This & That

Did this:
Had the most chill week {thank you Jesus!}
Went ice skating with the kids
Took the kids skiing {so much fun!}
Shot photos for my sisters business
Had a family dinner date
Finally made it to church {I can't even tell you how long it had been, sigh}
J had a playdate
Decorated the bar
Painted the AV closet -- just need to hang the shelving now!
Spent almost all of Sunday outside!
Adam smoked a bunch of meat and we took a long Ranger ride again

Instagrammed {@MurdocksMamaBlog} that:

Scheduled this:
S: February Goals -- How they really went

M: This & That
T: Skiing
T: Snow 

Ate that:

M: Chicken, Bacon, Ranch Skillet + Steamed Veggies

T: Tacos + Enchiladas at Burger Night
W: French Onion Beef Sliders + Green Beans
T: Honey Mustard glazed Chicken {would not recommend} + Coconut Oil Roasted Potatoes {so good!}
F: Family date at Burger Shed

Our Weekend in Minnesota | The Ice Castles

This is less a 'What to do when in Minnesota' post and more of a 'here are our photos from the Ice Castle' because I was having major issues with my phone and therefore have no photos!  

Friday Adam and I surprised the kids by pulling them out of school at noon and heading for Minnesota.  We headed straight to the Ice Castle in New Brighton.  If you remember, they used to be in Stillwater -- one of my favorite weekend getaways with my family!  Look at my babies in 2017!

Noteworthy, on the way there my phone wouldn't charge with the car charger.  I flipped it to airplane mode so save enough battery for the Ice Castles.  It's super hard do explain/imagine if you haven't been there, but trust me when I say it's a really neat experience.  They kids had a blast just running around having us follow them in and out of little cave tunnels {technical term there!}  This year, we got tickets for late afternoon/early evening so we could see them light up.  Last time we went, it was during the day so we didn't get to experience that.  They also had a flame thrower show that the kids loved.  The highlight is always the slide!  They have two smaller slides for kids until 42 inches tall and to bigger slides for anyone over 42".  It's a great time -- for all! ;)  

After the Ice Castles we checked into our hotel.  We didn't stay in Minneapolis this weekend because we wanted to be close to our friends who live in Woodbury, so we stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott St. Paul/Woodbury.  It wasn't fancy by any means, but the rooms were cute and the pool was warm {a must for this mama!}  

I have to photos from dinners/lunches for the weekend because my phone wouldn't charge all weekend, apparently it will only charge with a wireless charger {which is all I use at home, so I had no idea} but it's okay because we hung out with our friends and their three kids all weekend and it was just fun to be super present. 

My only real recommendations if you haven't been to Minneapolis yet would be to make sure you get a Juicy Lucy from the 5-8 Club or The Nook.

This & That

Did this:
Had the last basketball games & wrestling meet of the season
Found out my sister is expecting a BOY!!
Ate at Burger Shed again -- man I love that place!
Took the kids to Minnesota for the weekend
Went to the Ice Castles again
Visited our old friends & their 3 kids
Cleaned the garage & took our first Ranger ride of the season! 

Instagrammed {@MurdocksMamaBlog} that:

Scheduled this:

M: This & That
T: Vikings Game
W: What's Up Wednesday
T: Minnesota Recap | The Ice Castles
F: Friday Favorites
S: February Goals -- How they really went

Ate that:

Air Fryer Chicken Parm

Ingredients

• about a cup of Panko
  2 eggsabout ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese4 boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins, not frozen

Instructions

1. Spray the basket of your air fryer.
2. In a bowl, stir together your breadcrumbs and grated Parm.  In another bowl, mix 2 eggs.Take each chicken tenderloin and dunk in eggs and then dredge each piece in the breadcrumb mixture and place it in your air fryer.
3. Close the air fryer, set the temp to 325 degrees and the timer to 19 minutes.
4. When the timer goes off, your chicken is ready to go!

This & That

Did this:
Finished a big project at work!
Watched Toy Story 4 & The Lion King
Celebrated the 100th day of school, Donuts with Dad, & a play put on by Jordyn's class
Basketball, taekwondo, piano, youth group, small group, etc.
Went to my great niece's 1st birthday!
Took the kids skiing

Instagrammed {@MurdocksMamaBlog} that:

Scheduled this:

M: This & That
T: An update on 'No Online Purchases' this month
W: My Morning Skincare Routine
T: BVI Vacation Recap
F: Friday Favorites

Our Weekend in Denver

The kids and I spent last weekend at my parents house.  Adam was going to join, but he had a late work event on Friday and didn't want to catch croup from Cullyn {he has a band gig coming up}so he ended up staying home at working on some projects {hung some things, did yard work, and redid the back deck off our room--yay!!}  

You should see all of my mom's fall decor!

Cullyn stayed home from school Thursday and Friday, so we grabbed Jordyn after school and headed straight to Denver.  Friday night we ordered pizza in and chatted.  Saturday morning we went to see my grandma in the nursing home {Grandma Laura/Grandma Great}.  Sadly she has Alzheimer's and didn't recognize me. :( It's tough to watch, but I'm happy to visit her when I go back. We used to spend so much time with her, so I have tons of great memories!

After that we grabbed a quick lunch and I headed out to take engagement photos for one of my bride & grooms next year.  Afterwards, I met up with my everyone at Phelps Youth Pavillion.  They're a little older now and loved it even more than before!  We played there for hours before heading home for dinner and several games of Uno and Skip-o.

Sunday we went on a little hike around Hartman Reserve.  Then we went to lunch and the kids and I headed for home.  It had been so long since we spent a weekend in Denver, so it felt great to be back!  Next time we're home will likely be for Christmas!  

Minnesota! Ice Castles + Pizza + Crayola + Juicy Lucys + LEGO + Swimming

Minnesota

At the last minute, I decided I wanted to take the kids to Minnesota to see the Ice Castles.  After talking it over with Adam, we decided to make a weekend of it since we were leaving the following week for St. Lucia and wouldn't see the kids for almost a week. 

We packed up the car and hit the road about 7:30 Saturday morning.  We swung by our hotel to drop off our luggage before heading to Pizzeria Lola for lunch.  We passed the wait time by taking photos in the little photobooth at the back of the restaurant. :)

After lunch, we headed to the Mall of America.  We stopped in the LEGO store first and grabbed a few Legos for the kids before heading to the Crayola Experience.  We were very impressed with this exhibit {even for the price tag - $20/person. *Teachers & Military get in free & guests with them are 50% off, but we didn't meet that criteria}  We thought this was going to be about a hour of our day, but we ended up spending 4 hours there {and could have stayed longer}.  I would definitely recommend this to anyone with elementary aged children!

That night we met our friends that live in the area and they took us to a restaurant they frequent often.  We met Grant and Kate on our 1st anniversary trip to Mexico in 2010 {they were on their honeymoon} and we've kept in touch ever since.  So 7 years and 5 kids later, we finally met up again.  They ended up coming back to our hotel and the kids and dads swam for a while, while us mamas chatted.

The next morning, we all lounged around until almost 11!  Then we met Grant and Katie for lunch at the 5-8 Club for their famous Juicy Lucy's.  Delicious!  Afterwards, we all packed up and headed to Stillwater to see the Ice Castles.  It was a super awesome experience.  Now that we've seen it during the day, I really want to check it out at night as well.  SUPER fun!  The kids loved the slides.  The only downside was the amount of people, but still worth it. *I would recommend boots and snowpants as it's pretty cold and the ground is covered in ice pellets, so they get inside tennis shoes. 

We never stepped foot into IKEA {what a SHAME!} or the Winter Carnival at Rice Park because we ran out of time!