Minnesota Trip

Last week, we packed up the van and headed to Minnesota for a short vacation and a doctor's appointment at Shriner's for Zeke.  I'm counting the drive there and back as a success since I didn't have the urge to kick anyone out of the car.  The kids did great on the way there and while the way back was a little rougher, it was still manageable.

In an odd twist of fate, we had a hotel of sorts for a couple of nights thanks to the hospitality of friends.  (Bed/breakfast/zoo is actually what my friend dubbed it.)  When I was in high school, I used to double date with a friend and her boyfriend (now husband).  After high school, my boyfriend at the time and I broke up and since this friend was several hours away from me, we drifted apart.   We reconnected a few years ago on Facebook but in an odd twist of fate, at the same time we started looking to adopt from China, she showed up in an online forum for the agency Zeke was listed with.  Long story short, she and her husband traveled to China a few months before we picked up Zeke to pick up their daughter who is just a few months younger than Zeke.  Their daughter has amniotic banding which affects an ankle and both hands.  This family now lives in a suburb of the Twin Cities and is doctoring through Shriner's, specifically with one of the same doctors we see.  So we crashed with them for two nights.  Our kids had a great time being wild and crazy.  Kenson got an introduction to big game hunting via the Wii.  Conleigh latched onto their oldest boy and thought he was the greatest.  The big kids all got to camp out in a sleep over style party both nights, staying up way too late.  And the grown ups got to visit and talk about life and limb difference stuff.

The kids

After staying with our friends and taking care of Zeke's doctor appointments, we headed towards the Mall of America.  We took in the aquarium, the Lego store, and the Water Park of America which was at the hotel we stayed in.  Conleigh and I went down a large water slide which may have been a mistake for this pregnant lady.  Kenson tackled one of the big slides on his own.  And both of the big kids tried their hand at body boarding in the surf pool.  (Way too hard for them but they both wanted to try.)  Zeke was not impressed with the amount of dripping and splashing and was annoyed at the water in his eyes.  We ended up ordering Jimmy John's at the hotel and Conleigh thought that was delightful.  When the delivery arrived, her first words were "Did they say Jimmy Johns?"  (Like they do on the tv commercials.)  Followed by "What about freaky fast?  Did they say freaky fast?"  Can you tell we do not live in a town where there is a Jimmy Johns and that we have never had them deliver food to us before?

We also spent an hour or so at Cabelas.  I know, a real vacation hotspot.  But seriously, you can't beat a nearly free experience that involves large displays of taxidermy, a freshwater aquarium, free fudge samples, and camping displays.  We did buy some vension, elk, and buffalo jerky so it wasn't entirely free.  Trying to explain the taxidermy was interesting.  When we finally got to the African displays, Kenson wanted to know how they managed to find enough feathers to stuff into an elephant.  (Um, maybe the word "stuffed" was not the best description.)

Fun little trip without any major stress other than our GPS getting us lost on our initial foray into Minneapolis during rush hour.  But we eventually got where we needed to go.