We took a family trip to Minneapolis this weekend for the wedding of one of John's best friends from high school. John was an usher so we knew it would have to be a Friday to Sunday trip, so we asked if Grandma and Grandpa would like to come along for fun with the boys by day and babysitting by night so we could attend the wedding. It was lots of fun, but I really don't recommend 600 miles in the car with an infant and a toddler over the course of three days!

We went to the Minnesota Children's Museum on Saturday morning--what a great place! We didn't even see half of it in the two hours we were there. Ed was so tired afterward that the only way we got him to stay awake for the car ride back to the hotel was reminding him that his Subway lunch came with a cookie! After he ate his sandwich and cookie he took a three-and-a-half hour nap! Daniel also slept, allowing me a nap that got me through the late evening.

We had fun at the wedding with friends we don't get to see very often. It's sort of a glimpse into John's high-school self to see him with this group.

On Sunday morning, we went to the zoo in St. Paul--a very nice place for young children. It's not too big, so you can see most or all if it in just an hour or two. Also, it's kind of an "old school" zoo with relatively small enclosures. Animal lovers would probably be horrified, but it's nice that the kids can actually see the animals relatively close up.

We do have a bone to pick with the good people of the Twin Cities, however, as our Saturday cross-town travels were majorly complicated by the fact that I-94 (the primary route through town) was closed for "re-striping" and there was no information for non-locals on how to get around. No advance road signs warning of the closure (just lots of backed up traffic) and no detour signs posted at the closed road. We would have been completely lost without the GPS in John's parents' car. They programmed it to get to the museum using only streets, not highways, and we made it, though the whole thing took more than twice as long as it should have.

Perhaps it was that time stuck in traffic (so many cars!) that influenced Edward's pronunciation of our destination. We had told him we were in Minneapolis and he thought that was too hard to say. So we broke it up for him "mini" "apple" "iss." He tried that out and got his mouth around it pretty well, but it later morphed so that when we were on the road out of town he asked, "Are we leaving 'so-many-apple-iss'?"

On the way back home we stopped in Des Moines to see good friends who we hadn't seen in FAR too long. We actually didn't even attempt to remember the last time we were together because it was too depressing. Life is just so busy. Their second daughter is the same age as Ed so it was fun to see them play together. Daniel just crawled around trying to keep up with them and stopping for the occasional bite of grass or leaves. We put the kids in their pajamas for the drive home and Daniel conked out immediately. Edward, however, talked pretty much non-stop for the approximately 100 minute trip. Mostly about the moon, which was nearly full in a mostly clear sky. At one point when clouds were over the moon, he was frustrated that he couldn't see it. We told him that we had to wait for the wind to blow the clouds away. He decided that the trees had something to do with the wind, so he said, "Hey, trees, listen. I have an idea. Blow the clouds, or I'm going to be mad.... Blow! Blow!" When the clouds eventually moved, he said, "Thanks, trees!" It's a wonder John didn't drive off the road!

Which brings us to today. Daycare was closed for teacher training and since we knew we'd be getting back late last night we planned the day off. We raked the back yard in the morning and by afternoon you could hardly tell, except for the leaf piles, which the boys had fun playing in. Again, Daniel thought this was a good opportunity for snacking, so we had to watch carefully.

We are only a few days away from the end of construction on our new house. (At least the end of what we knew had to be done immediately!) The roof leak was FINALLY fixed (fourth time was the charm) by putting some sort of chemical sealer on the chimney bricks. The workers were putting the ceiling back when we left on Friday. It was such a treat to come home to an in-tact living room! Now just a few more trips to paint/texture and that will be done. Our basement waterproofing was finished today (the work in the crawl space, which was phase two of the exterior seen here two weeks ago.) Also today, after more than a year in storage, John's pool table finally arrived in our basement. His parents gave it to us when they moved last summer and we hadn't had a place for it until now. He played his first games tonight and reports that it's a bit tight, but will work with minor modifications.

I'm supposed to be doing homework right now. We'll see what I can accomplish before I fall asleep. Only five more classes to go until I can say good-bye to finance!