Our Visit to the Frozen Tundra

In Mid-November, James and I took a long weekend trip to visit "Crazy Aunt Jeanne" for her Birthday. Now, Jeanne and Erik recently moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, so this was quite the adventure for both of us. I hate the cold and James had never been on a plane before, PLUS Q had to work so we attempted this feat by ourselves. Luckily, all went well with the flights, the layovers and plane changes, and all of the transportation. Jeanne's lucky! If it had been a disaster I don't know that I would have done it again....

This is James sitting in his car seat on the first leg of the flight. We flew out at 6am in hopes that he would sleep but no such luck as you can see. We got into Minneapolis at about 2 in the afternoon, and I look like a GIANT disaster but we took a picture in the airport anyway to prove we survived the flight in good spirits. Since it's not cold here in Southern California, Jeanne greeted us at the airport with fleece booties and an adorable hat with ears that James is modeling for us.
Once we got back to Jeanne and Erik's apartment the excessive documentation of the weekend began. Here is James and Jeanne hanging out on her couch.
And James, Erik and I in the hallway of their apartment building, randomly posing since James' hat is so adorable.
James and Erik cuddling up on the couch in the morning.
Jeanne and I at the Mall of America....cause you just CAN'T go to Minneapolis and NOT go to the mall!
Later that afternoon, Jeanne and I went to visit Erik at work and have lunch. James couldn't partake in the Chipotle burrito that I was having so he decided that the table would be a tasty snack.
Jeanne and Erik posed for a photo while James reached for his favorite toy of the weekend....a paper cup filled with ice....
He tried to get the whole thing in his mouth without much success......
Here is James sitting contentedly in his carseat in Jeanne's bug, showing off the hat that his Aunt Carol made him.
Q and I are big fans of a show on the Food Network called Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Well, apparently MN is home to a huge assortment of awesome hole-in-the-wall restaurants and I just HAD to try the Wienery after seeing it online. So, I dragged Jeanne and Erik out in the freezing cold to have hot dogs. The food was AMAZING and the place was tiny and completely awesome...
The Menu:
Erik, James and I in front of the "Kitchen"
James apparently loves live music. He sat at watched Erik play the guitar for at least 45 minutes while Jeanne and I made a swiss cheese fondue for her birthday dinner.
When Jeanne and my Dad drove to MN as she was moving they documented their trip with "Stick Bug" (don't ask...the story's too long for this blog :-) ) So, we thought it was appropriate to get a picture with stick bug too! and we have NO IDEA why there are random Charlie Brown statues all over St. Paul...but we got a photo with the one near their house anyway.
One of the last things we did on our tour of the city was visit a Childrens Bookstore called "The Wild Rumpus." It is a completely amazing place. There were tons of animals running around with the kids, more (like a Ferret and a Chinchilla) hanging out in cages, a teeny tiny door for the kids to use, a tree house for them to play in and of course TONS of books.

Here's the chicken wandering around....


And James trying to say HI once it went to it's home...
We played with a Giraffe hand puppet in the toy section.
And spent some time petting the kitties.and then we headed home. Back to the warmth of the OC and the craziness of the holidays.