Weekend Getaway

This past weekend Andrew and I left Friday morning to head up to Minnesota to meet up with our friends Sarah and Chris.  We met them almost 2 years ago on our Caribbean cruise, we were celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary and they were on a belated honeymoon.  They came down and saw us for Andrew's 30th birthday a few months after the cruise and we have stayed in touch through Facebook and text.  Well, Sarah and Chris are about to have their first baby so we decided to head up there to hang out with them before the new arrival.  Sarah and Chris outdid themselves and we had a BLAST!  We left Emma with her grandparents and had a good old fashioned adults only weekend.

I don't have any pictures from Friday night because I forgot to bring my phone with us, but after we had dinner we headed over to the Mall of America.  We walked around for a bit and then decided to ride some of the roller coasters.  The coasters were so much fun and they even went upside down and did loops and the whole shebang.  It was great.  After that we went to one of the restaurants and had drinks and just hung out.

Here is what we did Saturday

Our first stop was a tour at a local brewery called Lift Bridge in Stillwater.  The beer was tasty and we even got a growler to take home with us.

Andrew enjoying a sample on the tour

Andrew, Sarah and Chris on the tour

For lunch we headed over to this restaurant, Nook, for their famous  Juicy Lucy.  It was AMAZING!  This restaurant has also been featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.  I can see why.  

The famous Juicy Lucy burger.  Looks alright until....

....you take a bit.  OMG!  Yes that's cheese people.  Lots of cheese.  Pepper jack cheese to be exact.

So much cheese you can even dip your fries in it....I'm starting to drool

Andrew and Chris devouring their Juicy Lucy

DELISH!

After lunch we had some time to kill so we went back to the Mall of America and walked around.

They also took us by Target Field...pretty neat place

The golden glove at Target Field

After dinner we went to a dueling piano bar.  It was packed!  But after a bit we were able to get a table and had a great time

We finally left at 1am!  

It's a problem and it's called Pintrest and it's serious

One of my coworkers introduced me to Pintrest several months ago.

I took a quick look at it, thought it was cute and then promptly forgot about it.

Then she was talking to me about it again about a week ago and that my friends is when the sickness began.

"Hi, my name is Alyssa and I'm addicted to Pintrest and crafting, thanks for coming today."

In one short week my addiction has completely gotten out of control.  I'm a crafting freak and the ideas on Pintrest are always new and exciting and changing and they have stuff for Christmas and Thanksgiving and Halloween and New Years and sewing projects and food recipes and clothing ideas and home decor, and funny sayings and oh my god I'm in love (and there's even more than that too), almost like the same kinda love that you have for your husband and child....it's intense man.

So without further ado, my projects folks.  And just remember one week, 7 short days filled with preschool and 40 hours of work and food preparation and bill paying and cleaning and showering and toothbrushing and all that other silly stuff.  Oh yeah, and I hemmed a Snow White costume, I'm not bragging or anything but I was pretty impressed with myself, I'm not gonna lie.

Black beans with fake flowers that I spray painted black and a little Halloween ribbon

I love this fall hurricane, so easy, dried split peas, red beans and popcorn

I can't wait to give this as a gift.  I started this a 9pm on Saturday and finished it by midnight.  I haven't sewn in 4 years and I really didn't know what I was doing but the tutorial I followed was awesome!

Obviously another gift and super easy as well.  The lining is vinyl, I think that's neat.

I'm not even going to lie, this cracks me up

I really shouldn't be laughing at someone elses' misfortune, but really this is funny.

On the way to my house the road gets a little bit windy and there's a great big sign like this

Which to anybody that has taken Drivers Ed, means slow down. 

But not this guy

Or the 6 other guys (yes, I'm being sexist) who have done the same thing. 

What's even funnier is that this fence is about a year old.  Yes one year.  In one year this poor fence has been slammed into at least 6 different times.  Not all in the same spot.  3 times were at the corner when you turn off this road (yes the same corner).  This spot and about 10 feet on either side has been damaged.  And then there is another spot about 50 feet from this one as well. 

Oh and I just noticed in this picture that you can see some of the fence is painted and some of it isn't.  Yeah, that part that isn't painted, that's already been fixed once, or maybe twice.  I tend to lose track.

I'm sure that by posting this, it means that I'm going to go through that fence someday too. 

But right now, I'm just enjoying laughing at those guys.

First Day of Preschool 2011

Emma  started her first day of school ever on September 6th, 2011, just one day before her 4th birthday.  She was more than ready to start school.  Emma goes to preschool at the YMCA that is about 3 minutes from our house, which is sooo nice.  She goes to school on Tuesday's and Thursday's from 9:00am-11:15am and loves every minute of it.  Her teachers are Mrs. Poss and Mrs. Blazejack and there are about 20 kids in her class.  I'd say it's a good mix of both boys and girls. 

Brushing her teeth for the big day!

Eating breakfast...getting excited!

My preschooler!

Showing off the Strawberry Shortcake book bag

Walking with Daddy

I'm so excited for her!

It was a madhouse there!  So we were waiting in the hall before they opened the classroom

Washing her hands

Signing in.  Emma was pretty much the only kid that I saw that could actually write her whole name. 

At the end of the day, giving it a big thumbs up!

Emma had a great day at preschool.  When we were getting ready to leave to go home she said that she was scared but that it was better than she thought it was going to be.  This really surprised me because she didn't seem scared at all.  I was also surprised that I didn't cry or tear up.  I think it's because I'm just so excited for her and she was more than ready to do this.  If she had to go to school a year ago, I think I would have felt a little differently.  I'm so proud of my big girl!

Happy 4th Birthday Baby Girl

Ok so maybe her birthday was a month ago (exactly), and maybe I'm just a smidgen behind in life.  But I've always had the philosophy "better late than never", and I'm stickin' to it!
Happy birthday Emma!  I still can't believe that 4 years ago this beautiful girl took her first breath and took mine away.  I'm so lucky to be her mother and I tell her that all the time.

So for Emma's birthday I got the bright idea to go rollerskating.  Andrew had to work, but my parents were here, so the 4 of us headed over to the rollerskating rink.  I haven't been skating since I was in high school and it's probably been twice that long since my parents have been and of course Emma hasn't ever been either.  I think I thought it was going to be much easier for her to learn than it was, but they gave us this nifty "walker" think for her to use (Gaia used one too) and she did pretty well with it.  I didn't fall at all, and neither did my mom.  Emma took a few small spills, but she was going to slow and she's pretty close to the ground that it wasn't that bad.  But my Dad, oh Dad, he had some good spills.  Let's just say they will go down in history along with skiing into the side of the mountain and the other time when he gave himself a black eye.  Poor Dad.


Getting ready







Practicing on the carpet

Yay!!! She's doing it!!

Gaia and her "walker"

Me and my Puss



By the end Emma was pooped!  She was crying and begging to leave.  We only stayed for about and hour and a half, but that was enough for her.  We left and headed to go have lunch with Daddy at Ugly  Dogs, our local hot dog stand and one of Emma's favorite places to eat.  Lunch was delicious and Ugly Man (the owner) gave her an extra special treat for dessert.  When we got home Emma was so crabby that I had her go take and rest.  I didn't expect her to fall asleep (since she doesn't nap) but she did!  And she took a 2 1/2 hour nap.  I couldn't believe it!  Guess the rollerskating really wore her out.

After her nap and when Daddy got home, we decided to open the presents from us and my parents.

With her "loot" and 4 fingers

Her new cowgirl boots!

Dinner at the restaurant of her choice.....Chipotle

Dinner with her new doll, Jessica Anne





Dessert at OBD....yum!