The Hatz Family: Spring Break 2014!

Spring Break 2014 WooHoo! (Friends anyone?) We haven't done a Spring Break vacation since we went to Mexico 3 years ago so it was fun to get away even if it wasn't to a tropical location. We (my mom, me, my kids, and the Meyers) got to visit Uncle Mark, Aunt Grete and Tierney Cakes up in Minnesota!

We left Tuesday around nap time and while there was snow in the forecast we didn't run into any on our drive up there. But man, that drive is long! Luckily, Frozen came out that day so we had that (and other movies) to watch on the way up. Carter actually got car sick but managed to hold it together. It was so strange and he has never had an issue before but his face when completely white and wanted us to turn the movie off so he could rest! We went swimming at the hotel the moment we got there because we were all tired of being in the car. Mark, Grete and Tierney came swimming after their work day. We ate carry out at the hotel and headed off to Mark and Grete's house because it started snowing! Ahh....the weather always does that when we visit.

{Side Story}: Auntie Jo planned to go with us but Cory got a couple of days off during the week so she decided to stay and be with him. So my mom and I decided to stay an extra day, which was fine except for the first time ever while packing I decided not to over pack (like not even an extra pair of underwear!).Thank goodness for Target!

Wednesday
We had some music time in the morning before going to an Indoor playground.

The Indoor Play Place was really cool and you only have pay for the kids and your code to get into the building is good for the entire day. All the kids had a great time! It was a really cool place that had a small and big play set, a big jump dome, a ball area for basketball and another one for soccer. It also had a separate place with big foam pieces that were like big Legos. You can imagine where Carter spent most of his time :).

Building a Master piece!

Home for lunch and little kid naps. My mom volunteered to stay home with the 'babies' so the adults and big kids headed to the Mall of America. We were on a mission to find Frozen stuff at the Disney store. Big.fat.fail! The manager was all, 'yeah, we got a shipment in but then the movie came out and we sold out.' Gee, ya think! So frustrating! We also visited the American Girl Doll store and man has things changed since I was little. This place was huge and had so many dolls! Addison loved it of course! Carter liked the Lego store especially since he has been so into Legos lately. Addison surprised us all by wanting to go on the Log Ride again! Carter not surprisingly opted out. Katie had a hard time with the ticket counter and ended up having to buy tickets for 3 people. Ryan didnt' really want to go on the ride so I volunteered. It was a lot of fun! And Addison loved it!

The Meyer crew went to visit some of their friends that live in the Twin Cities so we went out to dinner with Tiemeier fam and then back to the play place to run off some more energy.

Thursday
We went to the zoo! The zoo was really neat because it had a small aquarium in it as well. Carter loved watching the white tip reef sharks in the tank but they had a little pool with sting rays and leopard sharks that you could put you hands in and feel. Carter was happy to look at the sharks and sting rays but did not want to put his hand in to feel! Next to the shark/ray pool there was a tide pool that had coral and star fish and a wave that came in and out ever couple minutes or so. Gus loves water so he was in heaven standing by the tide pool and reaching in. Katie was next to him holding onto his waist when she looked over for a second and Gus went head first into the tide pool! I looked over and saw Gus' submerged underwater up to his chest and Katie holding onto his feet. After the initial shock we were all laughing. Only Gus! Definitely something that we will remember forever! Luckily, Katie had a change of clothes for Gus so after a quick dry off and change we were back in action. Next we went through the rainforest area before heading outside to see some bears and reindeer! We had to walk a ways to see the reindeer and by that time we were all getting pretty tired but Carter was so excited to see them since he loves Sven so much.

Isla perfecting her pirate face :)

Carter in front of the reindeers

Penguins!

After the reindeers everyone was ready to go. But what is a trip to the zoo without going to the Gift Shop. My mom let the kids each pick a lovey. Since Carter the only two sharks that the Gift Shop sold I wasn't too sure what he would pick but in less than a second he was running up to me with a moose! He named him Moosey, of course! Isla originally wanted a clownfish that was not so cute but when Tierney picked a black bear Isla wanted one too! Addison picked out a pink tiger that had a sparkly bow. She named her Bow Sparkle Meyer. Gus was over it so Katie picked a monkey out for him. The Meyers headed south to Ryan's parents after the zoo but since we decided to stay an extra day we got to hang out with Tierney, take a trip to Target for some additional clothes and go out to dinner. It was even nice enough to take a walk around their neighborhood in the afternoon.

Tierney liked when Isla pushed her on the swing

She didn't like having to push Isla :)

Still not that happy

Isla being serenaded at dinner

The kids took a bath in Mark and Grete's big tub together on Thursday night. And after two #2 incidents (::ahem:: Isla and Tierney) we were able to get them all clean. Then it was reading with grandma before bed.

Batman also made an appearance in Minnesota

Friday
We woke up for an early breakfast with the Tiemeier fam and then it was back home for us. We were really anxious to get home to see daddy and it was going to be 63 degrees! After a very long winter we are VERY ready for spring weather.