This is going to be a long one, folks. One of those filled with ...and then....and then....
Because we were super busy over the Labor Day Weekend. As usual, any time we have TIME, we drive to see family. We drove out Friday morning and got to town in time for dinner at our favorite pizza place. Grandpa Heidt met up there - it is so nice our families work together so well. It can be tricky to get to see everyone in the short visit time span. Sometime I feel like we are just checking people off the list and not enjoying our visiting time....not good.
After dinner, we went downtown where there was some Irish bands performing and met up with my Aunt Kaye (can you hear it? check, check) and Scott. We were so happy to meet more of his family! The kids enjoyed the music and dancing, but it soon became clear we were on the end of the "good behavior" train.
Saturday morning we ran out with John's dad to spend a little more time with him. Jim and Kendra plus their family arrived about lunch time - which the kids LOVED. They are so in awe of their older cousins. To their credit, these older cousins are the kind you want your kids to idolize - so sweet and great examples (not to mention smart AND good looking)!
However, we had more plans, so we had to be on our way. Saturday afternoon, we went to the "Great Minnesota Get Together" in St Paul. John and I used to live just minutes from the fairgrounds (about 2 miles), and went to the fair on several occasions. Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Megan (with Andrew and Andy) met up to go to the fair for one really big reason: Uncle Mike was there*! John and I were looking forward to seeing the fair with the kids for the first time and looking at the area where we used to live. And seeing my brother and his fiance.
William and his bud, Andy rode together on the bus to the fair - they were SO EXCITED. At one point William screamed: Andy LOOK!
Andy: WHAT?!?!
William: PEOPLE WALKING ON THE SIDEWALK!
Ordinary things become extraordinary when you're going to the FAIR.
The fair entrance. This was the last weekend AND a holiday weekend, so it was busy.
Very, very busy
At this point, we had the "lost"talk. As in, don't do it. Stay by me ALWAYS.
Half the fun of the fair is the food. Like hotdish on a stick as you'll see above and the deep fried banana split. I did not try these.
And here: Mashed potatoes on a stick. How does that work? I have no idea.
A major highlight? Finding Princess Jemmy and riding (read:sitting) on her horse. This is William riding (sitting) bareback on Pokey. Pokey was GREAT.
Amelia took her turn. She liked it very much except when Pokey leaned in to give her a smell (or something). Then she was not impressed.
William again
William and Amelia together. Mike and Jemmy together.
In reality, Jemmy was there to show her horses at events. So, we got out of her hair and Mike took us to see some of the sights. We saw baby chicks hatching, baby pigs feeding (missed the exhibit where they were being born, darn!), baby geese, cows, lambs, and horses. It was SO crowded, we didn't spend a great deal of time admiring the baby animals.
Then it was time for some horse viewing. Before the show, the tractor zamboni evened things out.
Here is Jemmy riding. We didn't have great seats and had no idea what we were looking for, but we thought she looked AWESOME (once we figured out which one she was). GO JEMMY!
While enjoying the horse arena (a place I did not know existed before this trip), we went all out a tried some pizza on a stick. Basically, it was a giant mozzarella stick with breading dipped in pizza sauce. Cold pizza sauce. Because we carried it half way across the fair before we sat down to eat it. Am I glad we tried it? 100% yes. Would I eat it again? 90% no.
Thankfully, John and I had a few extra sets of hands to help us keep track of kids. We also brought a stroller and baby backpack. Sadly, Grandpa's shoulders got more use than they did.
William really wanted to go on a ride. I really didn't want to pay $50 for 3 rides. So, we compromised on the giant slide. $6 for the two of us and William was thrilled! We went right as it was time to leave, so it was hard to get a picture. I'm pretty sure this is us at the top of the slide with William on my lap.
Sunday morning came bright and early for our two. We helped ourselves to an embarrassing number of waffles at the complimentary breakfast before hitting up the pool/waterslide at our hotel. Grandma and Grandpa joined us soon after we got there followed by Megan, Andrew and Andy. The water was FREEZING. Like pool water in early June in Minnesota. But, the kids played some and went on the waterslide a lot. Even Amelia (with an adult). Soon, it was time to pack up and go because....we had more plans, of course.
We rolled back into Rochester just in time for lunch with John's family. We got to spend more time with the cousins at Grandpa Heidt's house before we got to go visit Alex and Elena at their house! We rode bikes, mopped (? seriously, the kids mopped for an hour), and took a ride on the paddleboat. And then? Then we packed up to talk a walk at a nearby nature preserve. The cousins ran and played and picked up sticks and...hung out. It was great! And then we sat down at a giant table and had dinner together. And then we played. and played and played and played. And tried to figure out why it doesn't happen more often. Thank goodness the kids and Daddy both slept on the way back from St Paul because we ran a LOT! (and we weren't done!)
Monday morning we were supposed to go home, but not before we made one more special stop. We were so lucky to meet up with Jessica and her family! They were having some family time, but made time for a quick breakfast with us so we could meet the newest member of their family: Baby Hank!
We gave Hank his quilt
And oohed and ahhed all over his cuteness. William couldn't get over how TINY he was!
Amelia even got a turn to hold him (with MUCH support, not to worry!)
So excited!
William and Amelia, meet Hank
And finally, Mama got some snuggle time in. Much awaited snuggle time for such a baby hog as myself. You can see here, William is a baby hog in training because he did not leave my side once while I was holding the baby. He also was a star back patter and loved gently patting the baby.
You'd think it would be time to go home, but no. My mom and I had some all important shopping to do and the kids got to spend more time with Grandpa Heidt. Then, and only then did we go home. Tired, exhausted and happy.
*Uncle Mike flew in for the weekend to see his fiance, Jenny. Jenny was showing horses at the fair with her family for the weekend. Therefore, if we wanted to see Mike, we were going to have to go to the fair.
