road trip 09

So, we're home, and our Grand Tour of the Midwest was a rousing success. In fact, we had so much fun, we're already thinking about how and when we can go back for another visit!

We arrived in Minneapolis on Wednesday night and the festivities began immediately. The kids played outside while Stacy and I caught up with one another's lives. We got to watch Lucy show off her swimming skills at swimming lessons, and then it was time to put the little ones to bed in anticipation of more fun the next day.

Thursday we took the bus to the Minnesota State Fair with Morgan and Melanie. While we were there, we met up with another set of Ethiopian twins. The Runions were the first Ethiopian twins I'd ever heard about (way back when we first started the adoption process), so it was very cool to finally meet them in person!

The fair was lots of fun, and all four kids were troopers. They did a great job exploring all of the different things the fair had to offer, and took advantage of Morgan's stroller when their little legs got too tired to walk any further.

We met some baby animals at the miracle of birth exhibit:

We ate various foods on sticks:

The twins learned about life on a farm through the interactive "Little Farm Hands" Exhibit:

The kids experienced their very first carnival rides:

(Izzie was a little bit tentative at first, but she got into it when she realized how much fun Lucy and Morgan were having!)

We walked and walked and walked:

We danced:

We met the Minnesota Twins Mascot:

And we even saw a parade!

Friday had even more fun activities planned. I don't think the day could have gotten more perfect for Elijah. We started out at Choo Choo Bob's, an awesome train store with interactive train tables for the kids to play with, a model train exhibit to watch, and more train paraphernalia than you can possibly imagine. Lij was in heaven! We had the pleasure of meeting another lovely Minnesota family while we were here, and the kids had an absolute blast!

We stopped for a quick lunch before heading to the Como Zoo, where we got to meet Stacy and Lucy's friends Isaac, Nathan and Jacob. The kids had a great time looking at the animals, and especially loved putting coins in the donation tree at the monkey house.

We swung by Stacy and Lucy's house to let the puppy out:

Before heading out to sample Minneapolis' cupcake offerings:

And then playing at a park briefly before Lucy's Kuk Sool Class.

It's difficult to choose a favourite memory from this amazing trip, but the twins got an unexpected surprise when they were invited to participate in Kuk Sool class. They absolutely loved it, and were shockingly good at following the teacher's instructions on how to block and dodge attacks:

The twins haven't stopped talking about Kuk Sool, and would *love* to get involved in some sort of martial arts class here. Jon and I are all for that because we both strongly believe in the benefits and discipline of martial arts training. Sadly, we have yet to find a school that takes kids under 4, so we'll just have to wait until next year.

Finally, we met several other MSP adoptive families at Fasika for dinner. The food was great, and it was so nice to meet some of the other families we'd heard so much about. The twins were pretty exhausted at this point, and Isabel completely lost her mind at dinner, needing to be taken outside to calm herself down. Soon enough, she was back to her old self, and spent the duration of the evening making out with Morgan (I won't post pictures of her wild night (mostly because I was too busy trying to socialize and curtail naughtiness to document my daughter's scandalous behaviour), but if you're really interested, you can see them here.)

The kids were absolutely obsessed with this cool candy box puzzle that Lucy has. They spent every moment that we were home playing with this toy!

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye to our friends in Minnesota and get ready for phase 2 of our trip: Wisconsin!

We arrived Saturday afternoon to be greeted by this face:

The kids had a great time together (as always), but were sad to learn that one of the boys was out of town for our visit.

We went on a bear hunt at the park, worked on art projects, played in forts:

And, most importantly, celebrated D's birthday

At a waterpark! Elijah started out being terrified by the giant bucket that tips over and dumps water on everyone. He was so scared that he spent the first 15 minutes sitting in a chair and refusing to come in the water at all. Soon, though, he got over his fears and had the time of his life sliding down the children's water slide and going on the infaltable boat waterslide.

Our waterpark trip ended with a scare when Elijah wandered away from us to attempt an activity intended for much bigger kids. He fell in the water, necessitating a rescue by the lifeguards. Oy Vey!

After the waterpark, we headed to the Celtic Festival, where we met various men in kilts, learned about different clans, and watched axe throwing, fencing, and jousting demonstrations. The kids got "Passports" which could be stamped at each of the clan's tents, and one friendly woman explained the meanings behind each clan's stamp. The history is so interesting, and I love that each family's history is told in its stamps and its tartan. Very cool.

We had a fantastic time on our trip. The kids all played really nicely together, and it's just remarkable to see these little ones growing up together. I got some much needed recharging and reconnection by getting to spend time with people who've become wonderful friends. Thanks again to all of our friends for your hospitality and your company! We are truly lucky to have each of you in our lives!