Labor Day Weekend Fun

We planned a fun weekend getaway with our friends the Andersons. Originally we planned to head up North to Duluth, but it would have been a little more than we wanted to pay, so we chose to go to Rochester instead. We left Friday afternoon after Jon's class, and we met the Andersons at the hotel. When we got to the hotel we went right to dinner. We ate at Newts, a yummy burger joint. We ordered some mac and cheese for Sophie and Elsie to share and Sophie just went to town. I was so surprised! She doesn't eat a lot these days, so I was so happy that she liked the noodles.

After dinner we went back to the hotel to swim. The pool was a little too cold, so we ended up in the hot tub instead. Sophie wasn't too sure about the hot tub and the bubbles at first, but once she got used to it she loved it. I was worried that she'd get too hot, so we kept her up on the stairs most of the time. When we finished we gave the girls a bath and then we put them to bed in our room. The rooms were right next to one another and there was a door joining the two rooms. Since the girls were in our room sleeping, Jon and I went to the Anderson's room to play games. The Anderson's room was a handicap room and it was huge. We played a few rounds of Uno and then we played a game of Dixit. Around 10:00 Jon, Adam and Claire made a late night run to Wendy's for frostys. It was a great late night treat!

The next day we planned to go fishing, but on the way to Whitewater State Park it began to rain and it rained pretty hard, so we decided to head back to Rochester until the rain stopped. We went downtown Rochester near the Mayo Clinic and we spent some time in the shops. While we were there it just so happened that they were having Irishfest. Ada got to play some miniature golf.

Two best friends. Elsie loves to give Sophie hugs, but Sophie isn't always a fan of the hugs. Until a month or so ago, Sophie would hit Elsie in the face any time Elsie came close. Now she has learned to be soft and give hugs too. It's so cute to watch them, because Sophie will give Elsie hugs now and Elsie doesn't always like the hugs. Silly little girls!
Sophie and Elsie with some of the people dressed up for the Irishfest.

We walked around the Mayo Clinic grounds, and they are just as beautiful as I remembered them from three years ago. Sophie liked running around and playing in the water from the fountain.

After we walked around the Mayo Clinic, we went to lunch at Canadian Honkers. What a name! Even though the name is a little crazy, the food was really good. I had the best French Dip sandwich. As we were walking back to our cars after lunch it began to rain. Once again, it didn't just rain a little, it was a down pour. I couldn't believe it, the drains in the streets couldn't keep up with the amount of water, so the streets were flooding. Thank goodness we have a car that is high up. When we finished lunch, it was nap time and Sophie fell asleep as soon as I got her all buckled in her carseat. She slept like this for about an hour. She woke up when we got to the state park.

When we got to Whitewater State Park, it was still raining, but it wasn't a down pour. Most of the Andersons really wanted to fish, so we bought passes and went in to the state park. We waited for 20 minutes or so for the rain to die down and then we all got out for a fun adventure. Adam and the kids fished, while Rita and Elsie and Jon, Sophie and I walked around. Sophie and Elsie were having a great time running around splashing in the puddles. Both girls had on their new tennis shoes, which they have the same shoes just different colors. Rita and Jon told me not to worry about Sophie's new shoes getting wet. I want them to stay looking new, but of course they aren't going to, she's 15 months old.

I took several pictures of Sophie and the butterfly, trying to get this picture with the butterfly's wings open. I thought it was a really good picture. She isn't actually touching the butterfly, if she were the butterfly would be gone.

Sophie and Elsie enjoying their Nutrigrain bars. They loved sitting on the curb, because it made the perfect seat for these cute girls. I sure love these girls. They keep us busy, but they are so fun to be around. When Rita and I have been out with the girls, we've had several people ask us if they are twins. We tell them no, but they are like sisters, they see each other several times a week ususally.