story last year....so I can sum it up this time around. Basically, we met through our parents...we chatted on the phone one day...he asked me out (to the "club", how romantic!)...I agreed...he called a few days before our scheduled date saying he'd gotten the night off, and asked if I wanted to hang out...we went to the mall...it was closed...he was lucky to get a second date! LOL

From that day on, we were together. That was that, no looking back. We've had many ups and downs, good times and bad, arguments, fights, tears, laughs, hugs and kisses. 10 years filled with late nights on the town, snuggling up watching movies, mini vacations together, more memories then can even be recalled. 2 amazing kids, 3 pets, a perfect wedding, a wonderful home, and a limitless future ahead of us. 10 years ago I went on a first date, that changed my entire life.

As far as today, it was a fairly low key day for us. Amelia was VERY, VERY crabby today. The girls slept in, but she ended up going down for a pretty early nap...I was a little bummed I didn't get my alone time today, but it was fun spending a little alone time with each of the girls. While Amelia napped, Olivia and I played outside in the pool for a while. It got VERY hot, VERY fast, so we headed inside for some lunch. Of course, as soon as I laid her down for her nap, Amelia woke up. So, she and I hung out for the afternoon. Amidst the whining and crying, we got in plenty of play time. We ate a quick dinner when Christian got home, took a nice long walk around the neighborhood, put out/played in the sprinklers, then it was baths and bed for everyone. So, obviously a VERY exciting day!

Here is a picture I snapped of Olivia today, I just thought it was sweet.

7/10/11 - Another Sunday Funday!

Today was a pretty great Sunday! The girls REALLY slept in today. Olivia was up a couple times during the night to go potty...too much late evening water and too many popsicles last night! We had a MASSIVE storm roll through early this morning that woke me up (and nothing wakes me up!). The sirens were going off, the rain was basically going sideways the wind was so bad. It was pretty crazy. I couldn't believe it, but the girls slept right through it. The rain was beating against the side of the house like nothing I've ever heard before. It was actually a little scary. Christian and I kept contemplating getting the girls up and heading to the basement, but the sirens stopped, and the wind died down a little bit, so we just headed back to bed.

The girls were up around 9:30, I whipped up a big Mexican breakfast, and we hung out around the table for a while. It was already horribly hot, so we packed up and made our way down to the sprinkler park for a while. The girls loved it, but Olivia grew tired of the water pretty quickly. Amelia was having the time of her life though! Luckily they have a pretty nice playground there as well, so we spent some time there. We grabbed some Dairy Queen on our way home, and say outside in the shade for a little bit. Then, the girls passed out!

While they napped, I cleaned up a little around the house, uploaded some more pictures and relaxed. Christian mowed the lawn and ran the sprinklers for a while. The grass is DYING from this heat, so hopefully last nights rain helps a little bit. I was pretty drained after the long, stressful week, so Christian took the girls over to his parents house for a little while this evening...he needed his dad to fix the weed whacker, so it worked out well!

Here are some pictures from the sprinkler park! Good times!