A Visit to Minnesota

'88 is Great!!! This summer should be my 20th High School Reunion (gulp). I say "should" because so far, no one has heard of anything being planned. So, while I was in the Minneapolis area two of my old high school friends who live there took time out of their busy lives to meet for dinner and lot's of laughs. I am so glad for the time with Lori and Carol...thank you both for a great evening! Let's make sure another 10 years doesn't go by before we do it again! (sidenote: they are BOTH followers of my blog and are excited to be featured!)

We left for Erin's house last Tuesday right after Olivia's first band lesson. Lucky for everyone they got to hear her practice each day. She is doing a great job so far!

Here, Olivia and Auntie Ernie are making strawberry muffins for the baby shower we are hosting for my sister-in-law Amanda.

Tony and Celia kept busy "baking" too. Pretty much every picture I take of her is blurry as she is in constant motion. Even when blurry she's stinkin' cute!

On Friday we drove down to Rosemount to pick up Auntie Amanda for a visit to the Minnesota Zoo. Tony checks out the map before we head out to explore.

We all really enjoyed the "Minnesota Trail" exhibit. We got to see coyote, wolves, eagles, raccoons, etc... It even SMELLED like Minnesota.

Since Amanda is VERY pregnant, we took a ride on the Monorail to view the majority of the zoo. We managed to get on just as it was leaving so we had to ride in the car directly behind the driver...hence the NO TALKING sign. What a bummer for Tony, who literally talks non-stop. The sign worked like a charm and I think I may put one in my van! :) Seriously though, it was a great way to see the zoo pregnant or not.

The last exhibit we visited was the Meerkats. The kids thought it was very cool to climb into the tube and get right in the middle of it. Looks like Tony needs a couple more inches!

Saturday was Amanda's shower at Erin's house in Elk River. Tried to get a picture of the three kids....Celia doesn't look happy does she? While I wasn't able to capture it on my camera, she was so happy to have Tony and "Mi-mi" at her house. She just loves the kids and they just love her. It is such a treat to watch the three of them together!

Here are Erin and I with the beautiful mommy-to-be. Amanda looks great and is such a trooper. She is going to be a natural at motherhood. Also, this picture is WAY better than the one she posted...I look horribly crabby in hers. Yikes! Showers can be a lot of work, but it was worth the drive and totally our pleasure to do this for her, she deserves it! It is also a great way to get family together as it gets harder and harder to see each other as our families grow.

Just had to include this picture of my cousin Shelley's sweet little, blue-eyed Joey. He was eating macaroni and cheese.

Managed to snap a non-blurry photo of Celia and her baby "Taco". We all enjoyed our visit and special time with family....especially this sweet little girl. Thanks everyone for a GREAT visit!

p.s.

On Sunday, Uncle Brian, Uncle Jeff and Papa Jocko took Tony to the Twins vs. Yankees game...I hope somone will post a picture for me! He didn't say much about the game itself but sure enjoyed the onion rings, hamburgers, rootbeer, popcorn......