Memorial Day Weekend

Jason, Dan, and I finally made it up to the cities to visit the family over the Memorial Day weekend. We had originally intended to go up over Easter weekend, but between me being sick and the house being a disaster zone from the flooding, we opted to stay home. I was able to get out of work a little early, which allowed us to get on the road a bit earlier than normal. With Dan being as active as he is, I was worried how the drive would go. He's not one to sit still for long. Thankfully, he ended up sleeping most of the way (YAY!).

Saturday morning, we went over to my sister's new place. I had only seen the pictures from the realtor, plus the few that Mom had showed me from when they were painting the various rooms. I must say, the house is super cute! It was built in the 1920's if I'm not mistaken. The architect did an awesome job utilizing each nook and cranny. Dan had fun crawling around and playing with Rachel's shoes and her phone. He has a thing for shoes - just like I did when I was younger. Anyway, here's a picture of Dan playing with Rachel and her phone.

Rachel had to work later that day so we headed off to the mall for some lunch and to meet her store manager. Wow does her manager have a lot of energy! Super nice lady. It would definitely make working fun with her on the floor. Dan of course was being the ham that he usually is. There has yet to be a person he's met that he's afraid of. The stranger aversion has not yet set in yet. Maybe it never will? Time will tell. We were able to do a little shopping before Rachel's shift started, so while we were doing that, Jason and Jeff took Dan to play on the kiddy rides. He had a blast!

That evening, Jeff had the family over so they could see Dan. It had been 5 to 7 months since the last time they saw him. There was a lot of change! His Great-Grandma Solarz also bought him his first birthday present. You can check out the video of him opening it ***HERE***. Dan had a lot of fun playing with his cousins and aunts and uncles. I even caught him playing with his cousin Dylan. Dylan was being such a great buddy, making sure that Dan didn't get into things he shouldn't. It was really adorable to ***WATCH***. I can't wait for when we expand our family and watch Dan play with his little siblings. Until then, it's just enough trying to keep up with Dan!

All this playtime made him very sleepy. He snuggled up onto Great-Grandma's lap and took a nap. Great-Grandma, while uncomfortable, didn't want to put him down. How can I blame her! He's adorable and snuggling with babies is the best!

Hi cousin Jake stopped by just before we left. He got in a few cuddles before Dan wanted to get down and play. A little more fun with Mama's shoes and the dogs water bowl and we were off to bed.

Before we left on Sunday (Jason had to work on Monday), we were able to get over to the Como Zoo. It was Dan's first trip to the zoo! I think he had more fun watching the people than he did checking out the animals. He did seem to enjoy the Polar Bear and the Puffin. They were at least moving around close to the edge of their enclosures.

We then decided to sit and wait for the ever popular Sparky show. The zoo has had a sea lion perform a short 10-minute "routine" for over 50 years. It's a staple of the Como Zoo. Here are a few pics while we were waiting for the show to start.

Some ***FUN*** in the car on the way home, a visit with the neighbors, a nap, and we were ready to head back to Wisconsin. We had a wonderful - albeit short - time in the cities. Our next visit will be in June when we'll bring Dan to the lake. The last time he was there he was only a month old. The ride back home was also uneventful. A bit more rough than on the way to MN, but still doable. We ended up stopping at our friend's place for about an hour for a bonfire. Dan had been sleeping for a little more than an hour at that point. Of course, as soon as we stopped he woke up. Thankfully he still slept well that night. Now to get the floor down in the lower level and get the house back into order! Mom and Jeff are coming down this week to help us out with that feat. Hopefully by this coming weekend I'll have my house back! Fingers crossed! Until then, a few more pictures to hold you over until the next post :)

Family picture :)

Generational picture :)

 I hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend! A special thank you to all those who have served and are currently serving in our military. An even more heart-felt thank you to those who gave the ultimate sacrifice and their families. Without you our country and world would be a much different place.