Today is Jason's Birthday!

Jason,

Happy Birthday! I just wanted to let you know how proud I am of you for everything you have accomplished. You are such a wonderful husband to me and an awesome father to our little kids. I hope you have a wonderful, happy day!

Jason at his White Coat Ceremony

At Ryan's Blessing in Idaho

Surprising me outside the Children's Museum (with a little enticing from cousin Jess)

What a fun six birthdays I've had with you, and here's to many, many more! I love you, Jason.

Mall of America - Nickelodeon Universe

Probably one of the best-known facts about the Mall of America is that there is an indoor amusement park, complete with roller coasters in the center of the mall. It was just recently made into Nickelodeon Universe and so now the rides feature characters such as Dora the Explore, Spongebob, and the Backyardigans. It was a blast! They had lots of rides geared towards kids, so the girls were able to do quite a bit.

This is Chelsey and Daddy coming of the Fairly Oddparents Roller Coaster. It was quite a bit like The Spider at Lagoon where the roller coaster car spins around as it moves along the track. I don't know if Chelsey would go again, but she was pretty excited when we came off (as evidenced by the flying pigtails above). Speaking of pigtails, it's a good thing she had them in that morning because I think that is the only reason she passed the height requirement to ride. She was pretty scared when the ride started, but I put my arm around her and later she said that made it "all right and not too scary." She added shortly thereafter that she would definitely not like to go again...

Little Ryan enjoyed the entire day from the comfort of the stroller. No complaints, though. What a cute kid!

This is Mommy and Emily riding Swiper's Sweeper. Looks like fun! Emily loved it. Mommy had a headache and backache and stomachache...

This is Daddy and his girls about to go on Diego's Rescue Ride. It was really fun to go on rides where the adults and kids could ride together. I think these girls are ready to take on Lagoon and then Disneyland!!!

Mall of America - Underwater Adventures Aquarium

One of the great things about the Mall of America is that it is much more than just a mall. For instance, there is a huge underground aquarium full of fish and sharks. We couldn't pass that up! We had such a good time. We're really glad we went home through Minnesota and ended up staying at a hotel so close to the Mall of America. Here are a few pictures of the aquarium:

Mall of America - Lego Store

In my opinion, the very best part of the Mall of America was the Lego store. All of my life, I have dreamed of going to a real Lego store where all they sell is Legos and everywhere you look there are Legos. Well, the dream finally became a reality. We got to see all the Legos we wanted - it was paradise. :) I ran from thing to thing, wondering how I could live with out each individual item of Lego goodness. Amy ran close behind helping me put things back on the shelves. In the end, we still made it home with a pretty hefty supply of Lego souvenirs. (Watch future blogs for the details). Here are a few pictures taken at the store with some of the amazing Lego sculptures they have:

This is me with Jango Fett, one of the characters from Star Wars. It is so amazing to see what they can build out of Legos.

Here is the family in front of a few dinosaurs, again made entirely of Legos.

Chelsey loved these little hatching baby dinosaurs.

We had such a fun time seeing how creative people can be when they have an unlimited number of Legos. We're expecting some great things out of Chelsey now that she's seen the possibilities... Of course, we're going to have to buy many more buckets of Legos.