As always, we flew up to Minnesota for Christmas again. We booked our flights late, so we ended up flying on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve with a layover in Dallas for a bit of a price break. There is only one direct flight from New Orleans to Minneapolis which was already full, so next year we will remember to book it early. We stayed at a hotel in downtown Minneapolis when we arrived Christmas Eve.
On Christmas day, we made our way up to Mora for Christmas with the family.
And while it was cold, it wasn't cold enough to keep us inside and off the sled hill Grandpa made in the back yard!
Cassidy's first run down the hill with Daddy quickly turned into "I'll go by myself". She had a blast!
Cassidy wanted to go ice skating, but we didn't have skates her size. She settled for a walk on the lake, which lasted only as long as the first time she slipped, and then she was done.
She made snow angels with Grandpa too!
On Friday we made our way back down to the cities and visited the Zoo with Grandma, Grandpa, Jen, and cousins Zoe, Luke, and Tristan!
After the zoo, we checked into the hotel by the Mall of America where we would spend the rest of our trip. We chose this hotel because of the cool pool area complete with a small water park area with a small slide and fountains in a 2 foot deep pool. Grandma, Grandpa, Jen, Zoe, Tristan, and Luke joined us for the night to hang out at the pool. Cassidy had a fabulous time swimming with her cousins.
On Saturday we went to the Mall of America for some shopping and amusement park rides! We started out the day with some swimming followed by lunch at Noodles. We told Cassidy we'd go to the amusement park when we were done shopping. She lasted longer than I expected shopping, but a nap in the stroller led to some extra peaceful shopping time for us!
On Sunday, we met up with the K's who were in the area for Christmas with their family! We met at the coolest indoor park I've ever seen, complete with a crazy big climbing area, a gymnaseum with bikes, balls, and a bounce house, and a swimming pool.
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| Cassidy is very short for her age, and Sydney is very tall. Even so, Cassidy looks even shorter next to her than I remember from June. |
Around lunch time, we called it quits and headed back to the hotel for naptime. Daddy and Uncle Jeremy met up at the Metrodome for the Vikings/Packers game while Cassidy and I had quality nap time, pool time, and a nice dinner at the hotel restaurant. We had planned to head back to the mall for more rides, but they closed at 7pm on sundays, much to Cassidy's disappointment.
We had a wonderful visit, as usual. Thank you to everyone who made it a Merry Christmas for us!
