Well, Drew, Heather, and Alicia win the prize for being our first non-familial visitors from out-of-town. Since the first time Cole met Alicia (when she was just a few weeks old and he was about six months old), he has just adored her. Whenever he sees her blog, he touches the screen and talks about her.
We met up with the Kluesner Fam at the
Minnesota Children's Museum on Saturday morning. Despite our best efforts, we were late (go ahead, we know all the jokes!), but this time it really wasn't because of us running late or being lost. Nope, this time it was all about the traffic. We found ourselves following a never-ending detour until, finally, Scott veered off and steered his own path. His internal gps system never fails to amaze me, and on this day, it was definitely up and running. So, we all met up and discovered the benefits of going to the Children's Museum on a non-free day. There were hardly any kids running around, unlike the thousands that, I swear, swarm around the place on those free days. Yay! Less germs! :)
When we got there, Heather found us and led us to the music video room where Alicia was rockin' out. Cole was shy at first, but once we made our way over to the huge kitchen, he found his own groove. While the kids could've stayed there and played happily forever, we managed to lead them to some of the other attractions.
Cole really loved loading these rock/brick thingys, and I was all but too happy, taking loads of photos for the sake of posterity. While Cole was hard at work, Alicia was enjoying the various features of the water area. After the two kids had their fill, we made our way up to the third floor, where they have a ball room that features various arrangements of wooden and plastic tracks that you can roll golf balls on. Balls, balls, balls, and oh my, even more balls fill this room. The kids can play ski ball, watch balls wind up and down a giant ramp, or around and around on a pole. They can even nail each other with balls-as-big-as-your-toddler or, you know, roll them through a maze. Finally, we made it to the quiet 'dream nursery,' but by that point, we were all starving, so we hurried off to find food.
As we wrapped up our meal, we decided it was too gorgeous outside not to do something outdoors to enjoy it. So, while Scott and Drew used Heather's too-cool-for-school i-phone to locate an orchard, Cole and Alicia amused themselves near the Subway stand. Heather took a bunch of photos of them as they played there. It was kinda like a game of tag, sorta like a game of risk, and your usual, giggly, toddler thing, that's just plain silly good.
Our drive to the orchard wound up being long and slow--I swear to all of you, traffic's usually not an issue here in Minnesota. However, if you find yourself moving at inch-worm speed in Minnesota, you know you are in the company of either sports fans or outdoor enthusiasts in the know, so just go with it because the crowd won't steer you wrong. When we finally arrived at the
Pine Tree Apple Orchard, we found that, despite it being 3:30 on a Saturday, the place wasn't in any hurry to close--posting daily hours from 9am-7pm. I can't tell you how refreshing that was since so many we've found here close by four. We'll definitely go back to experience the hayrack rides, pony rides, samples, and more. But when you plant four shutterbug parents in a fall setting with two uber cute subjects, well, all of the other stuff has no chance really. So, the four of us happily clicked away as Cole and Alicia explored the trees, leaves, randomly placed ladders, apple crates, and a giant tree stump adorned with pumpkins that made a prefect photo-op, and of course, fields of pumpkins.
After hundreds of shots were taken, we made our way into the shop - there was a line for that too! We made it just as a soft rainshower began to fall. Once inside, we split up and then wound our way back to each other, time and again, oohing and aahing over the scrumptious baked goods and apple samples. Heather and I spotted a sign for apple donuts, only to discover they were out. Luckily, it was only a temporary outage, and a second sign promised fresh donuts by 5:30. So, we settled in line right behind the first two families. I think, all told, we stood in line for about 35 minutes; the families ahead of us waited for forty-five, but it was well worth it when, at 5:30, the bakery men rolled out the giant trays of warm, apple donuts, covered in cinnamon sugar. YUM!
Of course, up 'til now, I've spared you the details of all the impatient customers who found our line and completely converged upon it, without any respect for the pre-laid system. They just pressed and pressed up against us until we thought we were going to pass out. You would've thought we were at a rock concert or, at least, in line for tickets to one! Well, I take that back, those donuts really were rockstars in their own right. Must go back!
Heather picked up some yummy jam, and I got our family favorite (ever since visiting Tanner's Orchard back in '06), apple butter. Cole is beyond picky, and he loved the stuff back then, so I had high hopes for a repeat in his appetite (so far, not so lucky, but I've been enjoying it!).
We wrapped up the experience with a quick snack - I cannot tell you how badly we needed that apple cider - it felt like we'd just run a marathon or something. Seriously, when I snatched my donuts, a woman behind me had to implore her elder family members to 'let the poor girl out.' She said I was going to get trampled. Seriously! Someone ought to write a satire about it. :) The snacks totally hit the spot, but we all agreed, the cinnamon ice cream was a dead ringer for Red Hots. If you like Red Hots then you must try some - if not, considered yourself warned.
Not ready to say goodbye to our good friends, we asked the Kluesner's over to our place for dinner. The kids had a blast playing together, and Alicia drew a very colorful picture for us. We're so glad that we got to spend the day with you guys! Hope you come back sooner than two year's time; though, we'll totally understand if Mickey and the gang win out first!
