I was lucky enough to get an absent day on Saturday, June 21st. It was an awesome day all around!
First, we went to Adam’s last soccer game of the Summer season. He played great! He was aggressive and even scored a goal! It was a beautiful morning…sun shining, not windy. At the end, all the kids got their trophies and posed for a team picture in the goal.

Adam and his buddy Brady. They’re goofy. 🙂

Next, we decided to head to the beach! We went to Bryant Lake. It was a bit flooded from all the crazy rain, but we still had a great time. We packed a lunch and ate at the beach. Allison loved wandering around in the water, digging in the sand, and just being cute.

Beach baby

Lunch!

She got too tired on the way home from the beach. Luckily, she went right back to sleep when I put her in her crib.

After nap, it was time for a round of disc golf! Adam has already improved so much this Summer! Once again, I carried Allison in the carrier. I love that thing! She loves waving to the cars, airplanes, and the boys.

Adam golfing

Allison and I golfing 😉

We grabbed gyros on the way home for dinner. After we ate, we played outside.

It was such a wonderful day and I really can’t think of a day that has been better in a long time. Absolutely beautiful weather, fun activities, and just an all around great day! Thanks, family! 🙂

Sorry it has taken so long to get around to this. We started watching the show ‘Scandal’ on Netflix while in Florida. Brian and I watched after Adam was in bed. We got done watching Scandal and have now moved on to ‘Breaking Bad.’ Both shows are so good and we watch several per night. Needless to say, I haven’t done the blog….

Monday, May 5th we went to Animal Kingdom. We again arrived as the park opened (8 AM). We hit a couple attractions and also the roller coaster called ‘Everest.’ It was cool! It went backward through the dark for a while at one point. We loved it!

In front of the Tree of Life at Animal Kingdom

Mickey and Minnie started making their appearance at 9, so we got in line for that right on time. After waiting only a few minutes, it was our turn:

We had a Fastpass for the Safari tour. This was pretty cool. We were on a truck that brought us through a huge area where we were able to see a ton of animals! Giraffes, lion, elephants, things I can’t pronounce….

For lunch, we had a character meal at Tusker House! It was a buffet, and we were visited by Goofy, Donald, and Daisy. Mickey was also there, but he didn’t make it to our table. We were ok missing him since we had met him in the morning.

Outside Tusker House

After lunch we had Fastpasses for Cali River Rapids (a water ride, felt great!) and Dinosaur. That one was a wee bit spooky. There were dinosaurs popping out at us in the dark. Still cool though. Adam wasn’t scared, so that’s all I worried about. 🙂

We also met Pooh and Tigger!

We met Chip & Dale!

And Rafiki!

We decided to head back to the hotel and hang out at the pool. It was a hot day, so the pool was great! We ate dinner outside and wandered the hotel grounds checking out all the different areas. Super cool!

On Tuesday, we were planning for a half day at Epcot. We spent the morning at the pool, then got changed and made our way over there. We chose an afternoon visit because I wanted to check out Coral Reef Restaurant for dinner and there were just a few rides we wanted to try.

This might be my most favorite pic from our trip!

Spaceship Earth was our first ride. That’s the one in the iconic Epcot ball. It was basically a journey through time. We hit a couple more rides on our way to our first 2 Fastpasses. (FYI, the Michael Jackson attraction, Captain EO is a half hour of your life you can’t get back. I love MJ. I do not love Captain EO.)

First, we did Turtle Talk with Crush. This was a hoot! We were all in a movie theater type setting with the kids sitting in the front on the floor. “Crush” (the turtle from Finding Nemo) came out to talk to us on the screen. It was a person behind the screen that could see us, but we obviously could not see him. This way he was able to interact with the kids, asking them questions and getting the audience involved. He chose Adam as one of the kids to talk to! I got some of it on video on my phone, so I’ll try to post the youtube link here…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYMB5VNNMJI

In typical Adam style, he clammed up and quit talking. I think he wasn’t really sure what Crush was asking him. At the end of the video is when Crush started talking to me and I quit filming.

We did the Chevy Test Track. At this attraction we let Adam design a car for us, then we rode on the test track. We were going around 60mph! Pretty fun!!!

Soarin’ was another ride we checked out. For this one, we were seated on seats that lifted up and we were shown a movie. The seats would move and turn as we were ‘Soaring’ over the different areas of California. Scents of the orange trees and pine trees were also evident. It was very cool!

We found Pluto!

Adam was pretty happy cuz Pluto was ‘the last autograph I need to get the whole Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!’

Dinner at Coral Reef was pretty cool. We got a table right next to the wall that is a ginormous aquarium. We saw a bunch of different kinds of fish, turtles, sharks, and even some scuba divers went by! We had a yummy meal and enjoyed the scenery:

We hung around and checked out the laser/fireworks show at 9 PM. We made our way back to our hotel and called it a night.

Wednesday was our day to leave. I had scheduled us one more character meal. It was a breakfast at Cape May Cafe located in Beach Club hotel. To get there, we took the bus to Hollywood Studios, then got on a boat to Beach Club hotel. Breakfast was pretty good and we got visits from Donald, Goofy, and Minnie:

It took us almost an hour to get to breakfast, so we decided to hop in a cab to get back to our hotel after breakfast. Best $9 we spent! We wanted to get to the pool for a while before we had to fly home! So we did. We lounged. Then got ready and finished packing. We left our checked bags with folks at the hotel who got them to the airport for us. We took our backpacks and carryon and hopped back on the Magic Express bus back to the airport. We had a nice flight home.

Allison was hanging with Grandma Dora and they were out walking in the cul de sac when we got home. She was pretty excited to see us, but then got tired so we tucked her in.

Thanks again to the grandparents for hanging out with our Peanut while we explored Disney! We had a great time and it was really special to just have Adam with us.

I have a TON more photos on our family photo gallery: www.aanderud.net/gallery

We spent 5 nights in Disney World and we loved it!!

We flew to Orlando on Friday morning, May 2nd. It was raining when landed and rained the rest of Friday. We made our way through the airport, grabbed some lunch, then found Disney’s Magical Express bus that would be taking us to our hotel. We were able to skip baggage claim, which was great! The Magical Express folks got our bags for us and delivered them right to our hotel room a few hours later.

We got to our hotel about 2 PM and checked in. We were staying at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. We were drawn to this place because of the amazing theming and the fact they offer suites so we could watch TV or talk after Adam was in bed. Brian and I had a separate bedroom with our own bathroom. There was a second bathroom and a kitchenette. Adam slept on the pull out sofa.  We chose to stay in a Cars themed suite. It was so cool! The bathrooms were car wash themes, and the Cars theme was carried throughout the suite so nicely! There were several sections to the hotel: Cars, Finding Nemo, Little Mermaid, and Lion King. We spent an evening just walking around the hotel checking out the different areas.

Ok, so the first afternoon/evening it was raining. We hung out in the room and got unpacked. Then we made our way to Downtown Disney where we had a dinner reservation at T-Rex Restaurant. It was a pretty cool place! We also checked out the Lego store. Amazing! If it wouldn’t have been raining, we would have probably checked out a bit more of Downtown Disney. We could have sat and watched the water while having a drink or some ice cream. Oh well, next time! 🙂

The boys and Lego Hulk

Bar area at T-Rex

T-Rex

Made of Legos!

Buzz & Woody made of Legos

Saturday was our first scheduled park day! It was still raining. We were scheduled to go to Hollywood Studios. We got there pretty early and hit a couple rides. We also tried to get Adam signed up for the Jedi Academy, but he was not interested! I think if we would have prepped him a little more for it, he would have been on board.

Lunch was at Hollywood and Vine. I chose this place because it was a character dining experience with Disney Junior characters. It’s never known for sure who will be there on which days. We totally lucked out! We met Jake from ‘Jake and the Neverland Pirates,’ Doc McStuffins, Princess Sofia, and Handy Manny! Adam had his autograph book and got all their signatures!

After lunch, the rain had stopped. We decided to check out the Indiana Jones stage show. Poor Adam was a little spooked by it. There was shooting and such, and he didn’t realize it was all fake. He was concerned the people were actually being hurt. We then used our Fastpass for “Lights, Motor, Action!” stunt show! This was very cool!  Cars, motorcycles, etc racing around an outdoor stage. Going over ramps, backwards, sideways…so cool! One of my first favorite moments was when Lightning McQueen made a surprise appearance out of a semi trailer. Adam gasped and his mouth dropped open with amazement! “Lightning…..”

After the show it was starting to rain again and we were ready to head back to the hotel. We had some dinner there and also decided to hop into the pool for a swim. Why not? We were gonna get wet anyways…

Sunday was our day at Magic Kingdom! The weather was gorgeous! Sunny and warm. We got to the park before it opened and we were able to see the rope drop ceremony. So fun! Mickey and Friends came in on the train and opened the park for the day.

Rope Drop

Since we were there so early, we were able to hit a bunch of rides before there were any lines. We went on Dumbo, Barnstormer (twice), and the tea cups. Then used our Fastpass for Space Mountain. This is a rollercoaster in complete darkness. It totally freaked me out a kid and I was nervous Adam would have the same reaction. However, he marched outta there and proclaimed, “That was so awesome!” Whew..

We had lunch at Be Our Guest restaurant. It was a Beauty and the Beast themed lunch. Food was ok. Atmosphere was very cool!

Our lunch magically arrived on this cart!

Music box

Wilting rose in the West Wing room

The gray stuff!

We had a couple more Fastpasses to use after lunch. One of them was Splash Mountain. Love our photo that was taken on the ride:

We met Donald & Goofy, went on more rides, and watched a stage show at Cinderella’s Castle. The show was sweet. Loved the dancing and it had all the characters. Growing up, I was just sure I wanted to be one of the Disney World dancers. 🙂 Adam loved the show! Another of my favorite moments was watching him watch the show. He was totally into it!  We then made our way back to our hotel for dinner and swimming.

Outside Cinderella’s Castle

In front of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We had a Fastpass for this one, too! Fun!!

I’m gonna take a break. It looks like the Disney post is gonna be pretty long! So we’ll call this Part 1! G’night!

Our bags are mostly packed. There is so much excitement in our house! Brian and I are taking Adam to Disney World!!

We’ve talked about doing this trip for a while, so finally decided to do it! Adam is 6 and at the perfect age to experience the magic and fun of this wonderful place!

I went to Disney World a couple times growing up. My boys have never been. I had no idea Disney is such a planning project! We decided to stay on site at Disney’s Art of Animation Resort. This place looked like the perfect “in-your-face-Disney” experience! A ‘Cars’ themed family suite will be our domain for our 5 night adventure. We will have 2 rooms and 2 bathrooms. Sounds perfect! We decided to go for the dining plan. We will also have ‘Magic bands.’ Our band will be our room key, credit card, dining admission, and fast pass reservation admission. Sounds cool!

I have been doing a bunch of reading on what do to and see at the parks. We are typically people who like to just go with the flow and do what sounds fun at the time. I didn’t want to plan too much, but I also wanted to be sure the boys have a fun time. I made us several meal reservations..some with characters, some with cool surroundings. I have also reserved fastpass rides at each park.

We’re as ready as I want us to be. Not too overly planned, but going in with a decent amount of info. It’s Wednesday night. Our flight leaves Friday morning, May 2nd. We are mostly packed. Just a few odds and ends to go. Laundry. Target. We’re ready!

Did I mention Allison is staying home?! Yep, she is. The grandparents are taking turns coming to hang with her. It will be more fun and more special for Adam to not have a 1 year old with us. 🙂

Stay tuned for a post vacation update….

Once again, I couldn’t pass up a good deal to our favorite Cancun getaway spot! So Brian and I flew down Thursday the 13th of March. We landed just before 10 AM. Serious record speed through customs/immigration and baggage claim. We found our transfer shuttle and we were off to our hotel! It was raining when our plane landed, but by the time we got to the hotel, the sun was coming out!

We grabbed a spot on the beach, some lunch and some beers and we were officially on vacation!

The rest of Thursday and all of Friday was spent on the beach. Saturday, we went snorkeling in the morning. We took the ferry over to Isla Mujeres.  Brian had prebooked a private snorkel trip for us. This was the way to go! It was just Brian and I along with the boat driver and the tour guide. We stopped at 3 different spots to do some snorkeling. We saw some beautiful fish, eels, lobsters, and 2 huge turtles! It was so cool being on the small private tour. We didn’t have to wait for everyone to get off and on the boat. Plus, the guide pretty much held my hand the whole way and was pointing out all the cool scenery to us.

After snorkeling, it was back to the beach. That is where we spent the rest of Saturday and all of Sunday. I had a wonderful massage on the beach on Sunday!

We were to go home Monday late afternoon. We sat on the beach a couple more hours. We had to check out by noon, but planned to sit by the pool until our shuttle came to pick us up to go back to the airport. Rain started moving in. We spent the last hour or so in the lobby and out of the rain. It was an absolute downpour on the way to the airport. We arrived a little over 2 hours before our flight was scheduled to take off. In the past, the check-in lines have been ridiculous, so we were ready for the worst lines ever. We were surprised to see there was zero line at the Delta counter and a similar situation at security! Our flight was delayed a bit, so we just hung out. More surprises: we were called up to the counter at our gate and were informed we were being upgraded to first class for the flight home! Fun! We had super comfy seats on the plane, full dinner (although we weren’t hungry cuz we had grabbed a sandwich in the airport cuz we weren’t expecting dinner on the plane), drinks and wonderful service. Brian napped. I read. Great flight.

Another quick trip through US customs/immigration/baggage and we were on our way home. It was so nice to sleep in our own bed and know that the kiddos were there and we’d see them in the morning (it was midnight-ish when we got home).

Overall, it was a great weekend! We had some laughs. beers, sun, naps, good eats, and just some time to reconnect as a couple. We were ready to get home to our kiddos and bed. 🙂

A few photos:

Flying over Cancun

Outside the hotel

This is Miguel! He brought us lots of beers, limes, and lunches.

Dinner date at Hacienda Sisal

Gorgeous view off our balcony!

Amazing beach! Huge with soft white sand and calm, clear blue water! Love it!

On February 25th, Allison turned 1! I have no idea how those 12 months went by so quickly, but they did!! She has zero interest in walking, but crawls around at crazy speed! She loves her brother to pieces and is so entertained by him. When any of us enter the room, she lights up and claps! She is a great sleeper, loves to be out for walks in the stroller or the carrier (when the weather lets us!), and eats like no one has remembered to feed her in several days!

To celebrate, we had a small party a couple days before her birthday. It was us, the grandparents and 3 of her cousins. I made her smash cake and the cake we all ate. We had brunch and it was all delish. She opened many gifts. Thank you so much to friends and family who thought of our girl and sent her gifts! She is a lucky lady!

A few pics from her party:

Allison's party dress!

Birthday cake!

Opening presents and being adorable.

Cake!

She knew what to do with her cake!

This was the smash cake I made....It did not turn out how I was hoping. My frosting wouldn't spread.

I took Allison in for her 1 year photo shoot. The pictures turned out so great!! She was in a good mood and the photographer worked with her so well! Here are a few…I am posting a bunch of the collage ones just cuz then you can see more of the pics!

So sweet. One of my faves.

I'm ONE!

I escaped to Vegas for a couple nights to hang out with my friend, Becca and to catch a couple concerts! I flew out Friday morning, January 31st. My plane landed a little after 9. Becca was driving up from Phoenix and she picked me up at the airport a short time later! We found our hotel, Planet Hollywood, checked in, then hit the strip to find some lunch!

Our first meal was at Fatburger. It was delish! We spent the day wandering the strip. We checked out M&M world. The wall of M&Ms was pretty cool!

We wandered though a few more hotels and grabbed a couple beers while we walked. We chilled in the hotel room for a little bit, then it was time to get ready for PINK!!!

Becca and I in our outfits for the P!nk concert! So excited!

We had dinner outside at Cabo Wabo. It’s a place with Mexican food right outside Planet Hollywood. The Strip was our view and it was so fun!

We made our way to MGM for the concert and had a couple gigantic beers. 🙂 Hey, we were in Vegas! no husbands, no kids, no driving!

Showtime!!

P!nk was singing "Raise Your Glass" so we raised ours! So fun!

"Try." I took this picture at each concert. Amazeballs.

Dancing!

Hi, P!nk! She landed right in front of us during "So What"

This was my 3rd time seeing P!nk’s concert. And she did not disappoint! Becca and I were having a blast singing and dancing along with P!nk. The crabby lady next to me was not having fun. About 2/3 the way through the concert, she decided she had had enough of me having fun! I was sitting down during a couple of P!nk’s slower songs, but was still singing along. Apparently, crabby lady did not enjoy that. Out of nowhere she turns to me and starts SCREAMING at me:

“I came here to hear HER sing, not you!” (While shaking her finger in my face)

Me: mouth drops open

Her: “I’ve tolerated you long enough! You STOP singing!”

Me: “I’m not even singing that loudly!”

Her: “I can hear you! Stop it!” (She continues to glare at me….)

Me: singing along, but very quietly…

Her: “I told you to STOP it!” (finger shaking again)

Me: “I’m barely singing!”

Her: “Stop it!”

Me: now just mouthing the words of the song, no sound coming out…

Her: “Stop it!”

I always think of great responses after a situation has occurred. I was so shocked this was happening that I didn’t really respond. I was also scared she was going to slap me because she was SO angry. I’ve never had an encounter like this! Needless to say, it took the wind out of my sails a bit. But Becca and I enjoyed the rest of the show and sang and danced more.  Love ya, P!nk!

The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel. It was pretty tasty! and very filling. We did more wandering of the Strip. We were excited for the Shania Twain concert at Caesar’s that night. However, when we were back in the room chilling for a bit, I checked my email on my phone only to discover that her show had been CANCELED for that night! What?! We were SO disappointed! We thought about trying to get tickets for a different show that night, but nothing else was sounding interesting to us. We had been looking forward to this for weeks! We went to Caesar’s just to be sure it was actually canceled:

Sadness. No Shania show for us. 🙁

That evening, I decided I was still going to put on my Shania outfit!

My Shania ensemble! Thanks to McKenzie at Maurice's for playing dress up with me to get me ready for these concerts! 🙂

We grabbed some dinner at Paris hotel. Then we wandered through the mall attached to Planet Hollywood. We walked by the Britney Spears theater just as her show was getting ready to start. Awesome people watching!

We had a great fountain view room at Planet Hollywood. Becca and I really love the fountains, so it was cool to be able to have such a cool view

We woke up early Sunday morning and Becca took me to the airport and she headed back to Phoenix. We both made it home in time to watch the Superbowl with our families.

Thanks, Becca for a fun weekend!

Tuesday night, I went to the Pink concert! I saw her back in March when Allison was only a couple weeks old. (If there were any bonuses to her being born early, that was one. The March concert was the night before my scheduled due date and I was not planning to go!)

Anyway, it was awesome!! She is my favorite singer/performer. She’s real. She’s talented. She’s just amazing! Her show is jaw dropping. She does incredible aerials and keeps singing! During the slower songs she showcased her awesome voice even more. She interacted with the audience a lot, signing autographs and saying hello. She seems genuinely grateful for her fans. I love that! A few photos:

My dinner dates: Shannon, Amanda, & Katie. We had dinner on our way to the concert

Sat with these ladies at the concert: Dayna, Amanda, & Michele; We had a couple drinkies before the show

 P!nk! During the song, "Walk of Shame"

Greeting fans and signing autographs..and still singing!

Yup, she's amazing! Still singing!

Hanging and spinning during "Sober." Yup, still singing!

Playing piano. She didn't do this in March! So cool!

Great song! "Perfect."

During the song "So What" she flew ALL OVER the arena! She got lifted up to the ceiling and dropped; she swooped. So awesome!

Yes, Pink is my favorite! Shania Twain is my second favorite! Completely different artists, but I love them both so much! I went to see Shania in Vegas in December of 2012 when I was pregnant with Allison. I went with my friend Allyson. Loved Shania’s show and was hoping to get back to see it again some day! Sooo….Pink added a show in Vegas the end of January, and Shania happens to be having a show the same weekend, so I’m going back! Wahoo!! Pink is one night and Shania is the next.I’m meeting my buddy Becca (who lives in Phoenix) for the weekend. We’re gonna wander, enjoy some drinks, enjoy some shows, and enjoy hanging out together for a couple days! Can’t wait to see her!!

We have had an amazing couple of weeks! Brian’s company shuts down between Christmas and New Year’s. I was only scheduled a few shifts. So we have had lots of time to hang out! The boys have gotten in some fishing.

Christmas Eve we hung out at home in the morning, then we went to Dora & Fred’s for a yummy dinner. My parents were there as well. Gifts were opened. Kids played. It was wonderful!

Kiddos at home in their Christmas Eve attire

We drove home in snow. A bit slow going, but we made it safe and sound. Then Adam had to get ready for Santa to come! He got a plate of snacks all ready, then cleared off the fireplace so Santa could make it out of the chimney. He decided on the perfect spot to put the snack so Santa would see it, then we made sure the path to tree was clear of toys. It was so cute!

Snack for Santa

Fireplace is cleared of toys and the doors are open. C'mon in Santa!

Christmas morning Brian and I woke up and we were wondering why Adam wasn’t up yet. Finally, he came into our room and gave us the report: “Santa came! He ate his snack, filled the stockings, and put presents under the tree!” Clearly he had been up for a while. 🙂

We opened presents and had some breakfast. Such a nice family morning. Then we packed up and headed out to my parents’ house. We hung out with my parents, Brian’s mom & Fred, and a couple of my uncles. Another nice day!

I was supposed to work the next morning, but luckily, they were overstaffed and I was able to have the day off! I decided to hit the grocery store, because my brother and his family were coming up from Omaha on Friday to stay with us for the weekend and my parents would be coming too. They ended up coming Thursday night which was great!!

So on Friday the Omaha Tracys and us Aanderuds moseyed over to the Mall of America! We did some shopping, perusing, lunching, and rode rides at Nickelodeon Universe. Allison was awesome! She rode in the stroller part of the time and I carried her in the carrier part of the time. She had so much fun that she barely napped all day. Adam rode on some rollercoasters and had a blast with his cousins.

We got home and said hello to my parents, then had tacos for dinner. Pretty cool meal to make for 11 people! We opened presents and chatted the evening away. The kids entertained themselves by playing the Kinect.

Tracy Grandkids: Ashley, Lauren, Taylor, Adam, & Allison

Saturday was a beautiful day! We walked over to Staring Lake Park for some sledding! The kids had such a ball! I don’t know how many times they went down the hill, but they kept on smiling.  After sledding, Brian ran home to grab the snowmobile and took the kids on rides. Emilie and I each took it for a spin too! It’s pretty fun!

Adam & Taylor!

I threw together a couple pans of lasagna for dinner, then after dinner we decided to go bowling! So much fun! And my dad is so good at bowling! Who knew?! This was Adam’s first try at real bowling and he loved it!

Adam. Good form!

My dad. Who knew?!

My brother and I.

Sunday we got up and went to the Pancake House for breakfast. Yummy as usual! The Tracys then packed up and hit the road back to Omaha. It was such a nice weekend with them and I can’t wait to get together again! 🙂

We spent New Year’s Eve at home. We’re getting old. And let’s face it, it’s nice to be home with the family and it’s safer. 😉

I decided we should do fondue for dinner. We did chicken and steak for dinner. It was delicious! Then we did pound cake and strawberries in chocolate fondue! Also way yummy!

Adam thought fondue was pretty cool!

Chocolate fondue with strawberries and pound cake. SO GOOD!

Cheers to 2014!

After the kids were in bed, Brian and I played some games and managed to stay awake long enough to ring in the New Year! Happy 2014!

We went out for dinner and more bowling with our good friends, Steve & Allyson on New Year’s Day. It’s always nice to see them. And they’re having TWINS this year!!

Brian was scheduled to head back to work on January 2nd, but it was his birthday! So he took another day off. During the day I made him his birthday cake. It turned out pretty well! We went to Wildfire for his birthday dinner. Delicious as always!

Brian's cake. No frills. Just lots of frosting. 🙂

Now it is the night of January 6th, Monday. Adam was supposed to head back to school today, but the governor cancelled school for the whole state today cuz it’s so freakin’ cold! We received word this afternoon that Eden Prairie has canceled school again for tomorrow because it is supposed to continue being so freakin’ cold! Adam is pretty disappointed. He has been looking forward to going back since last week. Oh well. Here’s hoping for Wednesday!

I am heading to the Pink concert tomorrow night and I am SO excited! She is my favorite! I saw her in March and it was incredible! Can’t wait to see her again. I’m sure she’ll have some opinions about the ridiculous cold we are having. 😉

Hope everyone has had a lovely holiday season! Stay warm!

Adam’s 6th (what?!?! how did that happen??) birthday party was a success! He invited 6 of his friends to Jump & Jam in Chanhassen. It’s a trampoline park and there is also laser tag. The kids all had a blast, and I loved the ease of showing up somewhere and having the kids entertained! I also made Adam’s cake. And not to to toot my own horn, but it was pretty dang tasty! Best cake I’ve made! One of the other moms even asked if I make cakes for others.

Adam's soccer cake I made. Deeeelicious!

Singing Happy Birthday!

We had photos taken as well. I mostly wanted shots of the kids, then Brian and I sat in for a couple as well. We have cute kids. 🙂

Allison. 9 months

Adam. 6 years.

Our 2 amazing kiddos!

The whole crew

Thanksgiving was great, of course! I had the day off, so we got to hang out with the family before our delicious meal. Allison thought it was fantastic (so did the rest of us!). She learned to eat table food just in time.

Allison loved her Thanksgiving meal

I feel like December crept up on us! With our new house came a living room with 10 foot ceilings! Even before we bought the house, Brian said, “We could get a pretty tall Christmas tree!” So we did. We also didn’t sacrifice the fatness that we always want. Here’s what we came up with! It’s tall, full, and lovely!

Our gorgeous tree. That's what 2300 lights looks like on a 10 ft tree!

All decorated! Tried out the red ornaments for some color. Loving it!

Our loves.

Christmas is only a couple weeks away! We need to get crackin’ on our shopping! I am so lucky because it is my year to work Christmas, but one of my wonderful co-workers has agreed to work for me so I can hang out with the kiddos and the family! Enjoy your holiday!

I can’t resist one more picture of our kiddos 😉