Whew, ok, a bit about the weekend :)

Today's off to a good start, so here's a quick recap of the weekend with my sister :)

I flew up there on Thursday and when Elizabeth picked me up we went to find food and ate at a cute French restaurant that had a patio. The weather was great up there- about 70 degrees with very little humidity. Then we drove around a little and went back to the apartment. We hung out there the rest of the evening and caught a late TV movie.

Friday we went to the Mall of America and found some great sales including Old Navy with 1/2 off everything Men's :) Good timing with Father's Day, yes, but also Mike's birthday the same week! I also got cute American Flag shirts for the 4 kids again so I can do another photo! The treasure of being an American is still there, very much. I will always be proud to dress my two little ones that got their citizenship a year ago in clothes that say "All American", ones with American Flags, and similar things. What a neat way that God brought them not just to our home, but to a country that recognizes their worth (well, still a LONG way to go there, but still so VERY different from where they came from).

Friday evening we met up with friends of mine- Both families are from Reece's Rainbow and each brought their kids too! I met a sweet little Ukrainian princess for the first time along with her big brother and sister, and 4 other sweethearts adopted from other countries abroad (not through RR) and that family is considering a RR child in the near future. We had a nice time visiting and getting to spend time with these families!

Saturday we headed over to the Farmer's Market and bought some fruit and snacks then went outlet shopping. We didn't buy much but enjoyed the time together walking around and talking. I did get my girls cute sundresses at Baby Gap and found some $2 sleeveless t-shirts for Kristopher at Gymboree though :). We also went to a maternity consignment store that Elizabeth's boss had recomended. I found a nice shirt there and also... a swimsuit! YAY! LOL I've been swimming in a tank top and board shorts most of the time so it'll be nice to have an actual suit that 'fits'. Best of all, usually maternity suits are upward of $40 and this one was... $9 :) Love it when that happens :)

In the evening we went to see the movie My Life In Ruins. It was cute. Not a spectacular "oh, you've GOT to see it" but it was cute. We'd read reviews befoe going and we got what we expected- entertainment with a cute storyline.

Sunday we decided to drive over to Como Park Zoo and on our way out heard from another family up there that they would join us at the Zoo, so we met up with L and her daughter at the zoo for a few hours. Her daughter is just adorable, such a sweet girl and so articulate. She's 13 years old and it was a pleasure to meet them both!

From there we met back up with friends from the dinner on Friday night. They have 2 daughters with Ds and an older son. S and I talk regularly online so it was great to meet her children and see the house she's been working so much on! Her gardens are beautiful! I wish I could do half as much to my yard! :) After a few hours of hanging out we all went to the local Ds picnic. (Thanks L for the phone call reminder!)

At the picnic... wouldn't you know... there's another mom that I've known online for probably 2 years and she's there with her husband and 5 kiddos. She's also expecting a baby just a few days away from jellybean. We hadn't met before but it was great to meet her and spend a little time with her and a few of the kids... most were off and busy :). After talking with A for a few minutes I noticed another familiar face. K and her family were there too! Two years ago when I went up to MN we met up with her family but they were camping this weekend and didn't think it would work out to meet up, but they'd come home early and decided to go to the picnic :) I can't believe how big her boys are now!

This weekend was great, lots of fun visits, nothing major in the way of plans, just lots of walking and hanging out! It's always nice to get a little break here and there and I thoroughly enjoyed my time away! Thanks, Elizabeth, for letting me come up and for taking off work to hang out this weekend!

A few pics from our zoo trip are on Elizabeth's blog, and here's a quick shot of the two of us... we, um, forgot to get a pic together until we were at the airport and I was leaving!