Visiting the Twin Cities

Alex and I are now in Minnesota visiting family.  I never realized how much I missed it here until now!  So far we have been very busy.  We went to the Pinkalicious Musical at the Stages Theatre in Hopkins for Alex's friend, Haylie's birthday party.  The girls had a blast!  The picture below is of Alex and her other friend Megan with the pink flowers!  Afterward, we had lunch at my favorite sub place in the cities, called Big 10.  I met Becky, her mom, and daughter, Beth at Big 10 the next day.  I just cannot get sick of that place and am now having a craving just thinking about it.

Alex has gotten to spend a lot of time with her cousin Zoe and has already had two sleepovers!  The girls have so much fun together!  Alex can't wait until she has another sleepover with Zoe.

The picture above is Alex and Zoe at a park near my parents house in Apple Valley.

Above is Alex with her other cousin, Kaylee.  Alex had a sleepover with Kaylee at Keith's mom's house in Woodbury this past week.  The girls of course had a blast and Alex can't wait until her next sleepover with Kaylee.  Our trip is full of sleepovers!

Today we went to the Minnesota Children's Museum with Haylie and her mom.  The girls had so much fun, especially in the Lego section.  I think we must of spent over an hour in the lego section alone.  When it was time to go, Alex was very upset.  She definitely wants to go back again before we head back to Atlanta.

Yesterday (yes, I know the pictures are out of order) Alex and I met Megan and her mom Haylie at Lake Calhoun in Minneapolis.  I just love the Minneapolis lakes.  We met at Tin Fish, a restaurant right on the lake and had lunch, then headed to the playground for about three hours.  The weather has been in the 70's which is perfect for sitting at the park all day.  Sure beats the 90+ degree weather in Atlanta!

Preschool Tap/Ballet Recital

Alex had her dance recital today. She was so cute! I wish you all could of seen her because the videos I took did not come out very good. The one video above is from her dance recital but the warm-up routine the girls do.

Not sure if I posted this before but Alex had her Karate belt test and she passed! She is no longer a white belt, but a red striped belt. She enjoys Karate so much that I signed her up for a Karate camp in July.

Another video from the Mother's Day Tea Program

Here is a song that Alex sang with the rest of the preschool classes and Kindergarten class at Kingswood School.  So cute!

Chattahoochee River

The other day, Keith, Alex, and I went to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area- Island Ford to hike around.  I took a few pictures and posted them on flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/bratulich/sets/72157626538035575/

Island Ford is just one section within the national recreation area.  We plan to be here for at least another year so we hope to visit more of the recreation area before we leave.

Keith scheduled a few more rotations and is now scheduled until February of next year.  He has a few more to schedule and is thinking about which rotations he wants to do.  This is what his schedule will look like for the next few months.

He is finishing up the next two weeks in pediatrics.
5/23-7/1 Psychiatry
7/18-8/12- Gastroenterology
8/15-9/9- Urgent Care
9/12-10/7 Cardiology
10/10-11/4-Internal Medicine Sub-internship
11/7-1/27 Surgery
1/30-2/24 Emergency Medicine

He has two weeks off in July but will be studying for his USMLE Step 2 CK exam.  After he finishes with that he will have to study for the USMLE Step 2 CS exam.  The studying never ends!

Mother's Day Program

Alex's preschool put on a Mother's Day program today.  Alex was so excited to have me come and see her.  She made me a bracelet and a jewelry box to put it in.  The program was the cutest and the kids had a lot of fun!  I posted a bunch of pics on Facebook so check there to see those.  Here is one of the videos I took.

Yellow River Game Ranch

This past weekend we decided to check out the Yellow River Game Ranch.  Alex loved it and I think she enjoyed it much more than the zoo.  She loved that the deer were not in cages and she could feed many of the animals.  The bison pictured below were the smelliest animals, but neat to see up close.  They are a lot bigger than I expected.  I posted the rest of the pictures on Facebook, so check it out if you have time.