Friends' WeekendVacation in Duluth!!

We had a very brief work week since we were taking Friday off work for our much awaited, fun Duluth weekend with friends!!  Before heading up north, Maci of course got to have a few fun activities at school including a petting zoo with a cow who bumped her booty with his head :)  In addition I turned 18 weeks and had another bump picture of the ever growing tummy!

Dance Party! 

 Everything is Exciting with a Toddler - including a frog on the outdoor wall!

Week 18

Friday - We woke up and completed some necessary errands around the house before packing and loading the car for Duluth!  We made a quick stop at the bagel shop, bank and mailbox before we were off on the ~2.5 hour drive.  On the way up we decided to stop for lunch at Gordy's Hi Top restaurant which received rave reviews from a few co-workers.  We had the typical cheeseburger and fries + onion rings.  It was really good but sometimes places are built up just a little too much by those that love them :)  We pulled into Duluth around 1230p and confirmed the hotel wasn't yet ready so we headed down to canal park for some tourist fun!

 "Mom, Look, Water in There!"

Around 3p all the other families arrived and it was time to check into our hotel/water park.  As soon as everyone got settled we headed right down to the water park and splashed until about 6p.  All the kids started off a little skittish but were resembling fish by the end of the day.  We decided to brave it and went out to dinner Friday night at Grandma's a famous place in the Duluth area.  The kids were a bit NUTS and the wait for a table was long but we all survived and the parents at least had some good laughs.  It is a little fun to see a hostesses face when you say "8 adults, 4 toddlers with chairs and 3 babies needing car seat slings"  Umm yeah!

The BEST of Friends

 Reunited and it feels so good. . . 

 Emmet's parents hadn't parked yet so only 3 toddlers in this pic

Saturday - This morning was the much awaited "Thomas the Train" event on the local rail line.  While the train ride itself was a little disappointing (25 mins with most of the time spent changing tracks) we had a blast at all the outdoor activities which were included with the tickets : bounce house, bounce slide, foam party, coloring, tattoos, face paint etc.

Our Motley Crew!

 Family of 3.5

 Foam/Bubble Fun!

After we wore them out from Thomas we headed to Pizza Luce for lunch.  This was our last meal/event with the Fike's (Emmet's family) since Vinny works Sun-Thurs as a railroad engineer (in the cities).  The kids did pretty well at the restaurant and we braved a group picture :)

 Sticker Fun!

After lunch it was back to hotels for naps and then more water park fun!  Around 6p we were all starving and couldn't envision another restaurant so we ordered subs for delivery to the hotel.  It was awesome and such a pretty night.  We ate on picnic tables out back by the outdoor pool/playground/putt putt golf!  The kids ate great and had so much fun not being confined to a restaurant - great idea!

 Sunday - We all packed up to head home and then headed to Black Woods for brunch and supposedly some amazing bloody Mary's (Halston/Ryan/Clint love their bloody Mary's)!  After brunch we all hit the road to head home.  We then spent the afternoon running errands and getting the group gift ready for my work friend Megan's shower this coming Thursday!  We are now wrapping up laundry, pondering dinner plans and getting prepped for the coming week at work.

On Wednesday we have our 18-20 week ultrasound and hope to hear all is healthy in addition to potentially hearing gender!  We will be sure to share updates here shortly after hearing the news!  Please say some prayers that all continues as planned :)

Lots of Love,
C, K & M