Visitors in Minnesota!

After a long winter, we finally have visitors! Rob's family came into town on Friday, the 25th. We were so excited to have them come visit Minneapolis and see where we live. Not many people make it up to our neck-of-the-woods! Aaron and Teresa (they left Corinne and Landon at home with Teresa's mom) flew in a few hours earlier than the rest of the gang so we headed on bikes to Lake Calhoun. We played in the sand, water, and at the park. We then rode back to our house to wait for the rest of the gang to arrive. Evan wanted to ride in the bike seat on the back of Aaron's bike (a bike we borrowed from some friends) instead of in the bike trailer behind Rob's bike. Aaron felt very loved!Unfortunately their plane was late leaving Denver, where they had a layover, so they came in a bit later than expected. Brenda and Vardell have the worst luck when it comes to flying. I swear every time they fly something happens whether it be a late take-off, an expired license, or wrong information. Once everyone else arrived - Vardell, Brenda, Stephanie, Brian, Whitney, Taylor, Jenny, and Eric - we headed back to Lake Calhoun, in cars this time, for some good seafood! We ate at The Tin Fish, which overlooks the lake. Evan decided that after he ate his hot dog he would dig into his whole bun!We had fabulous food and good conversation. Everyone commented on how good their food was. Maybe they were just starving after having to wait on the airplane! No really, The Tin Fish is one of our favorite restaurants here in Minneapolis.Too bad by the time we were done eating it was getting dark so we didn't have anytime to play at the beach.

Saturday we went to Mall of America. Who visits Minnesota without checking our the most famous tourist attraction? We ate lunch, shopped (clothes are tax free here!), and rode some rides. Here we just realized that Aaron, Teresa, Jen, and Eric we eating a few yards from us. We thought they were in the other food court. Oh well, there are too many of us to keep track of.

Though Vardell did capture a picture of all of us except Aaron and Teresa who had already headed out shopping - those shop-a-maniacs!I think Brian and Rob were just as entertained on the Little Shaver as Whit and Evan were! Wait where is Evan?Daring Whitney with arms up and all! Rob and Evan are directly behind her.The boys rode the train with Grandpa Vardell and had a great time just sitting in this car (I didn't have any quarters to make it move!). Evan keeps talking about how he rode the train with Grandpa Vardell.That night we went to the Twins vs Bluejays baseball game at the Metrodome. Most of the crew had never been to a Major League Baseball game so this was a fun experience for all. We sat in homerun porch and got free pizza and drinks with our great 7th row seats! The spectators:

Teresa & Aaron

Jenny & EricGrandma, Taylor, & Grandpa (and Whitney, not sure where she was at the moment, she switched seats and laps often!)Mandy, Evan, & RobStephanie & Brian Oh, there's Whitney amongst the Bluejay fans who were very loud and obnoxious at times. They got all sorts of things thrown at them, mostly pizza boxes. Poor Brenda and Vardell who had to sit right behind them and got hit with one of the many items thrown.

The Metrodome field. It is a little strange being inside watching a baseball game but a plus when it is raining or really hot & humid!Evan loved having his own seat and all the good food & treats.Evan loves playing with Rob's sunglasses and looks so cute doing so. There was a lot of excitement and cheering at the game. We had such a fun time even though the game went into 13 innings and the Twins ended up losing 8-9.