The beginning of our August adventures

Our August adventures were kicked off with a visit from Scott's parents, his sister Mandy, and her daughters Bryn (almost 10) and Maryn (8).  Once again, I didn't do the best job of taking pictures, but I did manage to capture Mandy's birthday celebration:

If I had taken more pictures, there'd be lots of the kids playing together, inside and outside.  It's fun to see how well the older three get along, considering they generally see each other only twice a year.  But the majority of the pictures would be of everyone at the Mall of America, which I believe I will start referring to as the mecca for the Willards of the west.  Of the 8 full days they were with us, four of them were spent at the mall; two shopping days and two amusement park ride days.  They closed down Nickelodeon Universe twice.

Zach was convinced to try a new ride - the Pepsi roller coaster.  He loved it; depending on who you believe, he rode it somewhere between 5 and 20 times.  And as you can see, they all rode it enough that they figured out when to pose for the camera:

^ Grandma Cookie & Zach in the back; Mandy and Maryn in front

Charlie didn't get to ride as much as the big kids, as his mean mom took him home in the afternoons so he could nap.  But he did get to experience the Wonder Pets ride for the first time (he's too short, but we found a ride operator who wasn't paying much attention).  Check out the video here; you may want to turn the volume down, unless you enjoy having your eardrums pierced by a toddler's shrieks.  Yes, that's Charlie.