MOA, Sledding and Illness

Nothing says out of town visitors like a trip to MOA, or Mall of America for those not in the know.  Since I am not much of a shopper I took one for the team today, not wanting to spoil the mood.  Uncle J and Aunt Corynn had gifted an afternoon of lunch and shopping to the Things for Christmas, hence our purpose.  So the Things took off with them and Poppi, Nani, Husband Jared, Gianna and myself headed in the opposite direction to have some fun!  Gianna spent a half hour in Disney coloring away, she tried to build Legos but alas they were too small for her and then after such demanding fun she fell asleep in her stroller while we lunched.  When Christmas money was spent and feet tired from walking we met for gelato and drove home in the snow.  It was the first time Aunt Corynn had been in an actual snow storm, fun! 

 

Thing 1 and I had both been battling our sinuses and by the end of the day we were not feeling so hot, to say the least.  When we woke the next morning my eye was swollen shut and I was most certain it was pink eye.  Off to the Minute Clinic for the both of us.  Thankfully Uncle J and Thing 4 were kind enough to shovel the driveway for us. 

 

 

She was diagnosed with a sinus infection. me, a sinus infection, ear infection and pink eye.  Thank you germs. At least we were able to get some antibiotics in our system to start kicking these yuckies to the curb, all the while praying that no one else in the house would come down with them.

 

Since the snow was still falling and had left us with a shimmering blanket of white the Things had convinced our guests they needed to go sledding.  We didn't want them to miss out on any part of the Minnesota experience and since we have a public sledding hill close by off we went.  Thing 1 stayed behind to sleep and feel better.  Yes, I still tagged along, I didn't want to miss out on the fun.  Or Gianna's first time wearing her snow boots, gloves and coat.  She reminded us all of the little brother in "Christmas Story", so very cute.

 

 

In all the excitement and photographing our pregnant Aunt Corynn slipped and fell, thankfully she fell slowly and landed on her side.  At least that's what she said.  She was OK and baby #2 is alright, still scary.  After that we were all a bit more cautious with a thick layer of ice under the newly fallen snow.  Or at least everyone else was.  No sooner had that happened and I was running for the first sled of the day with Thing 3 and I wiped out, hitting my tail bone first and then falling backwards with a loud thud.  I only know that by the gasps of everyone around me.  I sat up quickly only to have Poppi, Nani and Husband Jared staring at me and waiting for me to say something.  I was fine.  A mild concussion and some whiplash, but fine.  No more sledding for me, I sat propped up against the tree taking in all the fun around me.  Boy did they have fun! 

 

 The sweet family, braving the frigid temp

 So fun!

 All smiles, even Polo

 The sledders

Nani giving it a go!

To cap off an eventful day the grown ups had dinner reservations at Manny's steakhouse in Minneapolis, leaving the Things to babysit their cousin.  I'm not really sure who was more excited, them or us!  We napped, rested from the afternoon adventure and then got all dolled up, well at least us girls did, the guys were looking quite dapper though.  And off we trekked to the city for a night of indulgence.  The food was exquisite and we ate everything from lobster cakes to filet to sea bass, but we didn't stop there.  For the cherry on top, cheesecake with homemade caramel sauce.  Yum. More yum. My only regret is that I do not have the picture that Poppi took of me with  more caramel sauce then cheesecake on my plate, yes it was that good!  No shame people, no shame.  We walked, maybe more like rolled ourselves upstairs to take in the view of the city and it did not disappoint.  White twinkly lights everywhere and a layer of sparkling snow.  Beautiful. 

Here we are below, around the table and lounging on a rather over sized red velvet sofa outside the ladies' room.

 The Kiddos and Spouses

Three lovely ladies if I do say so myself!

Original Stuck crew

All in all it was fabulous day to say the least.  Full of memories, gratitude, mishaps, laughs and more.  Never a dull moment with this family.  So thankful to have been able to spend it together and have shared memories. 

More to come on the rest of the week, I'm plum tuckered out after writing this post.