Grandma A's Visit

Grandma A came to visit the weekend after Easter. We promised the kids that if we didn't make it to the aquarium Easter weekend, we would go when Grandma A came up. So when we got to the Mall of America for Underwater Adventures, Claire couldn't wait to get in the door.

Claire grabbed the back of Daddy's head to make sure he saw what she was seeing.

Looking for Nemo

Still can't find Nemo...

There he is!

The aquarium had a new exhibit this time and the kids liked looking at the jellyfish.

After the aquarium, we treated Claire to Build-A-Bear since she has never been there and Gabe has made 3 animals previously. We got there and Claire picked out this bunny right away.

She picked out the heart...

Stuffed it...

Gave it a bath...and named her Floppy.

The next day, we travelled to the zoo to see the baby farm animals. We were running a little late so the zoo closed after we saw the farm animals and the sharks and dolphins.

Mom did Claire's hair and Grandma did Mom's hair so we could be twins.

The kids enjoyed the wagon ride to the farm area.

The first stop was the baby cows.

Then we caught a milking demonstration.

We finished up the farm and started walking back to the rest of the zoo and Claire just had to follow her brother's lead and hold Daddy's hand.

Then the day that Grandma left, we went to House of Bounce in the morning. Claire went down the slide by herself for the first time!

And Gabe loved the fast slide.

Easter

The kids got all dressed up for church on Easter. We went to church and by the time we got home, Daddy's family was at our house. They came to visit on Friday and stayed at a hotel. They were invited to come to church with us but forgot to bring church clothes and probably just needed to rest due to the high energy level in our house. Gabe was trying to give Claire a hug in the picture below but she wasn't excited about it by the time the picture was taken.

After a light lunch, we started an Easter egg hunt with the kids. We gave Claire a little head start but she caught on pretty fast.

Before eating dinner, we went outside to try out the big bubble wand that the Easter bunny brought.

Koko and Gabe were competing for who could pop the big bubbles first. Usually Koko won since she jumps higher than Gabe.

At dinner, Claire got a case of hiccups that kept her giggling.

Around bedtime, Daddy's family left to go back to the hotel and rest up for their long drive home. We sure will miss having them around. Sam was a big help keeping Koko and Gabe entertained and Gabe was crying at bedtime because he thought Grandma should live here.