The Parsons: Minnesota

Wow, I am really behind.
I think we went to Minnesota back in the beginning of November.
Jill planned the trip to go see B + T and baby Cora.
Alysha had work, Ryan had school, Karrissa was too close to having a baby
and then there was me.. little old me with no luck finding a job
and not much else going on
So Luca and I thought it would be fun to tag along!
We were grateful for the invite
We sure do miss our B and T! And we couldn't wait to meet baby Coraline.

Tashy, of course, was the bestest hostess around!
We walked in at about 11 pm to an armatures blown up for us and all set up cute
Her chalkboard welcome sign for us
and all my favorite treats in the cupboard
She knows how to make a girl feel special!
Just one of the many reasons I love this girl!

We had lots of fun days full of great activities.

My memory is already lost.. (I truly am going to have Alzheimers when i'm older.. hide and watch.)

So.. I don't remember what we did on what specific day

But we went out to all of B and T's favorite food spots

Mall of America

St. Paul Cathedral

To a little town by the border of Wisconsin and had the most delicious fried cheese curd

and roamed around cute little shops!

Lounged and watched movies

We had it set up so that Luca would sleep in the pack n play right by the blow up mattress that Jill and I would be sharing

Well.. Luca didn't love that plan on night one..

and he was just so sleepy from traveling

So Jill, being the selfless person that she is 110% of the time, opted to sleep on the couch

So Luca slept with me and we lined the other side of the bed with pillows

This made me slightly nervous, but I knew it was the only way any of us would get sleep

Needless to say, he really liked that sleeping arrangement and it stayed that way the remainder of the trip.

He loved that blow up mattress. Seriously it was so great.

We would just hang out on there during the day and he loved to just be in the middle of all the action and not down on the floor.

I truly thought we were going to have to set one up in our living room when we got home

it was just too convenient and fun!

Yummy breakfast at their fav place the next morning.

Cora's darling nursery!

baby snuggles!!

We ended up putting the pack n play in Cora's room for Luca to take naps in

He had a real fluffy set up.. it made me slightly nervous, but he seemed to really like it

and look how comfy it looks!? Babies want to sleep comfy cozy sometimes too!

He did get a little sweaty though.

It was so adorable how much Luca loved baby Cora!

He would just look at her and laugh!

it was the sweetest thing.

I just know these two are going to be best buds

yummiest pizza at Black Sheep

Just hanging out on the mattress.. I'm telling ya, we loved it!

Mall of America Day!

Coraline Ann was totally exhausted just thinking of all the shopping ahead of us!

This is just one of the parking garages. When I took this picture I thought it was THE parking garage

which was so crazy to me.. but no.. there were a few more! absolutely insane!

On one of the sides of the mall there is a whole theme park type of area

Complete with roller coasters, a river raft ride, ferris wheel, zip lining, and more.

It was crazy! You could spend a whole day just in this one little part.

Next day-- headed to cute little town on the border of Minnesota and Wisconsin
that I, of course, don't remember the name of.
water something?
Stillwater maybe?
something like that..

a little baby cora takin a nap!

This dog was in one of the boutique stores we went to

She belonged to the owner

and she was so cute!

Best thing.. she lovvveedd babies!

The owner told us that but I didn't fully believe it until I saw how absolutely happy it made her to see baby Luca. It was too cute!

I took his car seat out of the stroller and down onto the ground so she could be closer to him

and she would give him kisses

then when I put him back up into the stroller she would try and sniff up in there cuts she just wanted to see him again. It truly was the sweetest!

We got back to the car and I peeked in on Luca to find his hat down over his head like this.

Chewing on his favorite toy.. a spatula.

I even packed his own spatula.. and you better believe it saved us a few times on the plane!

We watched UP.. and he fell asleep on me. and I loved every bit of it.

But before that.. Jill made me a quesadilla and delivered it to my bed! haha

She's the best.

I got Cora to smile real big one time.. and it was the cutest!

Plus.. check out those chubby arms!! love her!

Next up, our day at St. Paul Cathedral

Seriously.. how beautiful is this place?!

It was my first time in a cathedral.. and I was in awe of the beauty!

Wait.. I think I went in one in New York when I was younger..

But I was like 8..

and I don't remember it.. I can just real a picture from there.

Again about the Alzheimers thing... :|

Luca scratching the wall..

he did this for awhile where he would scratch and feel things.. and I miss it!

later... or the next day.. we took a drive around

and looked at fancy houses

and stopped for some ice cream

I am terrified of snow.. for those of you who aren't aware..

and I had been checking the weather and it said there was a huge storm coming in that night

We were supposed to leave the next morning.

I was terrified for multiple reasons.

I didn't want to have to drive on the roads to the airport in the snow

and I didn't want to take off in a plane on a snowy runway

(everyone reassured me that this was a silly fear because snow has nothing on huge planes..

but i'm pretty sure the bigger the vehicle.. the scarier it seems in snow.)

Anways.. we woke up he next morning to this..

It was Luca's first time seeing snow.

Tried taking one last picture of them together and Cora wasn't having it.

Until I stuck in the binky!

Scary roads... this is on the freeway.. and I wasn't loving it

I just closed my eyes

and I think tasty held my hand to comfort me.

I was so glad that B was able to leave school and take us.

I didn't want anything to happen to my sweet little baby..

But.. he was sound asleep.

On the plane!

It took us about an hour to even take off

because of having to deice the plane and such

so that added to our plane ride

But Luca really did such a great job.

Although, this plane ride was significantly different than the ride to Disneyland

He was much more curious this time around and wanted to touch and see everything in sight!

Finally fell asleep.. and the flight attendant let me know that he needed to be buckled if he was in his own seat.. "It doesn't have to be tight.. it just needs to be around him"

Oh.. okay lady. because this is really going to do something to protect him!

I'm so sure.

But I was so grateful that our plane wasn't full and that we were able to have a seat for him both on the way there and back.

Although, on the way back home we asked the guy and he said the flight was totally full, which I figured it would be because of the weather and lots of canceled flights..

So.. I checked his car seat at the gate

But as we sat there and the plane filled

there were so many empty seats

and Jill and I just kept saying.. there is no way these are going to fill up

and sure enough. they didn't.

I was pretty angry that that man didn't even take the time to check if the plane was full or not.

Oh well.. it worked out that he slept on the empty seat anyway!