Braden's Weekend

Olivia went up to Steve's parents for a special weekend while Steve played in an alumni golf outing.  Braden, Norah and I stayed home to get ourselves organized and for some much needed bonding between Braden and I.  I told him it was, "Braden weekend" and we could do whatever he wanted! 

We started Friday night with a sleep over in my bed.  It was super sweet cuddling with him although he snores like an old man! :)  The morning had us making waffles and then we packed up for a trip to the zoo.  

Braden had fun picking our route, our pace and just being the center of attention.  

The highlight was the dinosaur exhibit which is at the zoo right now. We went and saw a similar one at the Brookfield Zoo last year.  They are life size (or close to it) dinos who make noises and move.  It was fun to learn some new facts and Braden was able to guess each time if the dino was a plant or meat eater by their teeth... smart boy!

He was a VERY good boy and although disappointed that I wouldn't buy him something from the dino store (it's ridiculously expensive) we moved on and enjoyed the rest of our time at the zoo.

On the way out we stopped at the gold mining station and bought a bag of rocks (again a total rip-off but he loved it).  He poured them into a sieve and washed away the dirt to expose some pretty colored gems to take home.

He worked very hard to find each and every gem... no matter how small!

Our lunch date took us to Alterra and then home for naps.  We went to Dunham sports afterwards to buy a fishing pole for Braden to use at the Olson Lake home and later this summer at Uncle Steve's in Duluth.  He picked out some buoys and lures as well - such fun. I had NO idea what I was doing in this aisle. Thankfully someone from the store was able to help us out.  

The last errand was to the grocery store for the items to make Pesto Noodles for dinner.  Braden LOVES pesto so we got all the fixings (along with a few other needed things).  

After dinner we snuggled on the chair to watch, "Alvin and the Chipmunks... the Squequel."  It was really cute. 

Just as we were going to head up to bed we saw fireflies out the window.  The two of us ran outside to try to catch them.  I haven't had that much fun in a while and I certainly don't remember them being that hard to catch. Braden caught two and I caught one.  What fun being a kid can be. :)

Today ... well I'm not sure what's in store. I have to go consult my little social planner.