Memorial Day Fun

I was brave enough to head north for the long weekend with Ella - alone. Dan was scheduled to be in a hockey tourney (ask him how much ice time he got) and I had a family wedding where Dan had never met my cousin the groom. So I took off Thursday night when my boss gave our team Friday off at the last minute and I managed to get packed in just over an hour!

Ella got to see her cousins for the second time in just a month! This time the weather was good they got lots of outdoor time. The highlight was a trip to the Rainforest Cafe at Mall of America. Ella & Wylie loved the animals and the thunderstorms in the restaurant, but Kasey was pretty scared. They also did a little playing at Lego Land - as you'll see in the picture with JoLynn.

Poor ten month old Tori misses most of the excitement, but I wanted to make sure we got a picture of her up, too! She is hates to sit still and is crawling all over the place. She is about 18 pounds, which is great when you think about her being less than three pounds at birth last summer. One of the last little worries is an upcoming eye test - I'll let you know when she clears that last hurdle!

I had a great time at the wedding last night, other than having tornado sirens going off while watching the slide show at the reception. It was the first Jewish ceremony I've been to and was held in a beautiful garden. The rain held off until we were inside for the reception. My mom and sisters and I went and saw many cousins and aunts and uncles we hadn't seen in several years. Below is my cousin Kent, an honorary sister, since he lived with us for a few months when I was in junior high. More pictures are in the Memorial Day album.

Ella is such a lucky girl that she got to see both of her grandmas at once today! Ella stayed at JoLynn's while I was at the wedding last night and Joyce brought her to our hotel this morning. We had breakfast with Aunt Jen before everyone getting back on the road to sit in holiday traffic.