I have been blessed with a pretty amazing group of friends. We have been friends since Junior High (and some of them since elementary school). One of my friends was living in Minnesota for her husband's schooling and she invited us to come visit her for a long weekend. So, in April we all flew out to visit Jessie and see her new baby.
Our first stop was downtown Minneapolis where we saw the Mary Tyler Moore statue, and the house they show on the opening credits of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. One of my friends loves the show and brought season 1, so we spent most of our evenings watching episodes of the Mary Tyler Moore show and laughing. Jessie was living in Rochester, which is about 90 minutes away from Minneapolis, so we spent quite a lot of time in the car.
Phoebe was the perfect baby - we could talk and laugh and sing along to the radio all we wanted and she just slept. Our next stop was the Mall of America - my friends were incredibly patient with my need to spend an hour in H&M :)
The Lego store was AMAZING!
The next day we got up bright and early, which is hard to do when you are up giggling and talking until 2 or 3 in the morning, and went to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Temple.
Then we changed our clothes and headed back to the Mall of America, yes, we went there twice, and yes, we did some shopping both days.
But the real reason for our return trip was to go to the Aquarium in the mall. I wasn't sure that I wanted to spend the money and time to wander through an aquarium, but I am so glad we did. It was AMAZING!
I especially loved the jellyfish exhibit.
Phoebe was just so adorable, and, once again, willing to just sleep through the drive. After church on Sunday, we discovered that we had a flat tire. After about an hour of the "the men" working on the tire, they were finally able to get enough air in it to get the car home, but they didn't have the right tools to jack the car up or get the tire off. So, Monday morning, we went out to see what we could do. Jessie's visiting teacher dropped off her car jack for us, unfortunately she was driving a suburban, and Jessie's car was a little Camry, so the jack didn't fit. So, I decided to read the instruction manual for the car - which showed exactly where the jack for the car was - it was there the whole time - leave it to men to not read the manual. So, we got the car up and the lugnuts off, but the tire wouldn't come off. SO frustrating. By this time we had wasted an entire morning just trying to put the spare tire on.
I finally got really smart and decided to renew my AAA membership that had lapsed a few months earlier, and have them come fix the tire. Within 20 minutes we were on the road again. So, we all learned how to change a tire, call AAA.
Another Phoebe picture, that kid was adorable! Once we were finally on the road again, Jessie wanted to take us to the Mayo Clinic in downtown Rochester, where she was working.
What a beautiful facility. I loved all the architecture and the artwork.
My favorite part was the hundreds of wheelchairs they had at the lined up at the entrances.
I had to leave before everyone else to get back to work. You know your friends really love you when they are willing to get up at 4 in the morning to take you to the airport. I am so grateful for my fabulous friends! It was so fun to have a girls getaway and spend time together. And I am so grateful that my friends have all married such good men - MeLynn's husband was amazing for being willing to stay home with their three kids so she could come with; and Jessie's husband was so patient with three girls invading their home, he slept on the couch the whole time so we could all sleep in the bedroom. I hope to find someone just as amazing some day! Thanks for such a fabulous trip girls!! Sorry it took me almost a year to blog about it!
Our first stop was downtown Minneapolis where we saw the Mary Tyler Moore statue, and the house they show on the opening credits of the Mary Tyler Moore Show. One of my friends loves the show and brought season 1, so we spent most of our evenings watching episodes of the Mary Tyler Moore show and laughing. Jessie was living in Rochester, which is about 90 minutes away from Minneapolis, so we spent quite a lot of time in the car. 
Phoebe was the perfect baby - we could talk and laugh and sing along to the radio all we wanted and she just slept. Our next stop was the Mall of America - my friends were incredibly patient with my need to spend an hour in H&M :) 
The Lego store was AMAZING! 
The next day we got up bright and early, which is hard to do when you are up giggling and talking until 2 or 3 in the morning, and went to the Minneapolis/St. Paul Temple. 
Then we changed our clothes and headed back to the Mall of America, yes, we went there twice, and yes, we did some shopping both days. 
But the real reason for our return trip was to go to the Aquarium in the mall. I wasn't sure that I wanted to spend the money and time to wander through an aquarium, but I am so glad we did. It was AMAZING! 
I especially loved the jellyfish exhibit. 
Phoebe was just so adorable, and, once again, willing to just sleep through the drive. After church on Sunday, we discovered that we had a flat tire. After about an hour of the "the men" working on the tire, they were finally able to get enough air in it to get the car home, but they didn't have the right tools to jack the car up or get the tire off. So, Monday morning, we went out to see what we could do. Jessie's visiting teacher dropped off her car jack for us, unfortunately she was driving a suburban, and Jessie's car was a little Camry, so the jack didn't fit. So, I decided to read the instruction manual for the car - which showed exactly where the jack for the car was - it was there the whole time - leave it to men to not read the manual. So, we got the car up and the lugnuts off, but the tire wouldn't come off. SO frustrating. By this time we had wasted an entire morning just trying to put the spare tire on. 
I finally got really smart and decided to renew my AAA membership that had lapsed a few months earlier, and have them come fix the tire. Within 20 minutes we were on the road again. So, we all learned how to change a tire, call AAA. 
Another Phoebe picture, that kid was adorable! Once we were finally on the road again, Jessie wanted to take us to the Mayo Clinic in downtown Rochester, where she was working. 
What a beautiful facility. I loved all the architecture and the artwork. 
My favorite part was the hundreds of wheelchairs they had at the lined up at the entrances. 
I had to leave before everyone else to get back to work. You know your friends really love you when they are willing to get up at 4 in the morning to take you to the airport. I am so grateful for my fabulous friends! It was so fun to have a girls getaway and spend time together. And I am so grateful that my friends have all married such good men - MeLynn's husband was amazing for being willing to stay home with their three kids so she could come with; and Jessie's husband was so patient with three girls invading their home, he slept on the couch the whole time so we could all sleep in the bedroom. I hope to find someone just as amazing some day! Thanks for such a fabulous trip girls!! Sorry it took me almost a year to blog about it!
