Short family trip 2013

It's been quite a long time since our last vacation, so I decided to take Thursday and Friday off and take my family to the Mall of America/Ikea to do some shopping. We stayed at a hotel with a really cool indoor pool for kids. We also visited the Nickelodeon park inside the mall.

Shopping at Ikea - Jack found something he liked

Not sure about Mr Sharky

Merry-Go-Round

Train ride

Balloon Race with dada

Jack was mostly unsure about each ride at first...

...but once it got going, he had fun.

The honking horn was a bit too loud. Baby was getting tired.

While we had a good time, I would NOT recommend traveling with a toddler. It is not easy. Jack is used to his surroundings and his routine, so he was completely out of sorts the entire time. Plus he got a bit of a cold and seemed miserable a lot. He barely ate or slept. Consequently, mama and daddy didn't get much rest, either. Now we are home and back to our comfortable beds and routines. Jack seems more at ease. We probably won't be taking another overnight trip in a while. But it was not all in vain. We got some really cool stuff for our little peanut (thanks to majka and dido's generous gift)! Couldn't wait to get home and assemble it. This baby is slowly taking over our entire house. :)

Cool new stuff!

Circus tent & moose rocker

Hobbit furniture

Colorful stuff

Love this spindling chair

Wish they made it my size

Cool pajamas from Hanna Andersson

My cutie patootie

Congratulations graduates!

Today, my little darling sisters graduated from college. They got all the possible academic honors. I am so proud of them and ready for them to join me in the workforce. In fact, they will start their full time jobs in the same company where I work. I can't wait to get to see them more often than the last four years allowed.

Congratulations sweet sisters! I couldn't be more proud of you.