Snowmageddon

Is it summer yet? All week our local weathermen have been preparing us for today, snowmageddon. I don't think we're supposed to get anything like the Northeast did, but we're expecting 24+ hours of rain, sleet, ice and snow. The thought of my Monday morning commute to Eden Prairie already makes me cringe. Since the winter storm has taken our Sunday from us, it seems like a good day to sit around, take a snooze and watch a movie or two. I think I can handle that.

Luckily this coming week we'll get a nice break from the Minnesota winter. All the Helleen's are traveling, but we don't have the same destination. Mitch and heading to Vegas on Thursday with his Dad and brothers to officially celebrate Nick's 21st birthday. I think this will be a classic case of "what happen in Vegas, stays in Vegas." After little discussion, the Helleen ladies decided if the boys get a vacation... so do we! Deb, Jennie, Harper and myself hop on a plane Friday morning and head to sunny California to visit Jenny! This will be Harper's second plane ride, and I'm already starting to gather Elmo DVD's, snacks, toys and books to make the flight as painless as possible.  We're all looking forward to this nice little break from reality, seeing Jenny and finally meeting Harley! 

Yesterday I had another ladies morning out, shopping for bridesmaid dresses for Jennie's upcoming nuptials. Within 45 minutes of browsing at The Wedding Shoppe in St. Paul, we had picked out our dresses! Easy schmeezy. To celebrate another item crossed off the list, we headed to The Twisted Fork for mimosas and breakfast. Last time I raved over the lemon blueberry pancakes, but my green eggs and ham omelet (pesto, ham, parmesan cheese) totally hit the spot! It was such a fun morning hanging with the ladies.

After a morning of shopping and stuffing my face, I was looking forward to coming home and hanging with Mitch and Harper. We enjoyed our afternoon. We did a lot of reading, watched a little Sprout, made our first fort in Harper's room, and even gave video gaming a try. We've finally accepted that our house will probably be a mess 90% of the time. It takes Harper all of 5 seconds to rip out every book and toy she owns so it looks like a tornado flew through our living room. I don't even bother trying to clean up when she's playing, because if she sees you putting it away - she wants it even more. Lesson learned.

Harper and I took a mini field trip after I got off work on Thursday. The Maple Grove Library is relatively new and I thought they had a pretty cool kids section. To say Harper loved it would be an understatement. She ran around for an hour flipping through board books and playing with their toys. She even met a new friend! We need to work on the "the library is a quiet place," since she ran around screeching with joy a few times. I think we'll be adding the library to one of our regular stops.

This week I also had a shot a couple videos to share. The first one is something Harper loves. I think she could hide under a blanket for minutes at a time. She gets this smirk on her face like, "they have no idea where I am, this is awesome." Once she pulls the blanket off, that little grin makes me smile every time. Video number 2 cracks me up. Harper loves this inchworm toy, and Mitch can get her to belly laugh every time. She's a ball of energy, and we love every second of it.

My last shout out for the week is to my baby brother, Austin! He is on Osseo's Nordic Ski Team, and they had sections on Wednesday. After skiing two great races, Aust placed 9th overall sending him to State this Thursday. We're so proud of him, and know he'll kick some major booty this Thursday! Go Austin! :)

Until next time...
The Helleen's