Elisa's Visit

For her birthday, Elisa's sweet husband Matt bought her a plane ticket to visit us in Minnesota. We have had so much fun! We went to the Mall of America with all of the kids and actually went on a ride in the Nickelodeon amusement park and ate at Noodles & Co. (and maybe shopped a little while bribing the kids with the rides and food). We stayed up late talking with Travis, which was really fun because Travis wasn't on call and got to spend some time with Elisa too. We went window shopping at a lovely boutique mall, ate lunch at a couple of yummy restaurants called Burger Jones and Yum Bakery, and bought some treats and snacks at Whole Foods and Trader Joes, which are both within one mile of my house! We live in St. Louis Park, which is an idyllic suburb of Minneapolis. Travis's commute is only 12 minutes without traffic and without his walk from where he parks. We took several walks in the perfect spring weather and soaked up the charm of our lush, tree-lined neighborhood. Elisa stood guard while I cut branches from a bank of lilac bushes lining a nearby gas station. Lilac bushes line the freeways here. They are as numerous as dandelions, so I didn't think anyone would mind. Now every room in our house smells of lilacs.We also walked around Lake of the Isles, one of our favorite nearby lakes. Elisa took some great pictures, including the best family picture we have ever had since adding Sarah. Elisa even schlepped out her beautifying equipment and colored and cut my hair along with giving Michael and Anna much-needed cuts. I hadn't had a haircut in eleven months! I look and feel so much better. And my new poppy red glitter toenails are fabulous. Anna has red glitter toes too, and with Elisa's assistance, we learned about buying flip flops at Target to show off our new glitter toes. We had a ball! Thanks for the visit Elisa! I love you!