Arizona Adventure

Mom had a work trip to Arizona. We decided to have a family weekend prior to the business trip. The timing was a bit on the hectic side. April has been extremely busy for the family. And about 36 hours before the trip, a pipe in the house broke. We have lots of damage on the main level and basement (yes our new basement). We are hopefully in good hands with Service Master. Our trip started off with a local lunch (on the rough side of town) at Mim's. Great food and a great adventure.


We spent our first night at Ron's business partner's place for a barbecue and swim in the pool.


We spent our second day taking the kids on their very first horse trail ride with Ponderosa Stables through the Phoenix City Park (the largest city park in the U.S.).



We also checked into our hotel, which had a great water park with wave pools, huge waterslides, a lazy river, and hot tubs!


We spent the evening at the Diamondback vs. Philly Game with our pals, the best $9 ticket ever. We watched the game in this cool stadium, the kids (and parents) got to take baseball swings at pitches at 50 mph (everyone made contact except Ron), Ron got to try on a world series ring, the kids got to sing on the Jumbo Tron for the 7th inning stretch, we went down to the field for an after game fireworks show, and the kids decided to have a sleepover at their new friend Austin's house. So Mom and Dad got the night off and got to sleep in! A bonus!





And our last day, we went to Mom's hotel for her business meetings. Another great hotel with a lazy river and waterslides (that Presley was big enough to ride... thank goodness!).

Trisha Has A Big Birthday

2010 is a big year for Trisha. Ron totally surprised her with a day trip to Chicago on April 12th to watch the Cubs opener with our friends and neighbors Mark and Michelle, who also have birthdays on the 12th and 13th of April. The day was definitely a day of adventure starting off with morning cocktails with Colby, O"hare pick-up with pal Tom Klapp, a surprise party at the Lodge that took us to a Cub Rooftop to watch the game with Aunt Kimmy, a last minute Limo ride to the airport, an emergency plane landing in Chicago that thankfully we slept through, neighbors and friends rallying to take care of Canyon and Presley in our absence, a sleep over at the Klapp family residence, and an early morning plane ride back to Minnesota. Whooo. I am tired just recapping it!



Trisha also celebrated a birthday weekend in Chicago after her birthday (she didn't know about the 12th surprise). On Friday, she spent the night with U of I pals at the Wit and on Saturday, she went to the Cubs game with Maine East pals and enjoyed a night out on the town.

Great Granny's 90th Birthday Celebration

Every spring, we travel to Florida to visit Great Granny Kohls and Great Grandma Wanda in the Villages. This year was particularly special because we were celebrating Granny's 90th birthday with a Surprise party with her family and friends. Her family traveled from Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, and California to be there. She was utterly shocked and the surprise turned into a great weekend of family fun events.




We spent days swimming with Grandpa and Grammy Liz at their hotel pool and with Aunt Colleen at the community pools.



The kids enjoyed Easter Egg Hunts at Granny's and we enjoyed Grandpa's special Spaghetti and Meatball dinner, courtesy of Aunt Carol.



Several of us ventured over to the Crystal River to go swimming and snorkeling with the gentle Manatees. The kids even got to touch them. Ron and Trisha were also fortunate to witness one of the last space shuttle launches in the early morning hours.




On this vacation, we played tennis for the first time as a family. We all brought our rackets and hit balls together. Ron and Trisha also took on the young guns of cousin Cody and his friend Josh for a set. In a close match that went until sunset, we took the set in a tiebreaker! They are anxiously waiting a rematch.



Ron helped begin Trisha's birthday celebration with a day of golf with Uncle Al and Uncle Bud. It was a fun day. Ron's game was on fire and Trisha hit the ball solidly but has some work to get her game back together. Still a fun day of golf and sun!



And this entry, wouldn't be complete if we didn't capture the full night adventure Ron had with the boys trying to unplug Granny's toilet. Here they are arming up with supplies.



We ended the trip with a day at Disney's Blizzard Beach. It was our first time to a Disney Water Park. The kids had a blast on the water slides and the flying fox.

Easter 2010

For Easter 2010, we were actually in Florida celebrating Great Granny's 90th birthday. Prior to Easter, we had some Easter celebrations in Minnesota, which included Mom and Presley spending a morning with the Easter Bunny. Presley had a blast coloring pictures, hunting for eggs, and petting real bunnies but for the first time I realized she is no longer my "baby". She was by far one of the older kids and I recognized how precious and short this window of their innocence is. As a family, we also enjoyed coloring eggs together. And at the bottom of this entry is a picture of Presley near her "art" which was featured on the Eden Prairie City Walls for a month for up and coming artists. She was one of nine kindergarten students selected among 150 in her class. We were very proud of her!