family of four

to celebrate one of our last weekends as a family of four, we headed out on a mini-vacation to the twin cities.
first stop: the children's museum
[CAUTION: photo overload ahead...you've been warned]

it is heart-warming to see your children having so much fun. they were so engaged in every activity - eating up every moment they had to play pretend in an over-sized way. the first born tentative to try something if another child was watching, but when he thought no one was around, he was lost in his own little world. the little one oblivious to the other kids and ready for action. [insert annual family membership purchase here - thankyouverymuch]

second stop: the apple store
although we are late in jumping on the band wagon, we are now the proud owners of an iPad. I fought the idea for months, but have fallen in love with that thing. what I didn't fall in love with was the thirty minute search for a parking spot at the mall of america on a saturday afternoon so my dear hubby could battle the crowds and go to the apple store to get the iPad. yes I know they will ship it for free, but we were in the neighborhood. what's that you say? there is more than one apple store in the twin cities? duly noted. seriously. our extended time in the car did, however, offer an opportunity for the little buggers to snooze.

third stop: hotel
I have such fond memories of weekend getaways to a hotel in the twin cities with my family. ours almost always consisted of the embassy suites, mr. bulky's candy store, and fuddruckers (self service cheese sauce available to preteens...mmm hmm). certainly the highlight was the swimming pool. clearly this is still the case as evidenced by the slew of pictures from the pool and nothing else.

ah, so now I know why our parents chose hotels with kid-friendly pools; they have the power to induce extreme drowsiness in small children.

the chance to spend time alone as a family of four just weeks before becoming a family of five was priceless. it will be engraved in my memory always.

when irish eyes are smiling

while many people wear their "irish for a day" t-shirts, we can strut around in our green get-ups and proudly proclaim that we are, in fact, irish. okay, so we're not the o'donovans or o'malleys, not even close.  BUT my grandma was a Delaney. we are descendants from THE County Cork. my dad has kissed the blarney stone and my little sister is over the moon for Daniel O'Donnell (he's irish too, crazy, I know). and so it should come as no surprise that we enjoy waving our "I HEART IRELAND" freak flag every March 17th.

this year we shook it up and started the day with a little road trip to Lark Toys. if you are local and haven't ventured east to the banks of the mississippi and this little treasure of a toy store, I encourage you to check it out. there is something here for everyone:


(I spy a potential gift for mr. J)
in the "library" portion of the store, miles picked up "Ten Apples Up On Top!" and proceeded to read the first half of the book TO me. this kid is a book worm. the teacher in me is doing a happy dance and the momma in me is beaming with pride. it's a natural gift and I'm so glad that he's chosen to use it.

the next three pictures make me giggle every time I see them:

miles brought along his own money and chose to buy a (self-named) "compass whistle" - it's a blue whistle with a small compass on one end and it opens up to store whatever treasures a three year old can smoosh into it. the perfect choice.

as we made our way from the toy store to the highly anticipated hand-carved carousel, we couldn't help but stop to gaze into the display cabinets that line the meandering halls. they are chock full of old fashioned toys. most of them I don't recognize, but I'm sure my parents and grandparents would. (someday I'm sure there will be a cabinet devoted to my little pony, care bears, the smurfs, and he-man) there, among oodles of other old toys, was our santa. the same santa that my grandpa becker would bring out each year, insert new batteries, switch on, and carefully set down on the floor so we could see this little santa shuffle along ringing his bell. my parents proudly display that same santa each Christmas. such great memories.


those with not-so-queasy tummies bought a wooded token and hopped aboard this little gem.

the attention to detail on this thing is stunning.

check out henry's wooden token...I wasn't lying.


a special nod to the brave adults who were forced volunteered to ride along. this pregnant, motion sick momma thanks you.

it would be a tragedy to come this close to nelson, wisconsin and NOT stop for lunch at the original nelson cheese factory. climb aboard (in nana's van) and head over the river to the best cheese curds, eva.

did I mention the ice cream? it's prone to induce a giant perma-smile.

henry inherited my love of ice cream...and chocolate:

stop it. that's ice cream on my shirt. I know what you were thinking.
miles did not.


we managed to squeeze in a much needed nap on our drive home to ensure that we were all good and rested for the annual becker family st. patrick's day party.

my dad does an incredible job of entertaining the masses. he makes a heavenly corned beef (from scratch), delicious cabbage, ooey gooey colcannon, comforting mulligan stew, and an ice cold green beer. this year my mom surprised the two most Irish family members with a photo book of st. patty's parties from years gone by.

papa loves to entertain and the invitation is extended to many. what a blessing to be surrounded by such wonderful family and friends.

did I mention that the kid to adult ratio is growing by leaps and bounds every year? so fun!

here's to another successful st. patrick's day celebration!

take note of the above mentioned "compass whistle" in miles' hand