Mall of America

Saturday we met Jamie's mom at the Mall of America. As one of her birthday gifts to the boys she got the wrist bands for the rides there. Josh and Jen also drove down since Josh's birthday is March 9th. We spent the day at the park and also had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Kyle had a basketball tournament up in the cities. So Cory, Kathy, and Kyle met us in the park to visit and watch. Kam and one of his friends came up also.



Here is a map of the Nickelodeon Universal park that is in the Mall of America.



The first place we went to was Lego Land. They have an area with bins of different Lego's and you can build different things. This started the "can I have that" right away for the day.

There is one area that you can build racing cars and race them down a track. Seth and Jakob really got into this.

Then it was on to the park.

The first ride we went on was the Fairly Oddparents coaster. This ride was crazy. It spun around as it went down the track. Seth and I loved it. Jamie and Jakob, not so much.

Next was the Log Chute. Jakob had been wanting to go on that since I showed him the website the night before. He was so excited to get to it. As we were waiting in line Seth looked up at me and told me his stomach was frustrated from the coaster. This made me giggle and I told him mine was a little frustrated too. So I think it was a good thing we went to a more gentle ride next.

Let's see the other rides we went on were The SpongeBob SquarePants Rock Bottom Plunge. This coaster was intense. Seth was so excited to be able to get on it. We were worried that he might be to short, but he just made it. Jakob was very nervous, but wanted to try it. The first hill went straight up and then right down and did a loop. Seth wanted to do it again, but Jake was not so convinced to do it again. We also rode the Pepsi Orange Streak coaster. This coaster was not so intense, but it takes you all over the park. We rode the Ghost Blaster which is like a haunted house, but you try to shoot the ghost with laser guns. Seth got mad at Jamie cause he was shooting all the ghost and not letting him get them. Jake kicked my butt at this ride. Then we went on to the Backyardigans Swing-Along.

As we were waiting in line for the swing Jake sat and watched the Avatar ride. Which is like a big surf board and the seats on top of it spin as you go back and forth. Neither one wanted to try that ride, which I was very happy about.

While the boys waited in line I went and took a couple pictures of some items in the park. The first one is the home plate from the Met's stadium that use to be there before they turned it into the mall.

And also the chair that Harman Killebrew hit his longest home run at the Met Stadium.

Here is Cheryl waiting for the boys to get on the ride.

Jamie showing me how scary the ride was.

A couple of side notes:

1. Our stupid well froze again. We called a different guy to look at it this time. And it only took him 30 minutes to thaw it out rather then 3 hours. I'm sure we will call him again.

2. Carmen's dog got his certification. So she will probably bring the other dog out to practice in April.

3. My sister-in-law got engaged last Friday. Joe proposed to her while they were on their walk near the mountains. If you would like to read the website you can go to http://joesnewhouse.blogspot.com Congrats guys!!!

Here is a picture of the ring and Corrina, Joe and Kodah.

Rescue Dog

One of Jamie's co-workers is training her dog to be a rescue dog. So for practice she asked Jamie if she could bring her dog out to our place and let him find him and the boys. She needed to practice for his up coming test. Plus she wanted it to be with someone the dog has not met yet and a new location.

So Jamie drove the truck from the garage up to the pole shed so his scent would be in the truck. Then Jamie and the boys headed into the woods to get lost.

Once Carmen got to the house. She wiped the steering wheel and door handle with a special sealed cloth and then placed it in the Ziploc bag. She made sure never to touch the cloth herself. She only wanted Jamie's scent on the piece of cloth.

Then Carmen got the dog out of the truck. Hooked up the working harness. Let the dog take a sniff and off they went to find the boys.

From what I understand the most important point for the dog is to follow Jamie's scent and not the boys. So at one point Jamie broke off the trail and did a big loop and then Jakob did the same thing. The dog followed Jamie's loop, but not Jakob's. Then when she found them the dog was suppose to go up to Jamie and not the boys. Sounds like he did a good job.

And most important he found them.

Here are some photos I took in Duluth this weekend. Enjoy.

Ice Fishing Tournament & Teeth Teeth & More Teeth

So Saturday was Valentines and to show how much Jamie loves me he took us all on an ice fishing tournament. It was a family tournament on Lac Courte Oreilles Lake. Josh got us registered and also got us raffle tickets.

We got out to the lake around 8:30 and the tournament started at 9:00. I don't think Josh was very happy with us that we were that late.

Jamie and the boys drilling holes in the ice for the tip ups.

Josh getting the ice fishing house ready to go.

Next I would show you a picture of all the fish we caught......but we didn't get a dang thing. Not one bite. I wanted to stay for the raffle, but there were soooo many people. And Seth was complaining that he had to go to the bathroom and he of course didn't want to go there. Next thing we know he lets out a "I can't take it anymore." And proceeds to throw up all over himself. Good times had by all.

Now the teeth. For awhile Seth has had a really loose tooth and he wouldn't let anyone near him to look at it. Well I guess he would let me wiggle it, but if I acted like I was going to pull it he ran. Then one day we were out sledding in the backyard and he was showing Jamie his tooth. It was so gross the tooth was shooting straight out of his mouth. I asked him if I could look at it. I grabbed it and yanked it right out. He didn't even feel a thing that's how loose it was.

And then there is Jakob with all his loose teeth. We have been chasing him around the house also. Most of the time they weren't lose enough, but I think Jamie likes to torment the boys. Jamie finally got one of his top teeth out a few weeks ago.

Sunday after church Jamie was once again trying to get a hold of Jakob's teeth. They fought for awhile but Jamie finally won and got two teeth out. Poor guy he looks like a Jack-o-Lantern now.