Breaking Cabin Fever

Last week was just, well, horrendous - for me.  Work was slow going but we were busy, busy, busy re-setting mainly the sporting goods department.  It felt like each day was at least two days!  The evenings at home were trying.  I got to listen to screaming, whining, crying, fighting and yelling each night.  By Thursday I joined them in the crying...that was special.  All three of us in tears.  Oh, to have been a fly on our wall!

Jason and I determined that we all, especially the kids, were suffering from "cabin fever" and we needed to get out of the house!  My cousin bought us a Minnesota Children's Museum membership last fall and a new exhibit just opened last month - Dora and Diego, Let's Explore!  We had wanted to wait for the flu to settle down a little before we went but yesterday our sanity won out.  We headed out right after visiting our top choice preschool open house!

Checking out "The Map" of the exhibit

Dora and Boots; Diego and Baby Jaguar

Joey riding Baby Jaguar!

Joey and Daddy as space explorers!

Amelia piloting the space ship to the Purple Planet!

Amelia IN the Purple Planet

Joey sliding out of the Purple Planet

Star activity - they both LOVED this one

Rock climbing in the Rainforest Maze

Joey working hard in Isa's Garden

Climbing a spiderweb in HabiTot

Ice fishing in HabiTot

LIVE rat demonstration

She had a really hard time following the "one finger" rule when touching the rats!

Dad's face paint masterpieces

Trucking!

She was SO colorful!

We left mid-afternoon because mom and dad were getting pretty tired.  We lost both children, separately, about three times.  That was when we decided it was time to leave!  

On our way out to the car we I lost Amelia one more time - in an elevator.  I walked out, not paying attention, and heard the door close and Amelia scream, "mommy!"  That was followed by crying and panic.  Jason stayed on our level and I ran down to the next, went back up when she didn't come, then ran back up and then back down.  When I got down the second time she was stepping off.  Luckily some parents we had seen in the museum, as well as in the skyway, found her and kept her on the elevator when she tried to get off to find us.  Poor thing!  Note to self - always be the last one off the elevator and don't assume she's right behind you!

We had dinner at a favorite spot in St. Paul and got two favorite cookies from a co-op to share on the way home. Things were better around here last night as we hung out and got ready for bed.  Amelia was sweet to Joe again, she had less attitude and Joe was less whiny.  Today will be the true test to see if our "cabin fever" has been broken!

A Good Weekend + Today

We had a very nice weekend!

Saturday we went to the Mall of America to take Jason's computer in for a battery replacement before the warranty is up this Thursday!  There is also a Nike store in the mall and they have a drop-off for old tennis shoes to be dropped off.  They are recycled into track and playground surfaces among other things.  I had two pairs to drop off this time!

Once we were done with our two main stops we took Amelia to Nickelodeon Universe!

 
We had a coupon for a discounted unlimited ride wristband and after a few calculations we decided that was the best way to go!  Amelia rode rides for about two hours!

She was so excited!  Jason was excited when he realized that the required chaperones rode for free.

Joe and I hung out and watched them enjoy the rides.

He was a trooper.  I can't imagine he had all that much fun being confined in a stroller for the better part of the day but he handled it well!

Joe got a "big boy" toy Saturday on our way home.

I realized recently that he fits onto Amelia's car perfectly so, to try and eliminate the fighting, we got Joe his own car.  We splurged and got him the Batman one - I let Jason decide which one to get.  The front folds down and there are two tracks (it came with two little cars) and they can "race." 

Sunday we stayed home, got caught up on laundry, watched football, made (and froze) about 7 quarts of chili and I did some work in Joe's room to prepare to switch his larger clothes into his drawers.  A lot was accomplished!

We got a gallon of ice cream for dessert and shared with the neighbors.  These two licked their bowls clean!

Today has been interesting.  Amelia had two time-outs for hitting/pushing/kicking her brother.  When the neighbor kids all started to go out we went out too and there was just more fighting/pushing etc.  There must be something in the air around here today!  None of the kids in the complex could get along - at all.

We had some good moments mixed in with all the whining and crying - like this one:

They had car races in the kitchen for about five minutes after Joe's nap.  After that the whining, crying and time-outs started.  It was just one of those nights.  It wasn't the first and I know it will not be the last.

Amelia came to her door, after I tucked her in, to remind me that I promised her a tattoo.

She got Dora tattoos at Nickelodeon Universe and she couldn't be more thrilled about them and I was glad that we were able to end the night on a happy note :)

Weekend Highlights

We had another full weekend!

Friday night, before going to my parent's for the night, Amelia was a self-proclaimed "cow doctor."

She only "worked" on cows and, well, her mama.

Saturday morning we visited with our friend, Marie, and her son, Leyton!  They were in town so her husband could help out with a family member's move so we got to visit about two hours at my parent's house!

Joe - 10 months, Leyton - 7 weeks

After our visit Jason and I had a date afternoon/evening.  We had Mexican for a late lunch and then headed towards Minneapolis.  On our way we stopped at a thrift shop and found awesome deals on children's books (69 cents each - hardback, paperback or board) and Carter's pajamas for $2.99 that were maybe worn twice - they looked brand new!

Once we arrived in Minneapolis we walked around Mill Ruins Park which was really neat!

After exploring the park we headed to our final destination - The Guthrie Theater.  Jason (with the help of his mom) got tickets for us to see Roman Holiday.  It was a really nice surprise since I had no idea he even knew I liked that movie!

We enjoyed the musical a lot!

On our way home we stopped for pizza at Pizza Luce.  Funny tangent - when I was younger my dad took us to Pizza Luce and our server had green hair.  This apparently scared my sister and I and we started referring to it as "green hair pizza" and never wanted to go there.  Now I love it!

This trip we ordered the "Athena" pizza which has spinach, artichokes, red onion, tomatoes, feta and kalamata olives (which I held off my half.)  It was really good!  We ordered a larger size to have leftovers for work this week which was a nice treat today!

Sunday my parents brought the kids home.  We had dinner out in the parking lot with our neighbors, Matt and Dallas.  We cooked up the zucchini from our garden with some garden-grown oregano, fresh red potatoes and white onion from a local farmer.  In addition to that we also got sweet corn from the same farmer as well as a cucumber which we had with balsamic vinegar and onions.

It was really good and it felt really good knowing that all of the food came either from our garden or a local farm.  Our gardening goal has been met - we grew something and were able to eat it!  

We watched a bit of the Olympics closing ceremonies before bed and I am a little glad the Olympics are over.  We enjoyed watching them, especially Amelia, but it is also nice not feeling like we are missing something when we aren't inside with the TV on in the background!  Plus, this week is "Shark Week" on Discovery Channel and I know a certain little girl who loves "haw-eeks!"