A Group Of Stahrs

The BIG Minnesota Post

We’ve been home for almost two weeks and it’s taken me that long to edit pictures from our wonderful trip to post on the blog.  That on top of dealing with a cold I picked up from the cutest 3 1/2-year-old little boy ever.  It’s ok Fisher.  I’ll still visit you, even if you do give me the plague!  And I do need to get a cold every so often or I would think I was Wonder Woman.  So thanks for putting me back in my place! 😉

Seriously, how can you ever get mad at this sweet face… Don’t you just want to smooch on those sweet cheeks?  But I’m almost 100% and I’m going to post about our entire weekend in one post.  So sit back and enjoy the reading!

JJ’s been posting about our weekend together, saying how they really do it up right in Minnesota for friends.  I can attest that our family was happy with what we did and still had the best weekend ever!  The kids are all still talking about it and that’s saying something.

Our first adventure was Alla’s big soccer game.  It was pretty cool to see her in action…But the real excitement was after the game which was what Fisher couldn’t wait for.  Touch-A-Truck Day!  He was so excited.  He and Jacob lead the way to the trucks, chatting the whole time about all the things they were going to see and do, like old friends do.This was just a perfect outing.  The kids got to climb into all kinds of trucks and emergency vehicles and see what they are really like on the inside.  Jacob even was on the loud-speaker of the S.W.A.T. truck yelling, “Major Rock Star” like Alvin does on the Alvin and Chipmunks movie.  The kids were in heaven…

Jacob decided to beg for mercy when he was in the back of the police car…After the kids were finished checking out every.single.vehicle, we ventured over to the park to play for a little which was equally fantastic.  Our kids love checking out parks all overHowever, this one may be etched in our memories forever.  I mean, really what kind of parents encourage their children to ride down a giant tongue for fun?Apparently Minnesota parents…Ok, maybe some Colorado parents, too, but in our defense it was the only slide. 😉 After going home for lunch, we went to the local fire station for tour of the station and a ride in an actual firetruck.  No photos because I didn’t take my camera but you can check out what JJ’s take on that adventure was like here.

On another day, we got to see some of Minnesota’s beautiful Fall colors when we drove to the Mississippi River to check out the lock and dam.

I had never seen a lock and dam and, quite honestly, didn’t know what it was until we saw one in action.  It was pretty cool and the kids watched in amazement!

After watching the lock and dam in action, we walked down some rickety old steps to the river’s edge.

The kids thought that part was pretty cool too.  That was it for our out-of-the house adventures.  Now onto the around-the-house adventures…

It had to be the windiest day ever recorded in the history of the weather being recorded the day we landed in Minnesota.  Seriously, we almost didn’t land in one piece.  The plane tipped side to side making this mama ready to swear off flying forever!  But the good thing about all that wind was the fact that there were Fall leaves to be raked in the Killins’ back yard.  Leaves from area yards that they wouldn’t have had otherwise.  So the kids went to work…

Because everyone knows that a good piles of leaves means a good bit of jumping…

And then they would rake them back on to the “biggest pile ever” and do it all over again.  This is one of my favorite photos from the entire weekend.  First my two favorite boys are working together and just so darn cute doing it too…Second, Jeremiah, Mazie, and Alla are in the background finding a safe spot for a caterpillar she found while raking.  They needed to keep that little guy safe.  And third, Jamie sitting on the little riding bike is pretty funny to me.  It played a little song when you rode it and she thought that toddler toy was fantastic! But then there is this one and I can’t stop smiling looking at each child and knowing how difficult it was to even get all five to lay in the leaves for just one.  But they did it and I’m grateful I have one of all of them together…These two boys were peas in a pod the whole weekend.  They enjoyed watching Fisher’s shows, even though every other second Fisher would say, “oh this is my favorite part”.Jacob enjoyed playing with Fisher.period.  Not only because he had toys that were new to him but because Fisher was another boy.  I loved that they carried on conversations about trucks and how their little stories would play out.Then there was bedtime.  The kids got stories every night and extra kisses and hugs.

In fact, one night I was giving Jacob his kiss and hug and he said, “You hug just like the mom of this house” (meaning JJ).  I took it as a complement since JJ is the best hugger.  And then there was the time Jacob referred to Ron and JJ as the bosses of the house.  We were talking about something and he said that I had to ask “one of the two bosses of this house” because he just couldn’t remember their names right off the tip of his tongue.  But one time Alla came done the stairs and she said, “Megan, JJ would like to know if you and Jeremiah would like to have some coffee”.  Without laughing in her face, I answered her and then waited until she was out of earshot to tell Jeremiah that she had a smirk on her face the whole time like she was getting away with calling her mama “JJ” instead of “mom”!  Just some silliness from the trip I don’t want to forget.

The adults had time to catch up after the kids went to bed.  Actually it was more like while the girls were in their room messing around and have a grand ol’ time and we were listening to every single word on the monitor.  There were some silly things said at night between those three!  But they did eventually go to sleep and we did catch up.  We played games…I never won but it was fun.  I just wish I would have had the ninja card just once!

But that was basically our weekend in 32 pictures.  You should be happy I didn’t put all 200+ that I actually took!  We had just a great weekend.  But I will leave you with this last picture.  It’s how I feel that we live so far away from such great people…I call this one “Pout Pout Fisher”.  And when he was in a not-so-great mood, this is what happened.  So it was fitting to end with it.

Thanks for letting the five of us invade your house for a few days.  We love you!