Minneapolis

This morning we left for Minneapolis. I surprised Todd with tickets to the Vikings game with his brother Justin for Christmas. With the help of his mom and Justin we successfully pulled of the surprise. So this morning when we woke up to leave Todd thought we were headed to his Mom's house in South Dakota, but we really were headed for Minneapolis. He was very excited because the Vikings are naturally his favorite NFL football team, being a MN boy, and he had never been to the Metrodome for a game. Unfortunately, there is a blizzard in the Midwest today and the roads were really bad from Des Moines to Minneapolis with strong winds and sometimes white out conditions. We were determined to make it to the cities tonight because we had a non-refundable hotel room that I had booked. After 10 hours in the car we finally arrived safely in Bloomington at the Staybridge Inn and Suites. We love that hotel because they have awesome prices, 2 room suites(perfect for a baby that goes to bed early), and a great hot breakfast. I had arranged for Ashley and Justin to stay with James once he went to bed so Todd and I could enjoy an evening out. Originally I had planned dinner had a nice Italian restaurant in downtown Minneapolis but because of the bad weather we decided to find a place close to the hotel. We ended up at the Cheesecake Factory and enjoyed a nice dinner out, just the two of us! That never happens and we really enjoyed it even though we were only gone about an hour.

Justin reading James a bedtime story

Brrrr..... It is really cold and snowy here!