Back from the wilds of Minnesota!

We're back from our big trip to Minneapolis! We had a lovely vacation! And here's the play by play of what we did....

The weather was perfect the whole time being 20deg C or higher every day! We left on Thursday morning around 8:30 and had a relatively uneventful trip. The border went smoothly. The US customs guy asked if we were bringing more than $10,000 in cash down and I snorted and laughed and then said no. He also congratulated us on being married, which seemed like a strange thing to say, but the sentiment was nice so I said thanks. I thought it would be wisest not to correct or question the guy who personally guards his country with a gun!

The rest of the drive was nice, it only took 7 hours (we expected 8) and was like driving into spring. Our hotel was nice; we stayed at the Hampton Inn in Maple Grove. It was a nice little hotel. Comfy beds, nice pool/hot tub, no satellite (which was sad for me), and really close to a pretty outdoor mall to go for walks in the evening. Driving on the freeways was a bit overwhelming at the start but fine once you get used to it.

On Friday we went to IKEA! Totally fun! I wish we had one here! Lots to look at. We actually didn't buy very much because most of the stuff that we're looking at is big and so we don't really want to drive back to Canada with stuff like that on our roof. Not so good for gas mileage. Which, by the way, is SPECTACULAR in the golf! We got 998.8km from one tank! We probably could have gotten to 1000 but I was getting very stressed out (sweaty palms, quick breathing, elevated heartrate, the whole deal) that we'd run out on the middle of the freeway, so we filled up.

We noticed (and laughed at) the sign at the entrance to Ikea that let customers know that according to Minnesota state laws, they weren't allowed to bring their guns into the store. Rats, we'll have to leave our guns in the car then! We thought that was kind of a strange sign to have at the entrance to a store, but whatever, maybe Ikea is paranoid. Then we started noticing it everywhere! Apparently, bringing your firearm with you when you shop is such a problem in Minnesota that they had to make a law and have ALL the stores post it. Well, if I can't bring my gun into stores, where can I bring it? Yeesh. Strange 'mericans!

After Ikea we went to Underwater Adventures! This is a HUGE underground aquarium with a LONG underwater tunnel. It was so NEAT! The fishes are swimming around and over you and checking you out and all. AND THEN they have a SHARK tank! So, the sharks are swimming around you and checking you out! There were some stingrays and other fish as well. Some pretty tropical fish, the obligatory Nemo tank, stuff like that. Vince got to touch a stingray!!! He said his hands were surprisingly sticky afterwards.

On Saturday we went to the Albertville Outlet mall. Ok, so that place is HUGE!!! More than 100 stores of outlet priced goodness! And I got......nothing. The clothing styles in the US right now just aren't my cup of tea I guess. Vince however did very well and got almost everything that he was looking for. All and all we spent 8 hours wandering around there! Our feet were sore!!! For supper we decided to be responsible adults and have a well-rounded meal of ice cream. We went to Maggie Moo's which is by far the BEST ICE CREAM PLACE ON EARTH!!! You choose a flavor of ice cream (which was delicious on it's own) and some mix ins and then they hand mix it on a slab of frozen marble into a delicious ice cream wonder! Yum! And I'm not even a huge ice cream fan!

On Sunday we thought we'd go see some sights of the city via the light rail system. That was a total dud! I guess we aren't seasoned public transit users because we thought when the schedule said that it stopped at the place we wanted to go to, that it would actually stop at the place we wanted to go to. In reality, it would drop us within 20 or so city blocks of where we wanted to go, and since we didn't bring our map we got out and had no idea which way to go. So, we tried to go to the Fort Snelling Historic site and couldn't find it. We tried to go to the Midtown global market and couldn't find it. And we tried to go to the downtown Nicollet mall and couldn't find it. We might have found that last one, but we're not sure because everything was closed. And then it started to rain. So, we got back on the train and went to Mall of America (where we were parked) and wandered around there for a while. So at least we could say we got to see something that day. On the good side, we discovered that we much prefer exploring cities in our own car than by transit. Valuable life lesson, that's for certain.

On Monday we went to the Science Museum of Minneapolis which was very fun! We played with the exhibits when the kids would let us (there were a lot of schools there) and read the signs and generally learned stuff. Good times. Also, we went to see a show the Omnitheatre which is an Imax that wraps around and over you. Very neat experience. I'm looking forward to doing that again. I think we could have spent a bit more time there to look at everything but we had to get back on the road to come home.

So, then we got back in the car to start the drive home and got lost downtown in rush-hour. That wasn't so much fun. But we got through the construction, detours, and strange routes and back on the freeway and headed home.

And I think that's it. Vince will add anything I missed. All things considered, it was a fun, relaxing, and interesting vacation. We're looking forward to going again because there's so many interesting things to do that we didn't even touch on. Yay! That's all for now!

Original composition!

Came across this. Jonathan, maybe you could write some music for this!
Dreams
We all have dreams
As little children we are told
We can become anything we want
However, as we get older
We begin to realize
That we can't always do what we want
The dreams we had, seem out of grasp
Sometimes we try for them, but fail
The important part to understand is can
Our dreams can come true, but they might not
Like a little boy sits on a saddle
His back slouches and his hand holds the reins loosely
A small bubble of gum forms from his mouth
The same colour of his plaid cowboy shirt
His big brown eyes are partially hidden
Under an oversized cowboy hat
And at the same time...
A student who dreams of becoming a musician
But never really thought he could
Is accepted into a school of music with a scholarship.
So dreams are important
If the fear of failure keeps us from our dreams
Then our dreams will never come true
It's like the little boy's bubble
Forming the gum in his mouth
Then blowing and trying to make a huge bubble
It is like when our dreams form
We go after it until we find either one of two things
The bubble explodes before it gets big
Or the bubble gets big and we stop blowing into it
The chance that the bubble will become huge
And won't explode, keeps us blowing bubbles
Just like the chance that our dreams can come true
Should always keep us dreaming.

mother's day...

we should start discussing when we are going to celebrate the mother's day festivities, which just so happens to be a very important day, seeing as how we have a great mother!! the day itself is completely out for kimberly and i because it's my last day, and there are many and various celebrations going on that day at church. pretty much anything else for me is good, and kimberly is off that weekend. let's discuss...

What a bomber...I mean bummer

Yesterday Ryan and I came home from spending the day in Winnipeg for my birthday, only to find a very interesting message on our answering machine...not that all the happy birthday messages weren't interesting, I loved them all, especially the singing. Anyways, it went something like this. "Hi, this is a message for Amanda Peters. This is Delroy Williams calling on behalf of the Blue Bombers. Could you please give me a call at this number at your earliest convenience. Thankyou." Interesting wouldn't you say? Who in the world is Delroy Williams and why was he calling me? Not Ryan, but me. Wierd. We got home too late to investigate anything last night, so first thing this morning I called the number. I was already starting to think that this was some sort of prank call or some sort of criminal wanting to take all my millions of dollars away. Well, those ideas were gone the second the answering machine of the Bomber office came on, dialed his extension number, and heard that same voice. Now my imagination was starting to pick up speed. Maybe I won something? Maybe they want me to play piano for something or other. Maybe they got me mixed up with Amanda Falk and wanted her to sing the national athem???!!! We even checked the Bomber website to see if this guy was a legitemate player/coach/office personal, and his name was no where to be found. Well, I left a message saying he could get a hold of me at work today. Well sure enough he called. By now I was all excited to have won a trip to Hawaii or something. Maybe someone entered my name into a draw, or maybe it was some sort of birthday gift or something. Well, after all the anticipation all he wanted was to know why I hadn't purchased season tickets this year, as I had attended a game last year. Well, I sure let him know that I had gone to over half the games with our season tix through the business, and the tix I had purchased were not even for myself. So, if any of you, family that is, purchased your own tickets apart from the business season tickets, I saved you the disaoppointment of a mysterious phonecall. What a bummer!
Have a great day, and a good laugh.
Amanda

House-warming Party

Hello everyone,
We have a housewarming party date. Sunday, April 15 from 3-6pm. It's a come-and-go thing. Sorry for those of you who have very busy Sunday's (K & J), but we just had to choose a date. Please tell other friends and family if you get the chance to talk with them. You are all welcome to stay longer if you like and play games, eat, etc. If you have any ?'s please ask, and we would love it if you could all make it and hangout with us.

Easter/Birthdays Celebrations!

I have heard some rumblings from our birthdays kids that they were having to plan their own party? So................is everyone on for Sunday supper at our house? You may all come any time in the afternoon, since Kim is working and won't be able to come till later. This is the official b.d. celebration as well..........so come prepared. See you then! Bring on the bunny hunt!!!!!!!!!!