Minnesota!

We took Sonora on her first airplane ride this last week to Minnesota! We left Thursday, June 18th and flew from Fresno to San Francisco, then on to Minneapolis, Minnesota where Steve's good friends Aaron & Gretchen Kelly live with their 2 girls, Maggie & Maya in Woodbury, a suburb of St. Paul. We also visited my Uncle Scotty and family in Elk River, MN which was only about 45 minutes from Woodbury.

Here is Sonora waiting in her stroller after checking in at the airport in Fresno. She was so excited to go!

Sonora & Mommy by the Giant Sequoias in the airport.
Sonora & Daddy in front of our plane.

Sonora loved looking around the plane. Everything was so new and different.
Thankfully, she slept the entire way to SF on the way over. That was her longest nap on the plane that she would have both there and back.

Here we are in Elk River visiting Uncle Scotty & Aunt Tammy! Tammy was so excited to see Sonora and Sonora took to her right away!

Sonora also had fun with Scotty. She didn't cry at all when they were holding her.

Here is Reid playing Wii in the basement. He is quite the skilled player!

Covey - Mr. Licker. He was a cutie and super soft!

A view from Scott & Tammy's backyard.

The other direction. Simply gorgeous!

The front of their house.

They have a trampoline in their front yard and here Scott was jumping high to make Reid bounce around.

They let Sonora on the trampoline but decided it was safest to only slightly bounce her. She wasn't so sure about it. ;)

Steve showed off his backflip on the trampoline for Reid.

Steve with Sonora in their living room.

Sonora & I in the basement.

The Kessler family enjoying Sonora before we leave. Taylor was there for the first part of our visit, but he left before dinner to go to one of his friend's house.

Here is Aaron & Gretchen's house in Woodbury. They live in a newer development, again with no fences, but in a cul-de-sac where kids are free to roam around safely. They have about 20 kids below the age of 8 in their small neighborhood.

Sonora had her first ride in a push-car and she loved it!

Maggie enjoyed pushing her around up and down the block. Maggie was in her swimsuit which is the staple outfit for both her and her sister, Maya, practically every day! They love swimming!

Sonora in her crib in the closet of our basement room. She woke up from a nap one day and pulled the blanket down and was sitting there smiling at me.

On Saturday we went to the Como Zoo, which is a free zoo in Minneapolis. It was a beautiful day on Saturday and we enjoyed the outdoors.

By one of the zoo exhibits...

Here Sonora is listening to the loud music of the carousel and watching the horses go round and round. She really liked it! She didn't go on it this time (she decided she was hungry instead!).

On Sunday, we drove to Teddy Bear Park in Stillwater, MN. It was a gated park on a hill that had giant teddy bears and trains and trees and mountains to climb on. It was a great park for kids. Here is Sonora & Daddy on Father's Day.

The Kelly family...

An overview of one part of the park.

Downtown Stillwater

The St. Croix river dividing Minnesota from Wisconsin. We took the bridge over to the Wisconsin side just so we could say that we were there too!

Happy Father's Day Daddy! We love you!

We had a great time on our vacation to Minnesota and thank our hosts very much for their hospitality! We hope to see you all soon!