Saturday: easy day

Today was our last day together. Ben and I packed up in the morning and then we all went to have Indian food...yum!

We had an easy afternoon hanging out. We watched the rescuers down under. When the mean lizard is chasing the little lizard to get the keys Isaac was enthralled and kept saying "uh oh" through the whole scene.

We finally took a group picture, ate dinner, and took off. It was a really fun week and we were sad to leave.

After almost stopping early because we like to sleep, we kept going and are near Chicago. We'll be home soon!

Friday: strawberries and pool

This morning we went strawberry picking. Isaac did a lot better at it than I was expecting. He could easily pick the strawberries I found for him and put them in the box.







Later in the day he found where the cut strawberries were being kept on the counter and nicely asked for one. And another. And another. Then he dragged our friend closer to the counter because she had left and said please. He kept coming back but he so politely asked for them that he kept getting them.

We went to the pool in the early evening. We were surprised by an awesome rate because we got there so late. Hurray for the nap! It took Isaac a while to warm up to it, but he had a lot of fun. There were some really nice water slides for the adults too.







Lastly, there was kick the can ice cream...and it was delicious. Isaac figured out to do a little kicking, but ladderball ended up being more fun to play.

Thursday: mall of America

Although it was the fourth of July, we decided to have a restful morning and then go to the Mall of America in the afternoon. The mall doesn't seem like a very patriotic thing to do, but we hoped that would make it a little less busy.

So the morning...our host are dog sitting, so Isaac got to play with a dog. He also got up the nerve to pet Hamlet. Those two critters kept him pretty occupied.










We played some Dominion (yay)! And then took off for the mall. We stopped at LegoLand and got some souvenir Lego figurines. Ben and I rode the roller coaster. Isaac got grumpy because he couldn't ride the roller coaster. We went through a mirror maze which I thought might be a little dumb, but was actually quite a bit of fun (with a child). Isaac and Ben ran away from me and I chased them and Isaac thought it was hilarious. Isaac and I also ran head first into a mirror once too...it was pretty funny. We ended our day at the food court because it was getting late, not because we had really planned to do so.







By this time Isaac was barely holding off the grumpiness, but it was a little too early for bed. So we played some Frisbee golf. He loved it, as long as we were doing what he wanted. (which was most of the time, but not all the time.). The home team won by one stroke and everyone else tied for second...guess the teams were even. :)

Wednesday: library and girls afternoon

We brought the kiddos to story time this morning. Isaac hasn't been very interested in books lately, but there were also a lot of toys to play with. It was a nice time.






Then we dropped the older kids off with the guys and had a girls afternoon. We went to the olive garden, roller skating, and to a yogurt bar. It was lovely not having to chase after the kids.

Tuesday: zoo

Today we visited the zoo! We started with the orangutans, and Isaac was being a little sleepy. Suddenly he pointed and said, "ooh!". What
was he pointing at? A rock.



We also got to see some seals and seal training. The seal training was from pretty close so that was really interesting. It was a small zoo, but it worked out perfectly because all the kids were done around the same time.










We just hung out, having fun the rest of the day.

Monday: friends and rocks

Today we visited a waterfall.




After that we went to a wading pool down the river a bit. It was full of rocks. Isaac's favorite thing to do was sit on the edge, have Ben or me hand him rocks, and drop or throw them back in the water. We did that for a really long time.




At the end of the day the other little boy wanted to go outside. He and Isaac talked and walked over to the door. Isaac "said", "You just reach up and use the doorknob like this". It was pretty funny to see them try to conspire together.

Here the boys are sort of playing together, even though it doesn't look like it.

Saturday and Sunday: made it!

We made it to our vacation destination! Isaac did really well on the car ride.

Isaac and the two girls...he's been doing a nice job sharing with the older one.



Time for a walk.




Isaac has enjoyed playing ladder ball.






All in all, it's been a successful two days!