The Minnesota Zoo

Disaster waiting to happen

Seriously I think I am a disaster waiting to happen. I am not sure that I am having adventures anymore I think I am just trouble.

First of all here is how my day ended.





So it ended really well but this is how it started.

I took Holly and Sam to playgroup at Pearl Park. I forgot that there would be swimming at the playgroup so my kids just played on the playground. It was o.k. but the pool was close by and we were really hot.

Anyway while watching and helping the kids I noticed that my keys were not in my pocket. I searched the playground and could not find them anywhere. So I called Rob and got the phone number for a locksmith. While I waited I searched the playground again. My keys had to be in the car. I was thinking the trunk. Thirty minutes later the locksmith came and opened my car but my keys were not there. The locksmith arranged for someone to come and rekey my car. I was so sick and frustrated. Fortunately there were other moms from the playgroup watching my kids. I walked the sidewalk looking to see if I dropped my keys anywhere and then searched the car again.

Walking back to the playground one of the other moms in the playgroup called my name and jingled my keys. Someone else at the playground had found them and overheard that I was looking for them.

Hooray! I was relieved but a little bit annoyed. Can I not leave the house without something traumatic happening?

To celebrate we went home got our suits on and went swimming.

Lake Superior

Como, our third adventure.

There is a fabulous deal here that has just made my summer easier. Well kind of.

Yesterday Holly, Sam, and I went to Como Zoo and Conservatory in St. Paul. It is a zoo with a fairly decent collection of animals and best of all it is free! They do ask for a donation at the door but won't refuse you if you don't donate. The donation is a screaming deal anyway. $2.00 for adults $1.00 for kids. Can't beat a $4.00 outing.

So I always have something to fall back on when the kids and I are bored. The only problem is getting there and back. St. Paul is not that far away but the freeway system here is challenging and my sense of direction is non-existent.

Yesterday I set off with a vague sense of how to get there. We got on the freeway and headed to St. Paul but there was not an exit for St. Paul specifically. I had to back track and then head through Minneapolis. I got on the right freeway in Minneapolis. I even got off at the correct exit but that is where my vague sense of how to get there ended. I was hoping for signs that pointed the direction but after the freeway exit there was not any indication of Como's existence.

I looked up the directions before I left but could only remember a few instructions. I remembered it said something about turning left at the first street. I did that and drove around for a while until I was satisfied that Como was not there. So I decided to try again except turn right. I didn't check out the street I was turning on though and turned onto an off ramp going the wrong way. Several Minnesota drivers hate Utah now.

Finally I decided not to turn. About an hour after we started I found Como.

We saw all of the animals. My favorite was the butterfly house. It puts Hogle zoo's butterfly house to shame. This one is packed full of butterfly's. They ask you not to touch them before you go in but the butterflies can touch you and they do. Holly and Sam loved it.

Holly loved everything of course but her favorite animal is the Zebra. I think Sammy liked the Sea Lions the most.

So we come to the end. It was 2:30 and Rob needed to be picked up from work at 3:00. I headed for the car with the kids. Sammy decided he wanted to go potty RIGHT NOW! The only problem is he isn't potty trained nor does he really want to be. I have taken him to the potty before all excited that he wants to start potty training on his own ( a golden contact)and he will not even get on the seat. So we were running late but Sammy insisted that I take him to the potty. I didn't take him but he spent the next 30 minutes screaming and walking as slow as possible. In all fairness to my little guy he was so tired. When we finally got to the car it was 3:00.

Rob called and I explained that we were still in St. Paul. But that wasn't the end I got on the freeway assuming that I could take the way back that I came. I assumed wrong. Rob called about a half an hour later. I had to tell him that I was completely lost and headed for St. Cloud. Knowing that might have helped if I had any idea where St. Cloud was in relation to anything else. Rob got online and gave me directions. An hour after leaving the zoo I picked Rob up from work. Rob said that my route was the equivalent of going from Provo to Heber by driving through Salt Lake. He threatened to never let me drive in Minnesota again. I said that by the end of the summer I will know how to get to every town here. Rob said "yeah but will you know how to get back?" Smart Aleck.

I think next time I will take a map.

Grrrrrrrr!

.
.


I love my children.

I swear though there are moments. Well Grrrrr about describes it but not quite.

I am here in Minnesota. I am almost 11 weeks pregnant and trying to find a OB/GYN that will see me for two appointments. I spent the morning on the Internet trying to decipher my insurance and find a doctor that my insurance approves of here. This is actually kind of tricky since I am on BYU insurance. As I was searching my lovely Sam would not stop climbing on my head or banging his hands on the keyboard. Nothing I said or did would sway him.

Me: "Sammy, please stop"

Sammy (from on top of my head): "No"

Me: "Do I need to spank your bottom?"

Sammy: "YES"

Anyway after a two minute time out Sammy finally decided that he was bored and left the room. I proceeded to call the doctors office to make my appointment. As I discussed the necessary procedures for me to make appointments (Who I will get to babysit I don't know) Holly starts screaming from the other room. When I say screaming I mean like the boogey man was going to get her.

Holly: "Mom! Sam is going to flush something down the potty"

I ignore her and try to confirm the information the doctors office is relaying to me.

Holly: "Mom! Sam is going to flush something down the potty; Mom! Sam is going to flush something down the potty; Mom! Sam is going to flush something down the potty; Mom! Sam is going to flush something down the potty."

ignoring her is impossible I can't understand the person on the other line. I politely excuse myself from the phone and then go in to prevent Sam from flushing. He wasn't trying to flush anything down the potty he was just playing trains on the potty seat (disgusting I know but something I could handle after my phone call).

Me: "Holly please don't interrupt me anymore. I am on the phone"

Holly: "o.k." (in her quiet "I am repentant voice")

I get back on the phone.

Holly: "Mom! Sammy is going to flush something down the potty again! Mom! Mom! Mom!" (You get the idea)

I sent Holly to her room and finished the conversation on the phone with Sammy following me around the house yelling "I am going to spank your bum!"

I called Rob crying. My sweet husband is always willing to listen and comfort even if there is nothing else he can do.

I thought sharing this might help. actually I think I am purging it from my soul. What a horrible 30 minutes I just had.

Lake Calhoun

.
.





It is so beautiful here. I love the green trees, the lakes that are never more than 5 minutes away from anywhere you are in the state, and the bunny rabbits that sit outside my livingroom window. I am getting a little nervous about longterm though. Every time I tell someone I am from out of state they say "Oh, you came at the best time. Right after the snow and before the mosquitos"

Holly is 6!

Holly had her birthday Sunday. We celebrated Saturday and had so much fun.

We all went to the Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America. It is an amusement park in the center of the mall. We went on several of the kid rides. My favorite to watch was Swiper's Sweeper. Rob went on the ride with Sam and Holly went in her own car.





The cars went pretty slow on the straight parts but really swung around the corners. Sammy loved it! Holly was so cute because the first swing scared her but she could see that all of the kids were laughing. After that every time she would come to a corner her face would scrunch up in concentration. She would grip the handle bar and make it around the corner and then she would smile that she made it.

Sammy's favorite ride was the "Big Rig".



After all of the rides I took Holly to a store called "Friends 2B Made". It is like "Build a Bear" but the toys are all dolls. Holly created her own doll and dressed her. It was so fun. I wanted to create my own doll but what would I do with it?

We ate at McDonald's for lunch and then went home to play with all of her toys. Her dinner request was spaghetti and while I made dinner Rob made the cake. At about 5pm Sammy came into the kitchen looking for Holly. I helped him look and this is how we found her.



Exhausted.

We did wake her up so that she would sleep through the night. We had dinner and cake.



It was a fun birthday.

Holy Cow!

When its white dome first swims into view there is a shock of surprise, then a rapidly growing delight in its pure beauty, and as one studies the building, inside and out, the surprise and delight increase. One leaves it with regret and with the hope of return.
-Kenyon Cox, Architectural Record, August 1905


This describes exactly what I felt when I first glimpsed the Minnesota state capitol. Rob and I were out sight seeing. We did not have any plans except to see St. Paul and Minneapolis. We came over a rise and we both gasped. Rob nearly hyperventilated because not that far from this beautiful capitol was this




The St. Paul cathedral. Rob started his college career as an architect and still holds a huge fondness for beautiful buildings. We swerved on the road trying to decide which building to see first. The cathedral won out and we began to explore. It was raining but we got out. We just had to be near this gorgeous building. Rob took several pictures and we walked all the way around the building (even through an alley behind it). Reluctantly after arriving at the front steps again we decided to go.

The next day we ventured out again and explored the capitol. The outside reminded me of pictures of France I have seen. The inside was so beautiful and so full of history. There were several flags all very old. My favorite was a flag that the Minnesota battalion had carried at Gettysburg. This battalion lost about 82% of its men there. It is so strange how a tangible item from history seems to connect me more to the story. I found myself so sad looking at the flag. What a huge cost! One that I have thought about before but it was different looking at a lasting piece from that battle.

We looked at the cathedral again and then wandered down the street behind the cathedral to look at the huge old homes there. That was also incredible. Our camera lost all of the pictures that we took but we enjoyed it so much I am sure we will be back again.

I shared this thought with my sister-in-law. I love to see beautiful things here but it means so much more when I can share those beautiful things with the people I love. I hope you can feel the thrill Rob and I felt as we stumbled on these awesome sights. Another incredible experience and I have only been here for two weeks.

Our second adventure

This might not seem like an adventure for some but I am so pleased with myself that I have to post this.

Rob flew out Sunday night to Omaha, Nebraska leaving me to get settled. We drove to the airport, I dropped him off and turned around to try and find home. I was a little worried because I haven't had a clear sense of direction since St. Peter, Minnesota. Utah you can never miss. The Wasatch mountains are East the Oquirrih mountains are roughly West (well the Salt Lake Valley anyway. You get the idea). I found it though I even got off the freeway and back on again and I found my way home. Well almost home. I got off the freeway at my exit and then remembered that Rob had the keys to the apartment in his pocket at the airport. I also left my phone at home. Luckily Rob's flight wasn't scheduled to leave for awhile so I found my way back on the freeway and back to the airport. I found a payphone at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport and called Rob. He was relieved. He had already gone through the security gates but a very nice security representative passed our keys through and Rob gave me a final wave over a crowd of people.

Not only did I successfully get back home but I never lost Sam my two-year-old who is determined to run away every chance he gets.

I can't take full credit for this successful outcome. Actually I probably can't take any credit. I prayed like crazy.