Summer Staycation

This summer, instead of taking a trip, we decided to do a staycation around the Twin Cities.  We took a few days to enjoy time together and make memories at some of the local fun spots!  The weather ended up being pretty rainy, but we still were able to find some fun things to do!  

Day 1 - Mall of America!!

American Girl store - we spent a LOT of time roaming the store. 

Ella found lots of things to add to her Christmas wish list!!

LEGO store - someone built the Cinderella Castle  - it was so cool!!

Disney Store - Ella loves the magic mirror

We lunched at Shake Shack.  Overall, I was disappointed.  Not my favorite burger.

The fries were delicious though!

The 700 pounds of yarn decorating one of the areas of the mall made the perfect backdrop for the obligatory family selfie!!

Highlight of the trip - Build-A-Bear store.  None of us have ever been.  Both Jay and I were surprised at how much fun it was!  I think we both secretly wanted to build our own too!!  Ella had a fun time and of course she chose the Shopkins Bear!!

Day 2 - Tim Horton's Donuts and Como Zoo

 We made a trip to the new Tim Horton's Donuts.  I think we all prefer Dunkin' Donuts, but it was fun to check it out - notice that Ella's American Girl doll made the trip with us

LOL!

It rained all morning and into the early afternoon, but it started to clear, so we headed to Como Zoo!

 We watched Sparky the sea lion get a snack!

 Saw the tiger (duh - Farmington Tiger here!)

 Watched the baby giraffe with its mama (CUTE!)

 Tested our span against that of the gorilla!

And took some selfies! 

We also went across the way and played a game of mini golf which was so fun! 

So much fun that I forgot to take any pictures! LOL!

Day 3 - this was a wash out day - we were supposed to go to ValleyFair but it rained all day!  Boo!  So, we watched the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie in the middle of the day!

 Some sort of throne/chair that Ella built to watch the movie on

PM - Vikings preseason football mean we should celebrate with some Vikings cupcakes!  YUM!

That wraps up the Staycation 2017.  It's HARD to do a staycation.  The temptations to do laundry, wash dishes, check emails etc. are all right in front of us each day. I think going out of town is easier to put aside all of the everyday regular life stuff and fully engage in vacation mode!

Dakota County Fair 2017

In early August, we made a trip to the Dakota County Fair!  We had a good time checking out the animal barns and eating some fair foods!

I didn't take as many pictures as I thought!  But, that night we also attended the donkey races in the Grandstands!  That was crazy to watch!  Let's just say donkeys were not huge fans of transporting the people!

Ella also tested her game skills at a few of the game booths!

And we walked through this year's gardens, which had a Dr. Seuss theme!

 

BOOM!  Selfie!  HAHAHA

The weekend we got new carpet

Oh Hi September!  Not sure how that blog break happened again, but it did.  The weekend of Ella's dance camp, we also got new carpets installed.  That was something!!  It was a lot of boxing up stuff and moving it out to the garage or into the basement. And the install took the entire Saturday - the ENTIRE day.  I didn't plan for us to be blocked out of the house the entire day.  The installers worked simultaneously upstairs and downstairs, so the rooms AND BATHROOMS were blocked all day.  Made for an interesting day!!

Some pictures of the before....

The pictures were not capturing how brown the old carpets were, but I promise

they were really brown!!

Also, our bathrooms became storage closets for installation day! LOL!

Now the after pictures....

We love it and makes the home so much brighter!

Dance Camp!

So, if you know Ms. Ella, then you know that she loves dance. LOVES DANCE. She has been dancing in the Just for Kix program this past year and will continue for the upcoming season as well. We heard that JFK offers dance camps during the summer and Ella was all about it.  So, we signed her up to go this summer and it the 3 day camp wrapped up on Saturday afternoon.  She had a great time, but I will say my momma heart was a bit sad when she told me she didn't meet any new friends and ate lunch by herself the first 2 days of camp (I joined her for the 3rd day because - SAD!) Despite not going to camp with a friend, there were other familiar faces around, including her season coach, so I think that helped.  Just wished she would have had a buddy around.  Maybe next summer!

The theme for the camp this year was Hooray for Hollywood, so all of the routines included songs referencing stardom / Hollywood.  Each day had its own theme that the dancers could participate in.

Day 1 - Show us your hometown spirit

Day 2 - Glamour Day

Day 3 - Camp shirt day (also recital day)

(random picture - not sure why I elected to take it in the parking lot! HA!)

During camp, she learned three (3) dance routines: jazz, high kick and lyrical.  She didn't care for lyrical, which makes sense because she doesn't like ballet either and keeps telling me she likes jazzy music. HA! I hope her upcoming dance season goes well!  She's super excited to be dancing with some friends from last year and also some school friends. 

The last weeks of summer are upon us - how is that even possible?!?!

Jay's Birthday!!

We wound up July 2017 with a little gathering on the 29th to start celebrating Jay's big birthday (4-0!). We met with some family and friends in Chaska for drinks and dinner.  It happened to be River City Days in Chaska, their little hometown celebration, so there was lots going on.  

We checked out Firemen's Park....

And took pictures (and another failed selfie!) at the "World's Largest Mustache"

- WHO KNEW THIS EVEN EXISTED??!?

Jay was gifted some fun age related gifts, including this bottle of whiskey. Ancient Age - HA!

Some pictures from his actual birthday (the 31st)...

We got him gift card to his favorite establishment The Home Depot (really!) and also 40 Lottery Tickets for fun!  But sadly, he didn't win big.  Bummer!