Vacation!!!

After last minute deciding to go to Minneapolis for a few days (because it was the only week the rest of the summer that worked out!), I'm thinking we weren't there long enough. The kids did very well on the trip, and we got to do some things that Kevin has never done, either. We headed up on Tuesday, and had made hotel reservations at the Water Park of America. If you have never been there, it's worth the trip if you are a water park fan! We spent probably 10 hours in the water park, bt it sure didn't seem like that long! Kaylie spent most of the time hauling Kevin up to the 5th story to go down he double tube slides, while Jordan and I went singly. The family raft ride was a blast, but climbing 10 stories of steps really proved to me how out of shape I am! Jordan was perfectly content to do some things on his own - he liked all of the individual body slides too. A couple of years ago, he would have freaked out if we weren't just an arms length away from him. My, how times have changed. As he told us when we got home on Saturday, "that was the best 1/2 birthday party ever!" that's when we realized he turned 9-1/2 while we were up there. Worked our pretty well, I'd say!

Wednesday morning, we headed out for breakfast and just happened to run into Chris and Colin Lang in the hallway. Crazy. Chris took us back to their room and told Kaylie to walk in and say hi to "scare Sherry". It worked. She was about ready to send her out and say "you have the wrong room honey". And then Aunt Helen called and Jordan talked to her. We could tell we really threw her off, when Jordan's responses were "Huitink", and "Kevin and Kim". What are the chances? Same hotel in Minneapolis, in the hallway at the same time...

Wednesday night we headed for the Metrodome to watch the Twins play. Kevin had never been there, and Jordan is officially addicted to Foxs Sports North, so we went and watched them play to the Yankees. Got on the Light Rail at the MOA, which went really well. the kids loved the train ride. Found our seats and Jordan was just in awe. He saw Joe Mauer come out and he was zoned. The game didn't go so well, the Twins lost 4-3, but it was a really good game. AND we got to see Joe Mauer hit a home run. AWESOME!

We all marveled at the whole game experience. We sat on the first base line, upper deck and no foul balls were hit our way, but Jordan was ready with is glove on!

New baseball terms such as "Span-sandwich" are being used at our house (thanks to the guys sitting next to me at the game). The kids couldn't believe when we left the Metrodome how "windy" it was. We giggled about that for a while, until we saw the line for the train back to the MOA. Yikes! Kaylie wasn't really in the mood to stand in line at 11:00 PM and then be packed in a train like sardines for 1/2 hour. After hitting the 28th street station, she sat down on Jordan's feet and fell asleep. Too bad we had to wake her up at the next stop!

Family time is so precious. It amazes me how busy our lives are and when we just stop, take a breath, and enjoy the time together, the memories that are created are priceless!