Minnesota Vacation!!

I had already been to Minnesota four times since March.  What's one more trip?!

We decided to drive this time, since four plane tickets can get spendy.  And since we had expected to live there by this time, we weren't able to buy plane tickets in advance, which makes them even more expensive.

So we drove.

Through Yellowstone.

 The boys watched DVDs (this was only our third time using the DVD player since buying our van a year ago).  This was how they looked through the snow monster scene in Frozen.

 Once we got to my hometown, we took pictures with Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox.  Classic.

Russell picked Babe's nose while simultaneously picking his own nose.  Also classic.

 My little lumberjack and my little ox.

 Nana's farm is the best.  

Granddad's farm is also the best.  This is my favorite view!

We did some exploring.

Some tree climbing.

And some feet-kicking in the lake.

 We went to the county fair, which was the reason for our visit (all of my siblings came home for the fair this year, so we certainly couldn't miss it!).

 I even brought a jar of homemade apple butter that I canned last fall from the apples on our Utah trees.  I entered it in the fair, and I got second place!  I expect my $2 prize check to arrive any day.  ;)

 Russ was sick the whole time with a fever up to 103 and a horrible cough.  He didn't eat or drink well and lost over a pound.  Other than lamenting "I don't like to be sick" when he would have a coughing fit, and needing lots of snuggles from Mommy, he was still a happy boy and a great sport.

 The highlight of the trip for me was when Caleb rode my horse Hank in the Judy Pittman Memorial Tiny Tots Show.  Judy was a great mentor to me in my 4-H days and I miss her dearly.  It was so special to me to see my son riding the horse that I showed so competitively in my youth at a show devoted to her memory at our old stomping grounds.  Once upon a time, Hank and I owned this place.  I miss those days!

 And Caleb and Hank did so well!  They got 1st place in horsemanship and key race, 2nd place in trail, 3rd in pole weaving, and 6th in barrels.  They were just one or two points away from winning a giant trophy!

 We took family pictures.  These are all of the cousins!  

This was them the last time they were all together!!

 And we took pictures of all of my siblings, their spouses, their children, and my parents.  (This picture has my dad missing, but believe me, we got some with him, too!)  The only one missing is my Grandma, and she lives in Missouri.  Seriously, can you believe we got a shot like this with everyone looking?  It was a miracle.

And in Minnesota, you drive tractors.

 See?

I can honestly say that every minute of this trip was enjoyable.  You wouldn't think that a 20-hour car ride with a 2- and 4-year-old could go smoothly, but it truly did!  The whole trip was blissful.  We made so many great memories.  I love my family!

Circus!

We scored a couple of tickets for free kids' admission to the circus, so we decided to go!  I've never been (neither have our kids), so we were so excited!  I had NO idea that they had elephant and camel rides beforehand!  :o  Riding an elephant was on my bucket list!  Whoa!  Check that one off!!!!!!

It was amazing!  I was surprised how hard the elephant's back was (not a lot of padding to sit on).  I'm very into horseback riding, which requires you to move your hips with each step the horse takes.  It was interesting to try to adjust to the huge stride of the elephant.  Her name was Ellie, and she was beautiful!

We all took a ride (except Nate...he wasn't keen on being that high up, and besides, someone needed to take pictures!).

Then Caleb got a chance to ride a camel.  Their camel was pretty small, so they wouldn't allow adults on.  Darn.  And Russell wouldn't go unless I was holding him, so Caleb rode alone:

He later said, "It was pretty boring riding the camel."

And in case that wasn't enough of a splurge, we let the boys get their faces painted!  After all, we were using the money Nana sent for Christmas presents.  Caleb chose spiderman:

And Russ chose a very fierce tiger:

While we were waiting in line, someone behind us looked at Russ and said, "Oh my!  A very scary tiger!"  So Russ said, "Rawr!" in a quiet yet fierce voice.  It was pretty much the cutest thing ever.  He also pointed at the tigers' cages and said, "Tigers get out, uh-uh!"  (As in, 'those tigers had better not get out!')  Then, about a week later, Russell woke up screaming hysterically in the middle of his nap saying, "Scared.  Spiderman.  In my bed."  He had had a nightmare that Spiderman was in his bed, and it scared him.  Aww!  Sweet little boy was having nightmares of his brother's face.  ;)

As for the actual show, Caleb was slightly obsessed with the ladies doing tricks on the silks hanging from the rafters.  He had a major meltdown when we wouldn't let him climb up them, too.  He was in awe.  I think Russell's favorite part was the motorcycle going off of the ramp.

We went with our BFFs, too, which made it all the more fun.  I think it'll rank up there as one of the best days of my boys' lives (for now).  It was pretty magical.  They're still talking about it two weeks later.

Minnesota: Nana's House

We spent a glorious 11 days in Minnesota, visiting family and friends and seeing the sights.

First stop: Nana's house.

We stayed with my mom, on her little farm, and the boys just loved it!

Nana had tons of little chicks for the boys to admire:

Some beautiful horses, who are smart and like to help each other get the horse flies off.  There is no shortage of bugs in Minnesota!:

A beautiful horse who can outshine the sun:

A cousin who is only three months older than Caleb and shares his love for all things with wheels:

A sweet little newborn cousin who Russell absolutely fell in love with (me too!):

Ahh.  Nothing better than holding a sleeping newborn:

Nana is brave to let three little boys eat watermelon on her couch!:

Russell is working on his not-so-flattering-photo-skills while playing the piano:

He also must select the right piece to play:

And play it perfectly:

Nana got this rooster while we were visiting (since the neighborhood fox got her other ones!).  Russell was absolutely crazy about the chickens, so Nana let him name him:  Bok.  Because, naturally, Russell would enthusiastically shout "bok, bok, bok!" every time he saw a chicken.  So we lengthened it to Bok Choy, because that's what we had in our stir fry for dinner that night.  ;)  But Mr. Bok Choy the Rooster won't be going in Nana's dinner.  He's much too pretty:

And much too friendly: