Minnesota

After both of your trips to LA with mommy you flew to Minnesota to see my family. You didn't know I was going to meet you there. I flew in a couple hours before your flight and surprised both of you at the gate. Grandpa picked us up and we headed to their house.

Then my sister, Caroline came over with her husband (Uncle Larry) and the boys. We were excited to see Jonathan (he likes to go by John now) because he is only 13 but is 6'2" like me. Wow! Here we all are with James.

I did my little Sophia trick where you stand on my hands and I lift you up. Everyone was impressed.

Here's Jonathan and Auntie Caroline. You can see how big Jonathan is.

The next day we went over to their house. They have a basement that is being refinished by Larry. There was a drum kit down there that you loved playing with.

They also had a Wii that I hadn't tried out before. It was actually pretty hard to play.

James was very enamored with you and Caden. I think he liked the fact that there were some people younger than him to play with. You took a liking to James too. In fact you were a little scared of Jonathan because he was so big!

You also picked up the microphone and tested out your singing capabilities.

One day we went to the Mall of America because they have an amusement park in the middle. You rode the carousel (your favorite.)

Something called the Frog Hopper that goes up and down.

And a Red Baron airplane.

Everyone was excited to see Caden because this was the first time they had seen him. Everyone commented on how big he was.

We also went to a fun little amusement park in the library in Woodbury. It had slides and jumping areas and climbing nets. You just loved it.

Then one day we went to the Walker Art Museum. It's changed a lot since I was there. They built a new addition. But they still have my favorite exhibit which is a big fish made of glass. You were shocked by how big it was.

You were very squirmy and mischievous so I took you outside of the museum after a few minutes and we played on the steps outside. Your favorite new toy was a Dora and unicorn figurine.

The other great exhibit outside is the giant spoon and cherry. Here's the Best family.

And here you can see how big Jonathan has grown.

We have all the size groups represented in the family.

We also stopped by to see old friends who used to live in Dumbo but moved back to Minnesota.

You kept an eye on Caden.

But got some time in with Henry, their little boy.

And every day we went to the playground near the Best's house. You are quite the climber. I have to keep an eye on you.

Look how strong you are. You can hang for quite a while on your own.

With a little help you were able to monkey bar your way across.

Afterwards we headed back home where you helped Caroline water the plants. Later we had a bonfire and made some s'mores. Yummy.

Heres some videos...