The Cities...

We decided to take a trip to the cities last Wednesday to see family and friends and shop a little before school starts.  We left Wednesday afternoon after Maci had her 2 month appointment and her first set of shots.  All went well with the check-up part.  She weighs 10.5 lbs which is the 30th percentile and she is 23.5 inches long which is the 77th percentile.  Our doctor said she looks great!  The nurses came in to do the shots and felt horrible because she had fallen asleep; they didn't want to poke a sleeping baby. :)  She woke up, they gave her the shots, and boy did she scream!  Her face got red, no sound came out at first, and then the scream.  Matt and I both say it was definitely a scream and not a cry.  She was not happy, but by the time we left the doctors office she had calmed down and fallen asleep, so we hit the road.

Poor little thighs

Thursday afternoon Matt, Maci, MaryKay, Walter, Annie, and I decided to walk around Lake Nokomis.  At one point we decided to let the dogs jump in the water to cool off and chase a ball, but we forgot to take Marley's gentle leader off his face.  Matt threw the ball in and Marley went after it, but he couldn't open his mouth very wide because of the leader.  He proceeded to tread water for 10 minutes while bobbing for the ball.  He would NOT come in when we called him.  We even tried to start to walk to see if he'd follow, but he is loyal to his ball I guess.  Matt finally had to jump in after him to help him save his ball.  It was pretty funny because we had created a small crowd which included an older woman calling Marley to come over to the dock she was standing on, some onlookers, and a man videotaping the whole thing (wasn't sure if we should be creeped out by this, but he looked harmless...haha).  

After the swimming fiasco

After the whole Marley in the lake fiasco, we went to Fat Lorenzo's for some pizza.  It was delicious!  I love that place.  Thursday evening we went over to my mom and Noble's for dinner and visiting and then my mom, Maci, and I met Ali at David's Bridal to shop for wedding dresses for her.  She tried on a few dresses before finding the one we are all in love with.  I think she's going to look at a few other places just to make sure it's "the one".

Maci was exhausted after shopping with the girls.

Friday morning we went to visit my dad before he headed out of town and then went to meet my grandparents for lunch at Wild Times in St. Paul.  They always have such good food and it was fun visiting with my grandparents.  After lunch, Maci and I went to hang out with Ali and talk about wedding plans.  We stopped at Bride to Be Consignment which is a really cool consignment shop that has wedding dresses, bridesmaid dresses, shoes, wedding decor, you name it.  Ali tried on a couple dresses there, but I think the one at David's Bridal is still the front runner.  While the girls shopped, Matt had dinner with his parents. 

Saturday morning Matt and his mom did a 5k run in St. Paul.  After that we got ready and headed out to meet Rachel and Mitch at Canterbury Park.  It was their first time at the track!  Rach bet a time or two and then decided to take my lead and spend her money on snacks instead.  Matt showed Mitch the ropes and those two were all about the betting.  While Rach, Maci, and I sat and chatted, Matt and Mitch were standing up, hootin' and hollerin' for their horses.  We all seemed to have a great time at the tracks.  Matt walked away winning almost $200 on one race off a $2.50 bet.  I'd say it was a good day!

Soon-To-Be The Johnsons

Take 1- Rachel's eyes closed

Take 2- Maci not looking...we tried :)

The three of us!

After Canterbury, Matt and I got some shopping done for school and called it a night.  Sunday Matt got up bright and early and went fishing with Noble at 5:30am on Lake Minnetonka.  They caught several fish and had a fun time.  We went out to brunch with MaryKay and Jim and then headed over to ABC Zone to get some posters for Matt's new classroom.  We then drove out to Minnetonka to see all the progress on Rach and Mitch's house.  They've done so much work since they've moved in and it looks great!  We had dinner with them at Snuffy's Malt Shop and headed over to my mom and Noble's house to say good-bye.  We got home late and got things packed.  We had decided it would be better to leave at 6am Monday morning and drive in the day.  Matt had to meet a coworker at 11am. 

We got up Monday morning and were on track to leave on time, but things don't always go as planned.  We had everything out of the house and decided to put Walter in the cab of the truck since he has major anxiety about being left behind when we travel.  We were almost ready to go and had a couple things to load when Matt tried to open the door and realized Walter had managed to step on the lock button and lock himself inside the truck that is running.  I call our All State roadside assistance number while Matt is looking for things in the garage to open the car with.  They tell me it will be less than 45 minutes and we needed to have left 10 minutes ago.  With Matt's persistance, he managed to get the truck unlocked with a ski pole before help arrived.  We got in the car and found out that Walter helped himself to one of the two sandwiches MaryKay had packed for our ride home.  He was in the doghouse for the rest of the day!  We left almost 45 minutes later than planned and ended up making it in under 4 hours!  No stops and a little speeding; we made it home!  We enjoyed our visit with family and friends, but it feels good to be home.