Epic Chicago Adventure

Last weekend Ben, Fiona and I took a road trip to Chicago. To try to ensure the most peaceful driving time, we concocted a masterful plan which did not work out at all, and after an aborted plan to sleep halfway in a hotel, we got to Chicago about 10 hours ahead of schedule. At this point I have to give our friend Shannon the 'nicest person on the planet' award for happily welcoming us into her home a whole day before we told her we'd be there. Just so you all know, if anyone visiting us arrives 10 hours early, you'll be handed a vacuum and told to make your own bed up ;-)

On Friday we took some naps, and went to the mall to give Fiona some exercise. In the evening Tim and Shannon hosted a gathering of people at their house and Fiona and Sophie got to hang out. Sophie is Ben's college friend Tom's daughter, she's 3 months older than Fiona...

Sophie and Fiona had fun playing together. Toddlers are funny... frequently the 'playing' would turn into a battle over the item that was being played with... they both really wanted to push a little shoe rack up and down the hall like a shopping cart, and would get annoyed when the other was pushing in the opposite direction from the other end...

It was a really fun night, and both Fiona and Sophie had a great time playing with Ben's friend Tim, who was happy to build block towers for them to knock over, and balance blocks on their heads.

He and Shannon are expecting a baby a week before us in February so it was good practice :-)

On Saturday after a delicious breakfast we went to the Children's Museum with Tom, Angel, and Sophie. Fiona had a great time, particularly driving a car...

And doing her shopping...

In the evening we got together with Ben's cousin Jim, and some other friends and cousins and played some games and ate real Chicago pizza... mmmm.

It's super deep, with cheese and fillings underneath and sauce on top. (Picture 'borrowed' from here).

On Sunday we went with Tim and Shannon and Tom and Sophie to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Fiona loves animals, and had a great time.

We saw all kinds of primates doing all kinds of things...

Ate ice cream for lunch...

And saw some big kitties...

Here's proof we were all there...

We even managed to tire Fiona out so completely that she did something she almost never does and fell asleep!

We had a great time! On Sunday evening we headed back home, and on Monday morning we all slept in late. It was a super fun weekend! Thanks everyone for making it such a fun visit! We're looking forward to the next time!

More fish!

Mum and Dad left on Monday and since then I haven't had a chance to update with the adventures we had at the end of their visit... it would be nice to have a permanent live-in babysitter so I can do the things I got used to doing when they were here - like taking daily showers, frequent blog posts, and making dinner from ingredients!

On Saturday we attempted to take a walk downtown across the Stone Arch Bridge. Saturday was super cold, and for whatever reason Fiona decided to have a hysterical fit almost as soon as we got there, so we left Mum and Dad downtown to have their own adventure and we took her home instead. On Sunday Mum and Dad went to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts while Ben and I did some grocery shopping. In the evening Bill and Ginger came over for dinner and I exhibited my "food made with real ingredients", which seemed to go over well :-)

On Monday we decided that there was just enough time to go to another fishy site - Underwater Adventures, the aquarium at the mall... if anyone is ever looking for a tour of all the fish and turtles in the Twin Cities, let me know, we went to them all!

Fiona had a great time with Granny, though she rushed through so fast that we decided to go round a second time... here are some of the highlights...

Fiona and Granny check out fish...

Giant ugly snouty turtle... (ok, according to the website this is "Brutus" the Alligator Snapping Turtle)

Sharks!

Seahorses...

Fascinated with something...

This aquarium is a lot of fun because you walk through a tunnel for most of it that is surrounded by the water and fish so it feels like you're actually under the sea. Seeing the fish swimming above your head is really cool, and kind of weird!

After that Mum and Dad had to go home again. Sad! Thanks for coming, we had LOTS of fun! Come back soon!!

Thursday and Friday

The fun continues! On Thursday we hung around the house in the morning... Fiona took a nap, Mum and Dad went for a little walk... we did a lot of laundry. In the afternoon we went to the Como Conservatory... it's this big greenhouse full of plants, so Dad could take lots of plant pictures, and it's free to get in (though they have someone sitting by the door guilting you into donating something). We walked through their tropical section where Fiona, of course, found a big tank with a large turtle in it...

I tried to take a nice picture of Fiona and Granny sitting together on the bench, but Fiona wasn't cooperating, and the best we ended up with was this...

Silly girl...

We looked at some more plants and Fiona had a go at falling in the decorative river and climbing on some things that I'm sure were not designed to be climbed on, then we got ready to go home. Grandpa got some nice photos and Fiona, Granny and I got a lot of exercise. I realised when I was looking at the photos later that Fiona has now mastered the raised eyebrows 'are you kidding me, Mama" face, so that made me a little nervous...

Hopefully it'll be a couple of years before she's asking to stay at playdates later with her friends and texting boys all day.

On Friday we went to the Science Museum in Saint Paul. I thought this might be one of the few places we'd got to that didn't have fish to get excited about, but I'd forgotten that they have some in the "All about Minnesota" exhibit. On Thursday night I had my first photography class, and the teacher told us that we're not allowed to use the 'auto' function on our cameras any more, so most of my pictures of today came out badly and blurry. Good thing I have 3 classes left...

Fiona checks out the fish...

Fiona insisted on climbing up on every available chair, bench, and climbable surface.

We were at the museum for about 2 1/2 hours, and by the end she was totally exhausted.

There's all kinds of cool stuff at the museum, but I can't tell you about much of it because we spent the entire time running around and climbing. She had a great time. I can tell you about this though... she loved it when we were here with Ali and David, and it's appeal had not faded this time... it's a big barrel that represents the size of a Diplodocus stomach that you can climb up into and crawl through.

We did this for probably 20 minutes before some other kids wanted a turn!

Shortly after that we went home again, tired out from the adventures of the day.

And now it is Saturday... what excitement does today hold? Only time can tell...

Tuesday and Wednesday

Here is the latest installment in the 'Granny and Grandpa visit' series...

On Tuesday it rained. It was too wet to go out and too cold to play ball... but did we sit in the house? NO WAY! In the morning Fiona and I went to moving and grooving class, and Mum and Dad bravely walked to the light rail and went to the mall. They wanted to get some presents for people at home, and taking Fiona shopping is a little like taking a goat... well... shopping. It doesn't really work. After class Fiona took a nap, and then after lunch we all went out.

Dad likes to take photos of interesting stuff, and Mum likes to read about interesting stuff, and I like to go to places that are free, so we went to the Weisman Art Museum.

If you ever want to experience the ultimate rush, don't bother with skydiving or recreational drugs, just let a 16 month old toddler who will not sit in her stroller loose in a gallery filled with priceless, irreplaceable art... that'll do it!

After Fiona let off some steam, tested the acoustics of the various rooms, and spent a large portion of her time being restrained in this position...

... we went home.

On Wednesday it was sunny! In the morning we hung out, and Fiona took a nap. In the afternoon we took advantage of what will probably be one of the last lovely sunny days of the year and went to Lake Nokomis for a walk.

We got about 1/3 of the way round when Fiona had a tantrum about sitting in the stroller, and we spent some of the rest of the time trying to distract her with sticks and leaves and chocolate buttons before giving in and turning around, letting her walk most of the way back. This cheered her up, and she had a great time yelling excitedly at all the dogs that passed us by and pointing at random stuff.

In the evening we lent Fiona to Cathy and her babysitting team and had a lovely peaceful dinner with Ben's parents. When we got back she seemed really excited to see me, yelling 'Maaammy' before heading straight to Grandma Ginger, and refusing to so much as look as me. Oh well, at least I'm the lucky one who gets to comfort her at 5am ;-)

That's all for now... I'm sure more exciting adventures will follow in the next few days.

Minnesota Zoo

On Monday Fiona and I took Granny and Grandpa to Minnesota Zoo. It was a good thing we went yesterday because today the rain is pouring down again.

Fiona, as you have probably gathered, is a huge fan of animals, fish, and all creatures in between. MN Zoo is her idea of heaven! First we walked through the cold Russian area where we saw Otters frolicking, and some very sleepy bears.

Here's a video...

From there we walked round the long trail past the tigers and all the woodsy creatures. Fiona was very entertained by the Prairie Dogs, which would pop their heads up every so often and squeak.

After that we toured the farm, and Fiona got up close and personal with a Goat. The farm animals are used to being handled by children (unlike the Tigers, or the Komodo Dragon, for instance) so they get right up in your face, and Fiona found this to be quite frightening! After the goat made her cry, we moved on, and saw some sweet little bunnies and other less threatening creatures.

Next we took the Minnesota trail, which is where you will find animals native to Minnesota such as Beavers, Coyotes and Wolverines. Yes, Wolverines! And here I was thinking they were some kind of crazy vicious X-Men type animal... Wolverines are so cute!!

Then we headed to the Tropical area. This is Fiona's favourite part... they have Gibbons, which are always amusing, Warty Pigs, which Fiona LOVES for some reason...

And there's a huge tropical aquarium full of beautiful fish and sharks...

This part is more enclosed, so Fiona can run around more safely here, and enjoyed having Granny chase her from one thing to the next, and demanded to be lifted up so she could see things more clearly.

Fiona loved every second... Granny was tired by the end of the day ;-)

After that we spent some time in discovery bay, where there are other aquariums and you can see dolphins, sharks, and a giant turtle.

Then luckily there was nothing left to see because it was closing time and we were forced to go home. We had a lovely day, and Fiona and I have a Zoo membership now, so we can go back every day if we want to!

Duluth Adventure

Ben and I moved here about 3 1/2 years ago, and in all that time, have never ventured north to Duluth. Duluth is north of Minneapolis on the shore of Lake Superior. It's a popular tourist destination (particularly in Summer), and a town full of fun things to do and see!

Fiona's Granny and Grandpa (my parents) are visiting right now, so we thought that we should finally have a day trip to Duluth. Fiona loves fish, so after we ate some lunch we visited the Great Lakes Aquarium. This is America's only all-freshwater aquarium.

One of Fiona's favourite things is turtles, so she was really excited to find a whole tank full of different kinds of turtles.

She likes to yell at them, and jumps about when they swim past...

We checked out of the rest of the fish...

We had a fun time! After the aquarium we went for a little walk round the harbour. Unfortunately it was cold and rainy, and Fiona was not super impressed. Luckily she had her hat to wear...

We walked across the Aerial Lift Bridge which spans the canal into Duluth's Harbour.

After that we were all tired, and some of us were crabby from being forced to walk around in the rain, so we went home again. It was a really fun day, we'll definitely go back again to explore some more... except maybe on a slightly warmer day :-)