Beer, blue paint, baptisms and bald eagles - that's what MN does!

Wow - what an awesome weekend! On Friday afternoon, Alex & Giesla rolled into St. Paul. Olivia stayed awake long enough to tell them hello and then she was off to bed for a nap. While I worked, Alex had some lunch and poor Giesla tried to rest up since she wasn't feeling well. (Could it be because they slept in the back of their station wagon in a Sam's parking lot and only got about 1-2 hours of sleep?!?! Hippies!)

Once Duane came home from work, we hung around outside. The skies cleared up in the late afternoon and it was pretty nice. We had dinner at the Happy Gnome and it was great! Unfortunately, Liv wasn't in the mood to relax and have some drinks so poor Duane walked around outside with her until the food came. We treated ourselves to DQ and Olivia LOVED sharing Duane's banana split blizzard. Her other favorite thing from the weekend - Alex. She has a major crush on him and was constantly saying his name (sounded like Allah - which could have gotten her in trouble during her baptism! Ha!). The last couple photos came from the end of the night - Olivia got ahold of a Kleenex and decided to wipe up the floor - in the nude.

   

Is Liv super chubby or is Alex super skinny?!?!

Saturday morning brought quite a surprise - a random act of vandalism. Alex & Giesla's brand new, white VW wagon was spray painted in the middle of the night, right on our street! We all woke up, had breakfast, coffee, etc., and Duane and Alex were out the door for a workout. Soon after they walked out, Alex came back in the house yelling for Giesla - their car doors were spray painted bright blue. Needless to say, Alex was livid and Giesla was speechless. Duane was their hero - he Googled how to remove spray paint from a car and the stains came out! (Rubbing alcohol, if you ever need to know.) We were all super relieved!

Before

After (Alex flashing his "gang" symbol

Giesla, Olivia and I ran to Target for some grocery shopping and when we returned home, Duane and Alex were close behind with lunch. Once Liv was down for her nap, Duane and I made a run for Home Depot. My dryer decided to quit on Friday afternoon so we needed to quickly replace the washer and dryer. Alex & Giesla relaxed in the backyard and when we got back home, Liv was still sleeping! Duane and Alex did some roid-workouts (preparing for Tough Mudder) in our yard and the girls watched and laughed at them and then headed to the park. Liv was totally grossed out by the sand but became comfortable enough to dig in it and pile it on the stroller.

Since Liv was so dirty after the playground, we had pizza brought to us (thanks to Duane) and relaxed at home. Who would have thought - but we had Liv's pool out for her to play in! Don't worry, we added hot water from the house.

Classy Uncle Al

After pizza, Duane took Liv for a ride around the block and to show Alex & Giesla how much she loves it - and hates to be told that it's over.

"Liv - want to go for a bike ride?"

"...okay, let's put on your helmet."

Reaction to Daddy stopping his bike in the driveway

Reaction to simply changing helmets, not ending the ride, just changing helmets. The ride ended better than this because I asked Liv if she wanted to brush her teeth so she had something to look forward to. Seriously!

Today was a special day - Olivia was baptized! Since Alex & Giesla are her godparents, it was only fitting to do it while they were here. We all attended the 8am mass at St. Mary's in Stillwater and Olivia did surprisingly well during the mass. She made it all the way until communion and then she was getting antsy. The church reserved the first pew for us, which was really nice.

Now, if only I could say she did well with the actual baptism....oh yikes was that embarrassing! She pretty much cried/screamed through the whole thing. She could tell something odd was going on and she was freaked out by the priest, not to mention being touched with oils and water poured on her head. We don't use the pacifier unless she's sleeping but we pulled it out today. For as badly as she behaved, gosh did she look cute! ;)

After church, we made a pit stop at Target for an early Easter gift (thanks to her godparents) and then it was back home for the day. Olivia also received a beautiful cross and books from Alex & Giesla to celebrate her baptism. I should also mention that we saw a bald eagle sitting in a tree on our drive back home. Liv had a quick lunch and then it was nap time for her grouchy butt - at 11:30am. Once she woke up, it was off on the bikes around Lake Phalen.

We putzed around the house the rest of the afternoon and before we knew it, it was dinner time. By the end of the night, Liv looked pretty rough - greasy, oily hair, snotty nose and a face full of food. Of course it made for a cute photo!

We seriously had such a great visit! Even though my dryer wasn't working, Giesla didn't feel well and the VW was violated, we still managed to have a lot of fun. I know Liv will be sad to see Allah and GG go home, and so will we!