A long time coming

 Last month, just a few days after my sister left town, my mom came to visit.

And I'm finally blogging about it.

This was her first visit to Rochester (to Minnesota for that matter) and we were excited to show her around.

The kids and I took her to some of our favorite parks.

Noah showed Grandma all his best tricks - Alex just enjoyed running around like a maniac.

My mom and I stayed really busy painting and decorating the kids room too.

They love it.

(Noah was especially excited about his "N" pillow)

Halfway through my moms visit my dad came out to join us.

And Grandma claims that Grandpa stole the show.

Alex has always been "Grandpa's Girl" but it was surprising to me how inseparable Noah and Grandpa were.  It was really sweet. 

Paul didn't get to see much of my parents (need I explain?) but we did get to walk around the Mayo Clinic with Paul one afternoon.

Then we explored some more of Downtown Rochester

My parents also got to see Alex in action - she had gymnastics class while they were here.  She loved having an audience/cheering section.

(Is that the cutest thing you've ever seen or what???)

So my mom got Alex this "Snow Princess" dress and my dad got Noah...tiger arms???

That's right - tiger arms.  My dad convinced him that these were the coolest things ever.  Noah thinks they make him strong and brave.  He wore them the rest of the trip - and everywhere else for several days after - thanks Dad.  Now (thank goodness) he only uses them for special tasks (when he has to do something hard or scary).  

Next we drove up to the cities and stayed for a day-and a-half.

Our first stop was the Aquarium inside the Mall of America.

The kids loved it, of course

Especially the shark tunnel

But their favorite part by far was petting the sharks and stingrays (Alex too)

We even ran into "Sharky" later that day in the mall - Alex was excited.

We had plans to explore more of Minneapolis but there was so much to do at the Mall of America we ended up spending all our time there.

And yeah, it's pretty awesome.

The kids had fun at Legoland

And, of course, the amusement park.

Noah surprised the heck out of me and got really brave - he did the Log Ride (laughing the whole way down) and a rollercoaster (a super fast and scary one that made me and Grandpa sick).

Alex played it safe and stuck to her all-time-favorite...

The Merry-Go-Round

She was in heaven.

Before Grandma and Grandpa headed to the airport they gave the kids one more parting gift (of course).

Alex got a Fancy Nancy doll - because she loves to be fancy.

Noah got a shark book - because he's obsessed

And then it was time to say goodbye.

It's never been so hard - for me or for the kids.

Noah and I cried all the way back to Rochester, while Alex kept repeating, "I want Grandpa.  I miss Grandma."

Mom and Dad - Thanks for an amazing week.  We had so much fun.  We love and miss you tons and can't wait to see you again!