Mall of America!!!

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we were blessed with the chance to get together with family to do nothing but have fun (and boy did we!). We met Kathy, Ryan, Amy, Jenna, and Molly in Minneapolis on Friday afternoon at a hotel. After unloading, we all piled into minivans and headed to the biggest mall in America - and it was big! We had to stop for a photo shoot in the mall by a stuffed dog. And then we were off to the Sea Life aquarium. What an amazing place! There were so many neat displays with so many things to look at. We were all in awe at times.

Wally loved the touch pools were he could touch star fish and sea urchins. The kid didn't hesitate. We need to get him to the ocean some day.

I love this picture of Molly, if only she was smiling in it.

We loved the jelly fish...somehow Wally knew all about jellyfish. He said he learned it from watching the Nemo movie, but I don't remember jellyfish in it. Maybe he has a better memory than me.

One of our favorite parts was walking through underwater tunnels. There were sharks and all sorts of huge fish and sea turtles swimming around us. A little interpretive dancing under the sea...

On the way out of the mall, we had to get a picture by the biggest Christmas tree I've ever seen.

We topped off the day with dinner at a delicious Italian restaurant. Wally loved eating calamari. I'm not sure he ever quite figured out what it was he was eating though.

Saturday was the big day. We started it out at the American Girl store. To celebrate Jenna's birthday, the kids and Gramma had a tea party, dolls (and teddy bears) included.

Wally is probably about the only 5-year-old boy who would be totally excited for a tea party. He made jewelry to wear to the party for him and Heart Bear (a bear that used to be my grandma's). Because Heart Bear was a bit smaller than the dolls, he had to engineer a booster seat for him, but all worked out.
Aw, what a cute boy hanging out in the girliest store I've ever seen. We did actually leave for a little while during the party - Joel took me shopping at a tall girl store and got me a girly, super-warm coat for Christmas.

Look at all the fancy foods and hot chocolate! Wally's never been to a party like this before!

Wally was obviously having a blast with the art project (notice the face and shirt covered in hot chocolate - his eating/drinking skills aren't quite up to the normal standards for tea parties).

A very happy boy!

One of these is not quite like the others, can you find the one? Jenna was joined by some Minneapolis friends for the party - the perfect size for tea.

After the tea party, we went to the much awaited for Lego Store. The Millennium Falcon! Can you see the drool dripping from his chin?

Gramma Kathy bought Wally a Star Wars Advent Calendar, he was (and still is) a little excited about that! Thanks Gramma (and Reder and Ruby who also had the great idea)! Team Graff at the Lego Store.

After the Lego store, Joel and Ryan went to a bar to watch the Cat-Griz game with Tammy and Cheryl. Us girls and Wally were going to join them, but it had started to snow and the roads were very slippery, so we played at the mall. The best part of the Lego store, I thought, were the giant Lego statues that were above it. You had to go up a level or two or three to see them well.

One of my favorites was the saber-tooth tiger. Wally like the really big robot because "It was really big."

In the middle of the mall, there is a full-fledged amusement park. Wally was enthralled by it and really wanted to ride the roller coasters...so we did.

But first, Jenna and Amy (and the Olly twins) had to do a little dancing.

Wally: "I'm so excited to ride the roller coasters I can barley hold myself together!"

Jenna: "Yea! Let's do it!"

Molly: "I'm bored." Ready for our first roller coaster.

Though you wouldn't guess it from the picture, the Log Chute was Wally's favorite. Wally and I managed to get soaking wet, so logically, we rode the swings that go way up in the air and spin around like a merry-go-round. This dried us off quite nicely. The last big roller coaster we went on was crazy, not only did you go fast up and down and around, but the cars actually spun around too. Wally was laughing then saying, "I want to get off!" Once it stopped, he immediately said, "Let's do it again!" That's my boy! Molly also looked terrified in the video, but she wanted to do it again afterwards too!

Wally looked a little dazed, but was totally wanting more. For lunch, we ate at the Rain Forest Cafe. Wally had to hug the tree frog out front.

Joel, Ryan, Tammy, and Cheryl then joined us back at the mall. We let the kids ride a few more rides. I just love the expressions these three are making!

Joel didn't miss out on the action, he got to ride the Big Rig!

Wally learned a fun game...kick Uncle Ryan! We were all exhausted after a good 8-10 hours at the mall. We headed back to the hotel for some soaking in the hot tub and pizza. The kids were easy to put to bed that night! The next morning, we enjoyed the pool. It is amazing what a little peer pressure can do for a kid. Before swimming with Jenna and Molly, Wally would only do a little hop into the pool,but after watching his cousins, he was doing cannon balls, or at least a Wally version of a cannon ball. He was also seeing how long he could hold his breath under water.
Cannon ball!!!!

The cousins had a great time together. The day after we got home, Wally got really sad and said, "I feel left out. I miss Jenna and Molly." I said, "We'll get to see them in 1 month at Christmas." He says, "How about 1 day!"

Wally was exhausted and slept much of the way home. If you look closely, you can see that his nose is smashed up like a piggy nose on his coat. I took some pictures and then unzipped his coat as he just snored away.

Slime, Shapes, and Beauty Shop?

Wally came up stairs one day and started getting out a bowl and sugar and water. I asked him what he was doing, and he simply said, "making slime." Obviously. I questioned him more about it and found out he learned how to make slime while watching Sid the Science kid on PBS Kids. His recipe didn't seem right to me, so we got on line and found the episode where they made slime (1 part water and 1 part corn starch, plus food coloring). It was pretty messy, but fun. I love how he takes what he learns (yes, on TV or the Internet) and then tries to repeat it himself. Lately, he's been into doing "experiments." At Wally's parent/teacher conference, we were given some shape blocks for Wally. It has been fun working on those with him. Notice his tongue...that is why his lips are always chapped.

Look at our pattern!

Wally has been into making his own art projects or designing art projects for us to do. We were all outside, Daddy was pruning and I was hanging Christmas lights, and Wally was, well, being Wally. He disappeared and we found him in the house. He had collected a bunch of red leaves and was making flowers with them using pipe cleaners and construction paper.

He then left flowers on all 3 of our pillows. What a sweet kid! Scouty liked the flowers too.

One night, I'm not sure how it happened, but Wally decided he wanted to style my hair for me. Maybe I was having a particularly bad hair day, and he worked hard to make me "beautiful."

Here I am...beautiful. Thanks Wally!

Halloween 2011

We had a great Halloween season...is it really a season? I don't know, but with a kindergartner, it sure seemed like it. Wally and I made Halloween cut-out cookies. This was the first time that he actually helped me make cut-out cookies every step of the way without losing interest at some point. His decorating skills haven't changed much, but we had fun. And he was sure proud of them!

We also got in the Halloween spirit by reading "spooky" books.

On Wally's "early out" day (Wally is done with school at 2:00 on Thursdays), we went to HyVee to pick out a pumpkin. Wally looked very carefully to find the biggest pumpkin there. I told him to wait by the pumpkin while I got a cart. As I pushed the cart back, I saw Wally pick up the pumpkin and immediately topple over sideways rolling right over the thing. It was very hilarious to all who witnessed. Wally drew a face on the pumpkin for me to carve. Can you tell who it looks like?

Pumpkin guts! I think he remembered this part from last year. He was so excited to grab the goo (and save the pumpkin seeds that he wouldn't eat - Joel and I liked them though).

Look at the tough boy (with a tiny little scratch on his forehead from a few days earlier that he just noticed) and his pumpkin...twins!

"White Orange" was allowed to come out for the festivities and was joined by the Jedi Wally Jack-o-lantern...notice the pumpkin has a stick (aka lightsaber) sticking out the top...the kid is obsessed.

I was given the task of coming up with a craft and a game for Wally's Halloween party at school. I made a Pin-the-Grin on the Jack-o-lantern game and found a simple Ghost Windsock craft on-line.

Ready for the parade through school, Wally was dressed as Yoda (of course).After the parade, Mrs. Smith instructed the kids on how to make the windsock...cutting, gluing, no problem! During snack time, 1 table at a time joined me for the game. It was great fun getting to interact with all 25 of Wally's new best friends.

The following day, our church had a Halloween party. Can you spy Wally?

The next day, we went trick-or-treating at the mall (never doing that again - talk about a crowd!). And then, finally it was Halloween. I got Wally a glow wand and removed the star from the end, so he had a green, glowing lightsaber for trick-or-treating. I have to say, it was the perfect touch for his costume. Though he may have looked like Yoda, he was still Wally...after trick-or-treating for a while, Wally just sat down and said, "My feet hurt. I'm tired. I'm ready to go home," even though his friend wanted to keep going. Candy just doesn't mean anything to him. Where did he get that messed-up trait?

Yoda is still making near-daily appearances at our house...the costume was a great investment for this kid!