Exploring Uptown, and a Little Shopping

Yesterday, Eddie, Liz and I went to Uptown!

Eddie was really excited to explore more, because last time we went we just got tea and he didn't get to see very much.

We started out in Calhoun Square, then browsed stores such as Everyday People (my favourite store!) and Heartbreaker. Eddie made friends with a panther in Heartbreaker. While shopping, he also picked out some goodies for his mommy. He saw a huge pile of socks and wanted a picture with the, because he thought it was funny since Walter had a picture with colourful socks too.

He had so much fun walking around and window shopping, but he really liked the people-watching in that area. He was really amused watching all the hipsters.

He's excited because today he's going to a pool party!

Lions and Tigers and Bears- Oh My!

Yesterday Eddie and I went to the Minnesota Zoo! It was also sweltering hot, it got up to 96! Luckily we brought sunscreen. There were a lot of animals that were napping due to the heat, but there were plenty that were exciting to watch. Eddie like the prairie dogs best because they came up real close and he could get a good look at the critters, but they are small enough he didn't worry they'd eat him if he got too close. There is currently an Africa exhibit there, which was a lot of fun to look at- the giraffes were the best. There was a wall that showed you the wingspan of many different birds, and Eddie's matched the hummingbird. We didn't see any real hummingbirds, but we saw a lot of other birds- butterflies too! Eddie found some that were the same orange that he was!

Minneapolis Institute of Art and Excelsior Beach

Eddie was excited to go out exploring yesterday, because he had to stay home for two days when I was sick in bed.

We went to the Minneapolis Institute of Art to see the new Sin and Salvation exhibit of the paintings of Holman Hunt and his Pre-Raphealite Contemporaries. Eddie now thinks all the art in Minnesota is British, because it's the second British art exhibit we've gone too, so I told him we'll have to go see some American art later this summer. He was really fascinated by the bright colours, and wanted to get a picture with The Lady of Shallot because all the yarn reminded him of his mom, but there was no photography allowed in the gallery. But he did get a picture with the huge sunburst glass sculpture in the entrance!

We were really really hot once we left the museum-- it was in the eighties! So we hit up the Excelsior beach. The water was still really cold-- Eddie just wanted to stick his toes in. Then we laid out in the sun for a while- he definitely won for getting the most tan!

Coffee Outing

Today Eddie seemed kind of tired, so I suggested we go get some coffee at Dunn Bros. We met my friend Liz there, and he couldn't decide from the huge list of drinks, so he just ordered the same as Liz, an Iced Vanilla Nirvana. I think his eyes were bigger than his mouth (which is very true actually) and he wasn't able to drink it all, so he had me help out. Of course he gave it to me he ate all the whipped cream- I secretly suspect that's the only reason he wanted coffee. Next time I think I'll just get him a cup of whipped cream!

Eddie Rocks Out at the Garage

Eddie started off his day by walking around at Art on the Lake-- it was a lovely sunny day, and we looked at some art in the little booths and bought some lemonade from a little girl's lemonade stand because he was thirsty from being outside! Back at Pat's house he met Miss Pig Chef, and wanted to write his mommy a message. He didn't have time to feel homesick for long, because then we went to my friend Devin's graduation party, where he munched on cake and blew bubbles.

We then drove to the Garage way out in Burnsville( and got very very lost on the way, but still made it!) to see a concert with You Me and Everyone We Know, and a bunch of great local bands like Represent!  (my favourite to dance to) Eddie wanted to meet some of these hometown heroes, so he scored a picture with Jarrid from Represent!, as well as Pat Brown from Sing it Loud. He danced a lot to Represent, and ate some pizza too, hungry from all the dancing.

He also got a little booboo on his hand from going so crazy, but he's been a real brave boy about it, and will undergo a little surgery tonight to make it all better!

Job Searching.. and a Newt!

So I thought me and Eddie would go garage saleling, and he was looking forward to that, but I didn't have any cash and Patrick suggested we go hunting for a job for me, because I need a second job to afford summer fun and college and stuff like that.

Eddie was disappointed, but he was a sport and came along. I'm glad he did because after the first few boring stops at restaurants,  we went to the pet store....

They weren't hiring and then I was the disappointed one, because I love animals. But! Eddie had the brilliant idea to browse around, because he wanted to look at the reptiles. There was a giant iguana, which made him a little scared, and then he pointed out this cute little firebellied newt. They hit it off right away, and I was pretty smitten as well, and next thing I knew, we got a newt! Newton is his name and we went home and to bond, we all watched Pretty In Pink together, and it was a lot of fun! 

Eddie has become really attached to him, and is still sitting with him. It'll be nice for him to have Newton around for company when I'm out taking the ACT tomorrow! But after that there's a concert, and of course Eddie is excited to go to his first of many concerts of the summer!

Uptown, Downtown

Yesterday, Eddie and I (and Patrick)had such a busy day I was too tired to blog about it when we got home!

First we went to the Walker Art Museum, where we saw an Elizabeth Peyton Exhibit (who is British, which made Eddie feel right at home) and a conceptual art exhibit, which was a lot of fun but a lot of it went wayyy over our heads. But it was still cool to look at! There was this piece of art that was called the Dolphin Oracle, which you could interact with and ask questions. Eddie and him hit it off, if you look close at the picture you can see we're asking the dolphin if he will be Eddie's friend. The answer was yes =]

We couldn't get pictures with the Elizabeth Peyton's actual art, but Eddie wanted a picture with the postcards in the gift shop so he could remember some of the best paintings. While we were there he also met a little egg-shaped buddy! Big day for making friends! I think he was really feeling adventurous because it was our first official big excursion of the summer.
We also explored the Walker's sculpture garden and stopped to admire the Cherry Spoon, a famous Minneapolis Symbol.

The cherry spoon made me and Patrick hungry, and Eddie was feeling a little homesick from the mention of England at the museum, so we went to The Tea Garden in Uptown to get some delicious bubble tea! Eddie and I shared a Papaya Chai and it was delicious, and I think it made him feel more at home here.
Finally, we went to a park downtown and watched a local folk band play. Eddie and I agreed that they weren't very good, but it was fun being outside and watching them, and the performance was followed by a showing of Peewee's Big Adventure. Eddie loved it, he was laughing really hard the whole time. He fell asleep in the car on the way home, we packed a lot into one day!

Painting

This evening, needing to de-stress after my IMPOSSIBLE math final, I wanted to work on one of my paintings I'm in the progress of. I asked Eddie if he wanted to help and he was really eager to! He helped me mix my paint and everything--he's quite the artist. I can tell he's going to really enjoy going to art camp with me in July!

Arrival In Minnetonka!

Today I was outside, because it was lovely out, studying for finals when all of a sudden my mom ran out with a tiny box small enough for an eggbert, and I was so excited he was finally here!
I think he was even more excited, because he just jumped out of the box as I was opening it!
Nothing exciting going on today, he's getting settled in, and he hit it off with my hippos, Hippothacary and Hippochondriac =]



He also wanted to help me study for my world history final, which was real sweet. Turns out he he doesn't know anything about world history, but we had fun finding where he was from on the map in my textbook!


My summer starts next week, and then we'll really get this show on the road! I'll update soon with more news of what Eddie is up to!