We flew to MN on August 2nd for what is becoming an annual Roslansky family getaway. As always (knock on wood) the kids were fabulous on the flight. Ashley was so excited about drinking water out of Daddy's cup!
We got in around 8pm and spent Friday night at Jim and Annie's since we were heading out from there for Arrowood Resort in Alexandria the next morning. We enjoyed a late dinner of Leeann Chin's (an old staple when we lived there) and got a good nights rest....well, some of us. Ashley was up every 3 hours. Not sure if she just doesn't like sleeping in a pack-n-play, teething, or just plain sucks at traveling. Ugh. But we were up and ready when Nana and Papa Steve arrived. First things first, we took a Roslansky family photo. Nana bought the kids coordinating outfits and the rest of us chose our own outfits from a pre-selected color selection. We don't have a pic of the large group but here is our family!
And a cute one of Papa Steve with the boys...
...and then with the girls. So precious!
Jim, Brian and the boys rode up in one car while Sara, Annie and the girls rode up in another. Nana and Papa Steve were on their own. Because we each took a different route due to traffic and conflicting navigation system directions, the girls plus Nana and Papa Steve ate at Taco Johns while the boys ate at Pizza Ranch (both MN staples). Yet after checking in, one of the first stops was to the activity center for the kids (and Annie) to make a cookie.
After having dinner at the resort dock restaurant, we went on the pontoon ride. Ashley is all content with her baby blues.
That is until she has to wear her life jacket. Then we had a very unhappy camper on our hands.
The boys didn't seem to mind their jackets!
And once we snuck Ashley's jacket off, we had our happy girl back!
A loon welcomed us. What a neat sound we heard!
Jim and crew. Elena was lucky enough to be on a boat the weekend before so she got used to her life jacket then!
We're not joking when we say that Trevor and Ashley have an incredible bond. They love each other so much. Trevor can't stop tickling her or anything else to make her smile.
Pure love!
We tried to get a family pic on the pontoon but Trevor was not in the mood to smile for the camera so this is as good as it gets!
Sara's Mom snapped this picture on her phone and when she showed it to us she said, 'and there is Grandma Kelly shining down on you Sara.' Literally :) Miss her so so much!
After getting off the boat we tried to get another family picture. Not much better but we're thankful for the memory!
Every night the resort has marshmallow making. Well who doesn't like a toasted marshmallow? Or in the case of Trevor, why toast a perfectly good marshmallow? The kid must have had 5 of them straight out of the bag!
After that sugar high the boys got some energy out running to the playground!
On Sunday we hit the indoor waterpark. Annie and Brian took the boys on the tube water slides until Jim and Brian started racing on the non-tube slides!
On Sunday we also switched to the cottage portion of our stay which was nice so we could all be in the same house. Nana always comes prepared with new toys, books and activities for the kiddos. These transformers were definite hits with the boys!
Every day we headed to the activity center for cookie making. It was also a nice way for the boys to wear off some of their energy with a long run!
We enjoyed time at the beach. Apparently the water wasn't too cold for the boys, just their Mommy's!
Well maybe a little cold!
The boys are super competitive with each other. Every single thing seemed to be a little fight. Words such as 'I'm the winner' and 'I was playing with that' will forever be etched in our minds. Ah, 3 year old boys :) But then the next minute they are BFFs. Not this time at the beach though. They much preferred to play independently. Trevor was very serious that he wasn't setting the green boat down in worry that Sam would take it.
Such a Sam look too!
Nana was in her glory...listening to waves splash against the sand and having her family all nearby!
The big boys were holding down the cottage with the napping daughters. Glad Jim or Papa Steve snapped this pic of father/daughter. Cute!
Ashley was in her glory crawling everywhere, including under the end table....just like Trevor used to do at our old house in MN! The way we have our furniture arranged in AZ, she just can't do this!
Trevor and Sam attempted to play a game but as you can see it ended with Trevor telling Sam he wasn't playing right. Complete with hand on hip. Priceless!
The rest of us enjoyed some sun on the front porch!
Then the big boys took the paddles and ball to see how many times they could hit it back and forth. The answer was not too many but it helped the little ones work on their counting!
Nana and Papa Steve with their granddaughters. They gave them little soft dolls to play with...or chew as was the case with Ashley. We named Ashley's Lulu :)
Elena usually army crawls but has been going up on all fours a little more. Well, guess who was watching and copying her! Our little cutie!
Hi Elena!
Precious brother/sister picture even with Sam's new scratch on his face!
That evening we ventured down to the lake for some family photos.
Oh look who decided to finally smile! Yay!
Nana and Papa and their grandkids!
Daddy's totem pole!
Thanks to Nana, the boys had matching Superman jammies. They thought it was kinda cool...for a second anyway!
The adults had a fun night playing cards and partaking in some drinky-poos. No, Sara didn't win ;)
On Monday the boys wanted to go to the indoor pool so we checked that out. Ashley took her morning nap in the bjorn.
Until she woke up sweating because it was so warm in the pool area! So then she got cuddles from Nana Jeanne!
We had a lot of fun all swimming together!
Trevor showed off his floating skills for Uncle Jim.
And Jim rewarded him by throwing him up in the air!
Trevor loved it and wanted Uncle Jim to do it over and over and over!
And here is where the vacation takes on a different direction. After we got back to the cottage, gave the kids baths and put the girls down for naps, we sat down at the dining table for lunch. While we were finishing up we heard what we would think a bomb exploding would sound like. And Sara felt a rock graze her right hair and ear. That's how close it was!! Jim realized right away that the guy mowing the lawns shot a rock through the glass and went out to get his attention. Sara knew it was a rock right away and where it landed because she saw and felt it breeze right by her. How scary!!!
Jim was sitting with his back to the window (here on the left) with Annie to the the right. The rock went right between them and to the right of Sara who was sitting in the chair in the bottom right of this picture....
....then hit and shattered the lamp (which also caused a secondary explosion sound) before landing on the ground. Luckily it hit the lamp because it could have hit Sam who was sitting in the leather chair. So so scary!
No joke that the river rock was at least 4"x6" as you can see from the glass break below. Jim actually kept the rock as a souvenir. It was so scary....Jim had ringing in his ears for hours, Annie and Brian had glass cuts, Sara somehow missed getting glass in her eye thanks to quick reflexes but it was just amazing that was it. If we would have been sitting differently or the rock came in at just a slightly different angle it would have been a different story. We would have been at the hospital or the morgue. That rock could have caused lights out for someone if hit right :( Needless to say we were all a bit shakened up by what could have been!
We called the front desk right away because the cottage would have to be cleaned from top to bottom but that made us nervous with two crawlers scooting everywhere and putting even the smallest item in their mouth. The front desk person didn't really understand the situation and said that the general manager and assistant manager were on conference calls. Jim pressed a bit and pretty soon the golf manager (the only manager on duty) showed up and was speechless. He was just in awe and stammered out of there to get help. Soon after that the general manager (who was participating in a charity golf event) came down and couldn't apologize enough. Apparently someone was trying to take a short cut and used the deck mower rather than the push mower for the small areas in front of the cottages. He basically asked what we wanted and set it up beyond our expectations. They moved us into the only two cottages available that night, gave us a dinner at the resort's main restaurant, paid for our entire stay this year and paid for our 3 night getaway next year. Of course we appreciated his generosity but we were all so shook up we were just glad we were alive. We lived it up at dinner later that night though ;)
Ashley woke up with all of the commotion so Sara took her to the activity center so she could stretch her legs without worrying about glass on the floor. The little boys came along too and they were perfectly content making cookies and playing with the toys.
To pass the time Sara made Ashley and Elena bracelets. Good for a photo opp, not so good to actually wear in fear that they'd bite of a bead and swallow it.
While the other cottages got cleaned and the big boys packed and moved everything we took the kids to the beach. Ashley still wasn't a fan of the sand!
However, the boys got along well this time and they built multiple sand castles together!
Left to discover (and learn to like) the sand...Ashley started to get into it. Literally! As if we didn't feed her enough she decided to eat sand. And like it! Ick!!
We also had time to take the boys to the waterpark before getting settled into our new cottages and low and behold the boys continued to love being around each other. Thank God!!
No really, thank God! For everything, for life! That situation could have gone so differently. It certainly would not have happened the same way another time. We had many guardian angels watching out over all of us! That experience kind of gave us all a new perspective on life...cuz you never know when it might be taken from you. We were a close family before that, but somehow we're even a little more appreciative of one another now. Brian even said the sweetest thing to Jim about the possibility of losing Sara. No need to document it here because Sara will never forget it ♥
That evening after getting settled into the new cottages we let Brian do his fire thing and make a camp fire. He loves this task! And we're glad he does because we love s'mores!
Trevor got in on the action to toast his marshmallow but it was all a big act. We learned that he much prefers them non-toasted and sandwiched between two bars of chocolate instead of graham crackers. Well some of us like the traditional s'mores anyway.
Sam's 4th birthday and party are coming up but not until after we leave MN so we celebrated his special day a little early and gave him his presents from us while around the campfire.
Gotta love Nana Jeanne cuddles! Ashley seems to be thinking huh, I'd like one of those s'more things you all are eating!
And while the sun was setting we got a few pics of our most willing model :)
But then all the kiddos joined in.
That evening nobody felt like cards so we hung out on the front porch and chatted. It was hilarious that Brian's blood has thinned so much from living in AZ that he had to be wrapped in a blanket while sitting out there and still complained of being cold! Sara on the other hand loved the chilly weather! She could have slept outside!
On Tuesday morning we hit the waterpark for a little bit. Ashley slept in her infant carrier with Nana Jeanne watching her while the three of went down slide after slide after slide! We worked up quite the appetite so we stopped at Pizza Ranch on the way home. Trevor's favorite slice? The cinnamon dessert pizza!
We drove by our old home in Golden Valley and couldn't believe that down the street in their usual spot were five turkeys! Some things just never change!
When close to our house we asked Trevor to pick out which one was our old house and were surprised when he didn't know which one. The pic below shows our old house in the background and him having no recollection. Makes it a little easier to let the house go a little more :)
The house looked pretty good although the landscaping was totally overgrown. We imagine that happens when you have four kids (2 of which are 4 month old twins!). Brian commented that he didn't miss all of that yard work at all! We stopped at the park across the street and Trevor assumed his old position on the swings!
As well as climbing across the wiggly bridge as he called it!
It was such a beautiful day for the park that it was hard to leave but we wanted to swing by a car dealership and look at a new/used Ford Explorer for Sara before getting Brian to the airport for his flight back to Arizona. Otherwise, we could have stayed at that park all afternoon! It felt just a little that we were back in MN for good.
On Wednesday when Trevor woke up from his nap he complained that his ear hurt Ugh. We all know what that means. The last time that happened in February, he had an ear infection. So we took him into the same-day clinic at the Owatonna hospital. Must have hurt pretty bad because he kept his hand up by it until it was diagnosed as an ear infection and he got some medicine!
While staying and Nana and Papa Steve's house, Ashley started doing 'so big'....so cute!
Trevor loved riding the bike!
We tried going for walks in the early evenings when the sun was setting. Ashley loved being pushed by Trevor and Trevor loved pushing Ashley!
On Thursday, Sara went up to the Cities and had a few 'meetings' with old co-workers and had lunch with her old team and boss. It was nice seeing everyone and introducing them to Ashley! She was a hit and such a good girl eating her food and cheerios and crawling all around the conference room! Sara also did some shopping at Target and got her jewelry cleaned downtown before heading to her friend Erin's for dinner. It was so nice to catch up with her and see her new house. Sara may have had a few tears saying goodbye. Sara's met some nice girlfriends in Arizona but none like her MN friends. Yet, anyway!
Trevor enjoyed his special day with Nana and Papa Steve while Mommy and Ashley were away. He enjoyed riding his race car:
And doing sidewalk chalk and playing cars and boats on the driveway. He especially loved when the UPS truck came and delivered a package. He loves helping!
Back to Cheerios....diva here will only eat them if they are whole. Give her a broken one and she will leave it on the tray. That is until she's really hard up for one and then she'll poke it at for a while before putting it in her mouth.
Ashley learned how to go up one stop while at Nana and Papa Steve's. But then she'd get stuck and cry until someone helped her out!
On Friday we drove to Northfield to meet the kids of Sara's cousin on the Roslansky side. They were in town from the East coast to visit their Grandparents. It was fun catching up and seeing the kids all play together!
Niels is two months older than Ashley but they both loved swinging!
Sara, Dan and the kiddos
Trevor gets in a lot of book reading with Nana Jeanne. She has every book imaginable. She could have a library!! Trevor though sticks to the tried and true. He definitely has his favorites!
On Saturday Papa Steve and Trevor went to Lowe's for the Build and Grow program and built Dusty (the airplane from the new Disney Planes movie). Trevor really enjoyed that special time with Papa Steve. When they got home Annie, Sam and Elena were there. They drove down to Owatonna for lunch and for Sam to have a sleepover!! Annie and Elena left during naps (well Sam just had quiet time, the soon to be four year old is outgrowing his naps). The boys had a really good time playing and going to the duck park to feed the ducks and having a campfire and making s'mores. They continue to learn how to be together without everything being a competition but Nana has good tricks up her sleeves to deal with it. Helps being a former kindergarten teacher!
Sara can hardly believe she didn't get a picture of Trevor with Dusty or the big sleepover but that's okay. We were busy living! On Sunday morning we packed up and headed to Jim and Annie's for a little get together with Double (Sara's Aunt Alice hence Double), Steve, Katie, Max and Anne. Although it doesn't look like it in this picture, Trevor and Max really had a good time playing together!
After that gathering we headed to Jeff and Dawn's! We got there around 4:15 and it was non-stop action until we left around 8:30! 5 kids and 3 adults was busy but oh so fun!! Lauren loved playing Mom to Ashley. She wanted to play, help change her diaper, feed her...you name it, Lauren was there to help. Sara said she was going to hire her :)
For dinner Jeff and Dawn made homemade pasta!! What a treat!! We'd never had that before and it was sure fun watching Jeff and the kids make it!
Trevor was much to into Brooke's Jake and the Neverland pirates ship to get a picture with the girls but at least we got the four girls. Dawn whipped out her good camera so she got a much better shot but this will suffice for the memory!! Love these kids so much. Can't wait to see them again in AZ over Thanksgiving! It will be nice that we won't have a newborn this year so we can be over at Grandma and Grandpa Hillins a lot more or out and about! Can't wait!
On Monday we started the day with a popsicle...while watching the golfers...in our jammies! Trevor's version of heaven!
Then we headed over to Waseca for the oh so yummy Yellow Mushroom pizza where Sara waitressed in high school and still craves to this day! Annie and kids made the drive to meet us there so Sam could see Trevor one last time until they come to AZ for a week mid-September! The pizza was just like Sara remembered and the kids got a DQ treat for the playground. Okay, adults too minus Nana who was at the dentist at that point.
The boys played hard and good naps were taken en route to our two homes! For our last evening in Minnesota we enjoyed a yummy grilled meal and Trevor requested a campfire. Although we figured out when he says campfire he really just wants a marshmallow. And chocolate of course. So we skipped the campfire and went straight for the goodies. Trevor also became a huge fan of slush while at Nana and Papa Steve's! Probably had 2 or 3 a day!
On Tuesday Trevor did an awesome job of keeping himself occupied while Mommy packed...with shoe strings of all things! Papa tied them into a long rope and Trevor tied up various toys as well as dangled a toy monkey over the deck banister! Don't know why we spend money on actual toys!
Since we got everything done early we had time to check out the Steele County Fair! It just started that day so not everything was up and running but there were animals and that's what we went to see. Trevor got to milk a fake cow! He did pretty good!
And we got to see lots of real cows. Including this one that moo'ed right on cue! Ashley was in disbelief of what it was doing. Trevor couldn't cover his ears fast enough - too loud!
And then after nap it was time to head home. Trevor picked out a new airplane at one of the stores at the airport and he showed it to anyone who would look. He was so excited about that plane. He played with that or the ipad the whole trip. Such a good passenger. Ashley was too...she was awake and played, then slept, then woke up when T had to go potty, then went back to sleep up until about 10 minutes before we landed. We are blessed to have such good travelers!
Thanks Mom, Dad, friends and relatives for making our vacation so fun. We enjoy every minute that we get to spend together...if only the time didn't go so fast! And thanks to God for watching over us during the rock incident so that we can have many more vacations and time together in the future. Love you all!
