{vacation: minnesota}

we were feeling a little guilty about going on trips without the kids so we decided our next trip was for them.  i contacted a travel agent and filled out a survey and told her i really wanted the trip to include skiing but other than that, i didn't care.  she came back with a trip to minnesota where we stayed at a great wolf lodge in bloomington, mn.  she found a ski lodge nearby and also suggested we hit up the mall of america.  it was pretty pricey because of it being the holidays (i priced the trip for a week later and it was less than half...yikes!), 

we left sunday morning and were all smiles at first.  then boredom set in and the kids were not very pleasant.  once we arrived they were much better. 

we hit the water park right away and then spent monday at gwl where we swam, played magiquest and went to the arcade.  graham and easton were big enough to do all the slides (with us).  easton liked them but graham  cried every. single. time.  he said it was scary but then he would do it again.  that boy! we spent time at the water park every day.  

kenna used some off her christmas money to get a cub pass.  she got the magic wand and played magiquest.  we actually had a lot of fun running around the hotel trying to find the things we needed once we understood what we were doing.  the cub pass also had a tub of candy, points for the arcade, and ice cream.  she thought she made a good purchase and loved getting to do the different activities. 

monday nights was nye and gwl had a huge party in the conference rooms.  they had free cake and sparkling grape juice, music/dancing, and party hats.  the boys came down for cake but then went to bed.  kenna was a party animal and wanted to stay until the ball dropped.  we had a fun time! 

on tuesday we drove to lake minnetonka where we rented an ice house and went ice fishing.  jeff, the owner of ice fishing warriors, was so hospitable and was very knowledgeable about ice fishing.  he showed us the ropes and left us to it.  unfortunately the fish weren't biting much and we only caught three fish in five hours.  then jeff came with his machine that helps locate fish and we caught several more in the last hour.  the kids were less than great during this experience because they were disappointed we weren't catching a lot of fish.  the day passed slowly since there was a lot of sitting around.  thankfully the "house" had two tvs and we could go outside and play on the ice. we were able to cook pizza and had lots of snacks to keep us energized. 

graham was so disappointed every time someone else caught a fish (see picture above).  he had the worst attitude by far of all the children.  however, once he caught some he was happy as could be. we had a fun time despite the slow fishing. 

on wednesday we went to the mall of america.  i had been there when in college but i really didn't remember too much of it.  kenna has decided she is going to move there and work at the mall.  she loved it.  the boys and john weren't really impressed. there were lots of things to entertain us while there but we really just walked around and shopped. the kids had fun spending some of their christmas money. 

thursday we went to buck lodge to ski. i did not sleep well the night before because i was so worried it would be disastrous.  i envisioned much whining, lots of tears, and frustration from everyone involved. i questioned our sanity. john assured me it would be okay.  i wasn't convinced. i wanted to put the kids in ski school but the twins were too young and john thought we could handle teaching them.  they were all so brave and just went to it.  we started out at the bunny hill but after five or six times down everyone was ready to try the next hill over.  john and i held the twins hands the first seven or eight times down, keeping their speed down and trying to teach them how to snowplow.  they finally got tired of us holding on to them and wanted to do it by themselves so we let them. they did great and only fell a couple of times. i was so proud of them.  john took the older two to some other runs (they had to ride a ski lift and did great) and they loved it.  

we only bought the early passes which was four hours of skiing. we thought that would be plenty for their first time.  they all wanted to stay longer, but john and i were pretty tired. ha! it was the best day we had while on vacation.  the kids are already begging to go skiing again.  i was so thankful for god's protection and for answering my prayers that the kids would give it their all and not give up when it seemed challenging. 

we headed home friday morning.  my mom had supper waiting for us when we arrived home.  it was so nice to come home to a home cooked meal.  we had a great time in minnesota but are thankful to be back home in our own beds.