Our Family: MN Vacation

We're back from our extended visit with friends and family back in Minnesota and thought it was time to sort through the pictures and tell everyone about our trip :) I know there's a ton of pictures - but we were gone for several weeks, so what do you expect?! Here goes. . . . .

The Train:
We decided to take the train this time rather than flying, and it was SO much fun! Hannah had a blast walking up and down the cars and making friends with everybody :) On Mother's Day I snuck off for a nap while Matt played with Hannah in the Sightseeing car - only to find out when I got up that he actually convinced an older gal to run around after Hannah while he played cards with her husband! Hannah spent her days on the train perfecting the art of saying "no" which she then used at night when I told her it was time to go to sleep. . . . .

Grandma and Grandpa Sower's:
After 2 nights on the train we were ready to stay in a real house! We spent the first week with Grandma Jan and Grandpa Gehry - Hannah loved the park near their house! She also found a lot of fun things to do in the house, like playing the piano, reading stories, and making a "drum" out of anything she could pound on :) And of course, she had to show everyone what a big girl she was by climbing in and out of chairs and "helping" with the dishes. . . . . . We spent one afternoon at the Twin's game and Hannah finally got her chance to cheer on her favorite team at their home field. She got a kick out of wandering around all the concessions stands and feeding us nachos :)

Como Zoo:
We took one day to get together with a bunch of college friends who live in the area. We met them at Como Zoo (a very fun place!) and had fun catching up with all of them and watching the animals (and Hannah) run around. It was great to see everyone!!!! That evening Matt and I met up with a few more friends after Hannah had gone to bed and had a fun evening of board games - my new favorite game is officially Cranium!

Grandma and Grandpa Fiecke's:
We spent the next week and a half with Grandma Cindy and Grandpa Mark. My sister Amanda brought Andrew over so that the cousins could play - Hannah is finally getting big enough for Andrew's special brand of rough and tumble play (they kept each other busy!). Hannah loved the new kittens, and they didn't really know better than to let her :) Grandpa and Andrew taught Hannah how to play basketball, and Hannah taught them her favorite game of "rip up a napkin and give it to Grandpa in small pieces" (which she also played with Grandpa Gehry). After a week it was time to say goodbye to Daddy and send him home to work :( We missed him a lot, but it was great spending a few extra days with my family! After hearing my cousin Mel talk about her boyfriend Ryan for most of the past year, I finally got to meet him! We spent a fun evening at their house and I got to visit with more friends (always a good time). We also spent a relaxing afternoon at my Aunt Pam's house with Manda and Andrew - until the sirens went off and reports started coming in about the tornadoes touching down just north of us! Luckily we just had rain, but there were a couple of towns that were devastated, and we left that evening feeling incredibly blessed.

Como Zoo:

Before we left for Washington, we had to make one more stop at the zoo :) Manda and Andrew joined us and we met up with more family - Grandparents, half-siblings, uncle, and cousins. Hannah hadn't seen most of them for about a year, so everyone was especially excited to catch up. After seeing the animals we spent some time at the carnival - Hannah was too little for the rides, but Andrew and Hunter had fun for her :)