We're back to our normal (as it gets) life now.  The weather's been so awesome so we've been outside a lot working/playing in the yard and constructing a giant play system in the backyard to occupy four little boys.  Also, we've all got sore throats now (at least the three of us who speak) so we had ice cream for supper last night and chocolate milk for breakfast this morning.  Didn't help much.

Duluth was a success in that we saw what we went to see: Thomas, big ships in the harbor, and a hotel swimming pool.  We rode on a train pulled by Thomas, along the lakeshore; Axel's been suggesting we should ride on a train for some time, so we thought he would love this.  Telling him we had a surprise was maybe not the way to do this - he was hoping his surprise was cake.

Here we are on the train - Magnus is attached to me in a Bjorn so he didn't make the picture.

Axel and Thomas

Axel and Sir Topham Hat - he was kind of odd.

We walked from our hotel downtown to The Depot and then to Canal Park and around.  The triple stroller is a blessing and a curse.  For our purpose of moving about four small children it works wonders and rolls nicely, plus holds a lot of stuff in the storage areas.  On the other hand, it creates for us poor sidewalk etiquette and does not fit in any standard doorways.  Jesse was soon not a fan of the thing, and I pushed it back up the hill to our hotel/car.  The whole thing was making us kind of crabby, so we decided we were done with Duluth after less than 24 hours there.  We checked into staying at a couple of casinos but they were booked, so we headed to our favorite hotel by the Mall of America for some metro area entertainment. 

Remember, however, that Jesse was now hating the stroller, so anywhere indoors was undesirable.  We intended to take in the King Tut exhibit, but decided against it, as well as the Children's Museum.  I know those places are regular-stroller friendly, but we were not sure about the triple rig, so we decided we'd return another time without the babies.  They don't care about science right now anyway.

We ended up here the next day, another place Axel adores and has no width limitations on strollers.

At this point, Axel refused to stand with us for a family picture.  He ran in circles nearby watching his shadow.  Sometimes I swear he's that kid on Parenthood who runs around with a bucket on his head.

He was willing to take a picture with just me, and also of himself by some huge hibiscus.



Axel fell asleep after that so we went back to the hotel for naps, where we stayed the rest of the day and he got some more time in the pool.  The next day we hit the big Mall, as our stroller did make it through the doors and into elevators, as long as removed one back wheel.  What a process.  Jesse and Axel played with Legos while I lapped the Mall and fielded stares and questions about my babies.  Even in Nickelodeon Universe we were a spectacle, a place with giant Spongebobs and roller coasters.  We nourished ourselves at (you guessed it!) Hooters.

I asked him to stand by this crocodile in the Disney Store. 

He pretended it was eating him.  Close enough.

We returned home that evening resolving not to do that (vacation) again for a long time.  It was more work than fun much of the time, and I guess that's why we stay home a lot.

Wednesday was the 15th anniversary of my 16th birthday.  I celebrated by leaving the house alone for a haircut and as much shopping as Willmar offers.  When I came home Axel wanted to play bat and ball, which for him is equal time hitting and pitching.  I got one hit and was hit by a pitch three times.  Jesse and I went on our bimonthly date that night, to Melvyn's in Spicer.  Since it was so beautiful I requested we took one of the convertibles in this family - one I'd never ridden in other than for a parade.  I call it the Cruella DeVille car.  It offers unobstructed views, and close quarters to allow for good conversation.  It also does your hair for you on the way.

Shhhh . . .

 I am writing from the top floor of the Holiday Inn in downtown Duluth, looking up the hill not at the lake.  Oh well, it's dark.  Jesse took Axel to the pool because he was bouncing off the walls.  We haven't had supper yet, which is a long and uninteresting story so I won't tell it, but there's a pizza on the way.  And all my little boys are sleeping.  They're such good sleepers.  I hate to brag, but I am pretty proud of what good nighttime habits they have.  Axel is like a practice kid - maybe these three will turn out really good!

Axel's quote of the week, from a few hours ago in the car on the way here, from the backseat:  "Watch out for that idiot!"  He got that from me.  Whoops.

We have come to Duluth for Axel, who has truthfully been somewhat neglected the last few weeks with me being at class and all of us busy.  This weekend and last, Thomas the Tank Engine is coming to Duluth and people can take a ride and have their picture taken and play games, etc.  Axel loves trains and especially Thomas, so we can't wait to see the look on his face when Thomas pulls in to the Depot.  We haven't told him what we're doing here - he's really excited just to chase seagulls down in Canal Park.  That's good, too, I guess.

In a couple weeks our babies will be 6 months old.  Holy crap (Ax gets that from me, too).  I'm eager to see how much they have grown, because we seem to have gone from 3 month to 9 month clothes in not much time.  Mags is falling behind, in my opinion, so when we return to see the good-looking EN&T guy we'll have to talk more seriously about that surgery.  I think he would be gaining a lot faster without this issue.  Rex, the superstar, has successfully rolled from his tummy to his back many times, so he wins that race.  Eero is getting tall.  I don't know how tall he is, but I feel like he is going to be a big huge kid.  Also, he sucks his thumb.

This week I finished my summer classes - thank God.  On Wednesday the professor, reflecting on his first time teaching this particular course, noted maybe the workload should be decreased when they cram a 14-week class into a five week period.  Good idea.  I read four books, wrote five papers, and completed an online portfolio, and that was just for one of my two classes.  Yes, I did have a strong cocktail that night, but just one, as Jesse was off leading his first meeting as Kerkhoven fire chief and someone had to watch the kids.  That is my place in life now, Someone has To Watch The Kids.

On Sunday, as most people from this area did, I'm sure, we had a Kirby vacuum salesman at our house.  Junior (first clue) had an exciting new product and would just take a few minutes of my time to show it to me before he headed back to Omaha.  I thought he was talking about the container of dashboard wipes he had just handed me, so I agreed.  He meant a vacuum and carpet cleaner, and then a large black man emerged from his vehicle and carried it in the house.  The big grunt left Junior at our house, who proceeded to occupy the entire living room and our time for the next two hours - telling us he was working on winning a 3D TV so he really needed us to buy a vacuum (why would I care if you have a 3D TV? - maybe I'm saving my money for one and don't need a $1000 vacuum), and asking us the most inane questions: What kind of floor do you want, a clean one or a dirty one? We drone on in unison, "Clean one."  Do you want your vacuum to get up just some of the dirt or all of it?  "All of it."  What do you want your vacuum to do for you?  Me:  Pick up the big chunks.  That was the beginning of the end for Junior.  He took our vacuum apart to show us how inefficient it was, and then couldn't get it back together.  Oh, I see how it is, I said.  You break our vacuum so we have to buy a new one.  Then he was kind of snappy and defensive, and when we told him we would not like to buy a vacuum, he said he didn't care because he'd take this vacuum and sell it to one of our neighbors and they would have a clean house and we wouldn't.  Good luck, we said.  Our neighbors are his [Jesse's] parents.  Have a good trip back to Omaha, doofus.  It was a nice vacuum, but I was annoyed that he was there on Sunday afternoon.  We decided he thought he would have no trouble selling a vacuum when he drove up to the big house with an Escalade out front.  Think again.

Next week I turn 31.  Pizza's here.

This picture just makes me happy.