Minneapols Trip in March!

It all started with Andy having cabin fever. HE wanted to go to Wisconsin Dells.
THEN, Andy got a hole in his shoe and our trip was created! Andy ALWAYS wears Ecco shoes and he always gets the best shoes at the Mall of America in Minneapolis (and no sales tax on clothes!). We love the Mall of America--we always walk in and say "Ahhh....like an old friend!" Katie never wanted to go to Wisconsin Dells...she wanted to find a reason to go to Minneapolis to see Megan and Tony and to finally meet Baby Oscar! So, we took off last Sunday morning and stayed at the Embassy Suites in Bloomington . We shopped the first day for Andy's shoes, we went to our favorite christian bookstore, Northwestern Bookstore, and then out to eat at Fuddrucker's.

WHY is there a photo of Ellie eating? Well...it was a pretty big deal! I called ahead and the nicest manager pulled some of the menu items and read me the ingredients and we determined what was safe for her to eat. Her entire meal was ordered off the menu--it was very fun for her (and us!)!

The top photo is a snippet of our time with Megan, Tony & Oscar. We just loved seeing them. The girls were especially excited to see Megan...and to talk her ear off. Tony was goofy as usual and he and Ava really click in that department--note the photo of the 2 of them being crazy!

Oscar--what a cute and precious little boy. I (Katie) was elated to "get" to feed him his bottle and we tried to get a good picture of Oscar and Colin--Megan held Colin and Katie held Oscar. It was funny when Colin tried to attack Oscar--Megan wasn't prepared for a baby to actually try to move out of her arms!

One of the most amazing gifts of the trip was the gift of free ride wristbands! The Mall has been running a promotion where you collect your receipts and you can quality for free ride wristbands. Between Megan and Tony's purchases this year, Andy's shoe purchase and the $$ spent at the American Girls store, our entire family earned free ride wristbands. What a blessing!

All in all, it was a very fun trip, minus the non-sleeping Colin experience. The girls had a blast, we had a blast...and Andy now has shoes without holes! (Click on all of these collage photos to make them bigger!)

ps--thanks to Krista and Scott, Katie's friends from high school for ideas on what to do in Minneapolis with children!