Packers/Vikings Weekend

We traveled to Green Bay this past weekend for the Packer/Viking game and had a fabulous time. Although our journey started off a little shakey. We were delayed due to crew rest requirements. We made our connection with less than 5 minutes to spare after a 1.5 mile (that is the distance our flight attendent said it was between our gates) run through the MSP airport wearing long sleeves, jeans, and for me heels, with luggage in tow. We collapsed into our seats sweaty and out of breath but thrilled we made it. The next flight wasn't until 7 hours later. We would've missed out on all the fun we had planned for the evening. But, we made it there and enjoyed a fun-filled weekend with our great friends and travel buddies Sarah and Jeramiah.

Starting off game day at Brett Favre's Steakhouse. The food was fabulous!

After eating, we moved to the sports bar at Brett Favre's steakhouse to watch some football.

You can see Joe Nathan (MN Twins pitcher) hanging out behind us. He was there with some buddies, but was very nice about signing autographs and taking pictures with people. He even bought a round of drinks for a group of fans who approached him for pictures.

I walked around taking pictures of all the paraphernalia of Brett Favre's career on the walls. It was fun looking at all his game balls, awards, personal photos, etc., etc. Here are some pictures of packer fan license plates from around the country. Kind of fun.

After we were done hanging at Favre's, we wandered around outside checking out the tailgating festivities. There's nothing like tailgating around Lambeau in Oct., especially when it's Packer/Viking weekend. There is an energy in the air you have to experience to understand. A sea of green and purple, united in their mutual passion for their teams, enjoying the day together with good sportsmanship. The Packer Viking fans really are good sports and are respectful of each other. Except for those occasional bad seeds, which we were fortunate not to experience on this trip.

Next we hung out at Stadium View. Here we are having a shot for good luck. Green ones for the Packer Backers and purple for the Purple People Eaters.

Go Pack Go!

Heading to Lambeau Field.

Such a special place!

Tailgaters, tailgaters everywhere.

My favorite tailgater!;)

Time to head in to the game!

The four of us with coach Lombardi.

We hung out at Curly's before heading to our seats to watch the pre-game warm-ups.

Waiting for kick-off.

Rodgers enjoyed some protection this year. I won't bore you with any more game photos.

Post-game celebration and interviews.

After the game we came upon these fine automobiles.

Thanks John and Kim for the tickets. Thanks mom and dad for taking such great care of Amaya while we were gone. And thanks Sarah and Jeramiah for joining us. We had a blast!

p.s. More travel probs on the way home. We arrived at the airport to learn the airline erroneously switched us from the Phoenix flight to a Portland flight. We had our itinerary with us to prove we had confirmed reservations on the Phoenix flight, but they said they didn't show us on it and the flight was full. What!?!? Sigh.....the joys of flying. We missed our baby girl and didn't much feel like a trip to Portland. We eventually got it all straightened out (hours later), but did end up home 3 hours late. Bottom line, though, we got home! :)

Amaya's First Day of Preschool

Amaya started preschool today. She was soooo excited. She's already been there 3 times. Once was for a tour and registration. The second time was for the grand opening (see first 3 pics below). The third time was for "meet the teacher" night. So the surroundings were familiar to her and she was off and running the minute she walked into her classroom. I barely managed to get a hug and kiss. So I know she'll have a great time and love it. Oh, to watch them grow and develop......sigh.....she's getting so big, smart, and independent already. Can we hit the pause button? :) I am full of feelings of love and pride, excitement for her and this new adventure, and protectiveness all at once. I can't wait to go pick her up and hear all about her first day of school.

Enjoying cotton candy at the grand opening.
She loved the karate demonstration. Now she wants karate lessons. Yesterday she built a tower and karate chopped it.

A grand opening celebration isn't complete without a bounce house.

FIRST DAY OF PRESCHOOL

So excited!

Enjoying the crisp, cool fall morning before heading to preschool.

Time to get in the car. She was bummed she didn't get to ride a school bus.

Eating a quick snack before heading in. I am sure she'll still be starving when I pick her up, even though they do have snack time. We still can't keep her full!

Admiring her classmates backpacks.

Hanging up her backpack.

Checking out her cubby bin.

Amaya's First Trip to the Beach

Here are some pictures from Amaya's first trip to the beach. She had been asking to go to the beach for months. That is the main reason we planned our San Diego trip. And it didn't disappoint. She had a blast playing in the sand, from building sandcastles to making sand angels (like snow angels). But her favorite part by far was the ocean. She loved, loved, loved wading through the waves (despite the cold water) and walking along ocean in the wet sand. She was a little too brave for our taste, wading further and further out. We never took a hand off of her while she was in the water and miss independent didn't like that very much. Our beach day was a cool one with an overcast sky, but we had a fabulous time anyway. We can't wait to go back.

I also threw a picture in at the end from a recent visit of some extended family. 2 of my mom's brothers and 1 of her sisters-in-law were able to pop out for a quick visit to help her celebrate the big 6-0. It was fabulous to see them and made us wish the whole gang could have gotten together. :)

Summer Travels

Dakota Dunes

Playing on the patio.
Amaya's BFFF (Best Furry Friend Forever) Meggie

Amaya and the Golfers (sans Corey-on his way to a wedding, and Matt-don't know where he disappeared to)

Amaya getting drawing lessons...
...and loving the attention.
Enough of those boys, let's go blow bubbles.
Look mommy, the tree has a face.

That is so funny and...

silly (giggle, giggle).

(I included all of these because her facial expressions crack me up. You have to click on the picture/enlarge the picture to see them.)

Toy Story 3 night with the cousins-Jena, Lauren, and...

...Brycen.

Daddy and daughter at the Omaha Zoo.

Lauren checking out all of the bees.

A bird's eye view of the zoo (1st chair: Amy, Brycen, Brian; 2nd chair: Jena, Grandma Kim; 3rd chair: Lauren and Grandpa John)

Amaya just looking sweet.

Taking a load off and enjoying the a/c in an indoor exhibit. It was high 80's and low 90's with like 70-90% humidity while we were there. Sticky!

Lauren enjoying a breather, too.

Amaya and her bestest Jena.

Fish Lips

The Gorilla's foot is bigger than Amaya's head!

Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the cave!

Look at Brycen checking out the gorilla in the background. His expression is priceless. It's like "whoa that gorilla looks mean...I am glad this glass is here."

Brian chuckling. Brycen still not sure what to make of it. And the gorilla, well, he appears to be pondering something. Perhaps he's trying to figure out a way to make the glass not be there/wishing he could meet this cute little boy.

Then the gorilla turns and makes eye contact with Brycemeister and we get more priceless expressions. The gorilla seems to sigh in resignation realizing there is no way to meet this little guy.

And again, more priceless expressions checking out the gorillas.

Amaya's favorite part of any zoo. The carousel.

Brian and Brycen

Amaya and Jena

San Diego

This guy was actually stacking and balancing these rocks. No apparent tricks here. We couldn't figure out how the heck he was doing it. He had quite the crowd gathered, too.

A carriage ride in a Cinderella carriage. Priceless.

Our horse was even named Prince Charming.

Sea World Blue Horizons show. It was fabulous, though it was more like a Cirque de Soleil with divers, trapezists, bunjee jumpers, etc.

The Shamu show was of course fabulous. It was my favorite.

Amaya and Scott had the Shamu chant down.

Had to throw this picture in. Many of you know how I looooove sharks.

Amaya made friends with this little girl while waiting in line for a ride at Sea World.

Their dolphins made friends with each other, too.

Watching the ride and waiting patiently for their turn.

Finally our turn! Amaya said it was worth the wait.

Legoland

This is Amaya's first time going up on this ride.

She's still oblivious to what's coming in this picture.

And then it happens. The ride drops down suddenly and fast, and Amaya's expression is one of "whoa, what the heck" as she grabs on for dear life.

White knuckle grip, but then.....

she realizes what a thrill this ride is.

A look of sheer exhilaration and jubilence.

She insisted on riding again....

...and again. This last time even keeping her arms up like daddy to add to the thrill.

On to the cars.

And more thrills with arms up. She had to ride this one multiple times, too.

This was a self-powered roller coaster. Kind of different.

San Diego Zoo

We got some great pics of the koala bears, polar bears, and grizzley bears. But this is my favorite picture from the San Diego Zoo. Amaya just hanging out with her friend Mr. Seal.

-I just realized I need to upload photos from our beach days. We used a disposable waterproof camera at the beach, so those photos are on a disk. Oops. Amaya had a blast building sand castles, making sand angels, and spish-splashing in the ocean. It was love at first sight when she saw the beach and ocean.

-That's all for now. I hope to get back to my monthly blogging sessions so hopefully it won't be several months between blog entries this next time. Happy Friday everyone!

-Check out the other 2 blog entries I did this week entitled "Summer Activities" and "The Many Faces of Amaya" if you have more time to kill. :)