Our Special Visitor

Grandma (aka Oma) came out to visit us and spend time with the kiddies. She stayed for a good month (June 18-July 19) and we enjoyed every minute of it!! It was GREAT to see her and spend time with her. We could tell the kids really enjoyed having Oma around because both kids slept in the same room with her, both kids wanted "horsie" rides from her, both kids walked hand-in-hand at the store with her, both kids fought for her attention . . . . . it was just cute to see the kids and Oma together.

The first 20 minutes or so of seeing Oma, Sebastian was a little shy but when he got home from the airport from picking her up it was more like "Oma this" and "Oma that". Alerina . . . on the other hand . . . . was clinging on to me the first 2 days but after that . . . . . it was pulling Oma here and pulling Oma there and wanting to see her books with Oma and wanting to play with Oma. WAY CUTE, I tell you!!!

This visit we had much more FUN than Oma's first visit. With the weather always warm and sunny, we got to do more stuff and see more things. We were out and about every single day . . . . . . . Oma got to see the kids play at the park, play water at the splash pads, have a little picnic at the park, go bike riding/take a walk around the blocks, visit the local garage sales, stroll around the stores, meet some of our neighborly neighbors, and see and experience the "lifestyle" here at good ol' Cedar Rapids.

The month came and was gone before we knew it! We hope you had a good time here, Oma . . . because we DEFINITELY had a good time with you. It was NICE having you here!! Come and visit us again real soon, OK?

Happy Birthday Oma!!!

June 23rd was Oma's Birthday. We celebrated her birthday with presents and a special dinner. We had noodles, her favorite fried chicken, and a birthday cake for dessert.

With no yummy bakery that I know of around here I bake her a strawberry/blueberry cake to celebrate the day. The cake turned out good . . . . . . it was moist and the berries were fresh. The decorating turned out just OK . . . . I had issues putting the walnuts on the side - they would not stick to the frosting and the frosting . . . well . . . . . I whipped it too long so it was not as smooth as I like it to be but overall . . . it was not too bad of a cake. The birthday girl seemed to enjoyed it because she ate 2 slices that night and she ate a slice every single day after that till it was all gone :o)

Alerina was really into blowing the candles out while Sebastian, as usual, did not want to blow them out . . . he just wanted to see them lit not blown out. Below are some pictures of the special occasion:

4th of July

It was our very 1st 4th of July here in Cedar Rapids and we wanted to celebrate it with watching some good ol' fireworks. All day long we kept talking about going to a place to see them but we didn't know where to go. Well, we ended up not going anywhere and we're glad stayed in because it was the best place to see fireworks. From our deck you could see them and literally there was fireworks everywhere!!! We look to our left, to our right, the front of us and the back of us . . . . . fireworks galore!! It was the houses around us that were lighting up the fireworks. We're not talking about small little ones but nice big ones . . . . like the ones you would see at park/beach.

Sebastian enjoyed the fireworks but Alerina . . . . not so much. She was squeezing my neck tightly every time a fireworks shoots up in the sky and after awhile she lost interest in them because she feel asleep :o) Maybe next year she'll find them interesting and fun to watch!

2nd Road Trip

The weekend of July 11-13, we took a little road trip to Bloomington, Minnesota. We've been wanting to go there but we were waiting for some visitors to come and visit us so we can take them there as well. With Oma visiting us, we took the opportunity and decided to go there and check out the Mall of America. It was a short 4 hours drive - we drove 2 hours, took an hour break, then drove for another 2 hours and before we knew it . . . we were there!!!

As we were looking for our hotel, we passed by the BIG-BIG mall. It was EXCITING to see it!!! I couldn't wait to go inside and shop-shop-shop!

Our first day there, we decided to relax and check out the city. We ended up swimming at the hotel and having Thai food for dinner. It has been 6 whole months since I've had Thai food and boy, oh boy . . . . it was YUMMY!!!!

Our 2nd day, we woke up bright and early to have breakfast and head to the mall. We were there before any of the stores were opened. The place was HUGE!!! 4 stories full of stores, about 500+ stores, a movie theatre, an amusement park, a minituare golfing place, tons of restaurants, all the department stores you can think of and there's even a Marshall's, Nordstrom Rack, a wedding chapel, a post-office, a speedway racing place, and a underwater aquarium ! It was fun at first being there but as the day wore off . . . not as exciting and as fun . . . it was just way TOO many people!!! It was like Christmas rush-time, I tell you!!!

Anyways, Sebastian had a GOOD time playing at the Nicklelodeon Universe (the amusement park in the middle of the mall). We stayed at the mall for about 5 hours and left with not one single purchase. We ended back at the hotel to swim and rest. That night we had another good dinner. We ate at a Vietnamese restaurant and again, it was YUMMY!!!!

Our last day we decided to check out the Ikea nearby. We dropped off Sebastian at the Ikea play area so we can shop peacefully. We checked him in and had no problem dropping him off. Bac and I stroll from showrooms to showrooms and got some ideas while Oma and Alerina was playing in the kid's area. We ate lunch at the Ikea cafe and left to go home after that.

We had a GREAT time on our "mini" trip. Since Cedar Rapids lacks choices of "yummy" places to eat , we can't wait to go back to Bloomington, MN to eat-eat-eat and go to Ikea.