April 10-12

Easter in Minneapolis

Wow! We had a busy, fun-filled Easter weekend! In conjunction with 'spring break' - I use the term loosely because the kiddos only had Friday, Monday and Tuesday - we decided to pack everyone up and go to the Mall of America. It was our second time going, and the foster kiddos' first time. ;) A fun time was had by all! In perfect 'Tina-ness', we did saw some other sights along the way ... it really doesn't pay to go all that way and just go to the mall, right?

Friday
After getting the car out of the shop (finally!), we left home around 1:45p - this was nearly seven hours later than I would have liked, but at least we were able to go. ;) We stayed at TLF housing at the St. Paul Air Reserve Station.

Here is a pic of the cemetery and our van ...
One of the Spanish-American War grave markers ...
Saturday
After a nice sleep, we got up early ('cuz we had tons to do!), we made our way to the Ft. Snelling National Cemetery. It was a gorgeous, sunny morning and we had an opportunity to talk to the kids about our military heroes - it reminded me a lot of Normany, France. We even saw graves from people who served in the Spanish-American War! The cemetery was large - almost 437 acres and has about 180,000 people buried there. There are wives of military members and even some sons and daughters, which I thought was interesting.

Next, we went to the Basilica of St. Mary, the first basilica in America. I must admit, going there brought me back to the cathedrals and basilicas we have seen in England and Europe. I snuck a photo inside the basilica, which I feel a little guilty about because there was a mass going on - obviously not guilty enough not to take the picture. ;)

4 out of 5 of the kiddos ...

stained glass of Mary ...

An action shot of Melissa ... she's so speedy!

A statue honoring the Belgian-priest-explorer Father Louis Hennepin ...
Onward to the Minnehaha Park and Waterfall. This is where we ate lunch - we brought our own - and fooled around a little. ;) It was cool to see the waterfall with snow and ice ... I was afraid that it would be frozen over from the winter!

Melissa - laughing/eating ...
Peel a banana upside-down ...
Nate ...
Annika ...
David ...
More fooling from M ...
Austin, trying to jump from one bench to the other ...
what they loved to do - video and text ...
Bubba ...
Annika ... she forgot her jacket ...
David ...
Annika, Nate 'n David ... ;)

The all-anticipated MOA (Mall of America) visit finally happened. I wanted to make sure we got there a little later in the day because the tickets for the rides drops after 5:00p. Melissa and I went shopping whilst Jacob sat at BABW with the other kiddos. Ah, Build-a-Bear! They all really enjoyed the whole experience there, but the line was ridiculous! Here is what the kiddos got:

Melissa - moose named Audry Inca
Austin - dog named Siliva
Nathan - dog named Budey
Annika - Hello Kitty named Hello Kitty (ha!)
David - bear named David

Then there was the rides! The kids totally enjoyed this part, except for Melissa who started a bad headache and felt feverish. I took her to the rooms and stayed with her until 10:00p when the mall closed. Poor Jacob had to deal with the four other kiddos, but he didn't complain too much because they all rode the rides. :)

Don't ask ... ;) you don't want to know what happened ... ;) MUAH HA HA HA ...
A, N & A, getting their hearts ready ...


Sunday
Our last day in Minneapolis was spent going to the zoo. It's been while since we've been to a zoo, so it was a nice time. The weather wasn't too hot or too cold and, being Easter Sunday, there weren't a whole lot of people there in the morning. :) We did stay there for 5 hours, though! The komodo dragon, the dolphins, the grizzly bears and the red panda were some of the highlights!

Here is a little posin' on the giant turtle ...
Ladybug! (or Ladybird, depending on where you are from ...)
A cloned cow named 'Lantz 2' ...
M, A 'n A, enjoying ice cream ...
D 'n N, taking a break ...
sharing means caring! ...
Annika was not impressed with this goat! ...the gizzlys ...
touching the starfish ... yes, Melissa knew I was walking around like this and didn't tell me ... :(I got a sunburn ... see?
All-in-all, we had a good time. It was nice to get out and visit something new, but it's also nice to come home!