August 19th - Headed home

We had a layover in Dallas and I found this great little kids play area where everything was padded including the floor. It was a great place for the kids to run and climb and burn off some energy before the last leg home.

August 18th - Heart of the City Park

After dinner on our last night, the kids ran around in Burnsville's Heart of the City Park.




Charlie loved Rusty - "Puppy Dog".

August 18th - The Mall of the America

Every now and then throughout the year, Jack talks about going to the "Mall of the 'merica". We finally made it to the mall on our last full day in Minnesota. Since we last visited at Christmas, the amusement park had completed it's transformation to Nickelodeon Universe. The place had Dora, Diego, the Wonder Pets, Backyardigans - all of our family favorites. We rode on Diego's rescue rider, Dora's ferris wheel, and the Wonder Pet's fly boat. We also hit the old classics like the big rigs and the merry-go-round. Fun times!

August 17th - Boating on Lake Minnetonka

Today my friend Jen took us out on her boat. We cruised around Lake Minnetonka with Jen & Joe - a very Minnesota thing to do. We stopped off at an island and played in the water for a while. Then Ronny and I did some water skiing. It was the first time I had waterskied in 14 years. It felt great! The boys loved being on the boat!

August 16th - A visit with the cousins

On Saturday, we got all of the Hanson cousins together.

The gang of second cousins was pretty impressive - 8 kids including 4 3-year-old boys. Ladies first starting from the upper right corner we have Erin (11), April (8), Espen (3), Ben (8), Jack (3), Cooper (3), Charlie (1.5), and Jacob (3).

While Charlie and Espen napped, the rest of the kids went to the park to burn off some energy.

When we were growing up, we would often take a picture of the cousins with Grandma and Grandpa. We did it from tallest to shortest, which changed from year to year. We joked about the height order, but I didn't realize that we actually were in order for the picture until I wrote this post.

August 15th - Meanwhile, back at the ranch

While we were off on the Segways, the boys were playing back at Grandma's house.

Peaceful brothers

Typical brothers

August 15th - Minneapolis Segway Tour

Today we went on a "Magical History Tour" of the Minneapolis riverfront on Segways. It was so much fun. We learned about the Stone Arch Bridge, St. Anthony Falls, Boom Island, flour mills, Nicollet Island, and much more. Here we are below in missing-man-formation. Katherine - you really should have been with us! We missed you!!!

August 14th - The Children's Museum

Today we went to the Minnesota Children's Museum.

There was an exhibit about fairy tales. Jack climbed Jack's beanstalk, which had a slide on the other side. The boys also rode in Cinderella's carriage.

The boys crawled through giant ant holes, but Charlie wasn't too sure about this giant ant.

For lunch we went to Mickey's Diner, which I had never been to before. The grownups had cheeseburgers and the boys had pancakes. They loved their breakfast-for-lunch treat.

We went back to the museum for more fun after lunch. One of Charlie's favorite places to play was in the lockers.




The boys drove a bus, went grocery shopping, and cooked up some food at a restaurant.

Above - Uncle Joel arrived this afternoon and he came bearing gifts. Charlie got a cute bear and Jack got an Air Force One playset, which was super cool. (Thanks Katherine!) Even Mom and Dad got something - a humongous Washington DC mug.

Below - Jack found Grandma's wrist braces and said, "When I break my arms, this is what I will wear."