Vacations lead to busyness

March was a BUSY month. It was FILLED with travel, some for fun, some for work. Early in the month, Meghan took Addison on a trip to see her best friend Beth down in Missouri. They had their first Southwest Airlines experience which wasn't too bad I hear. Before they could get back, I had to leave for a conference in California. All in all it was an entire week before I saw my wife and daughter again. It was lonely...but I kept busy at home by building some MUCH needed storage shelves in the storage room. Its amazing how productive I can be when I have no other responsibilities around the house! :-)

The conference was very interesting, I go to it every year to catch up on what is happening in the aerospace industry. Most years its at the Beverly Wilshire (on Rodeo Drive and via Rodeo...shopping mecca for my high end readers), where Pretty Woman took place. I actually usually stay elsewhere though to save the company a little money...its a Four Seasons hotel, its NOT cheap. I had yet to see any celebrities there in all three years I had been there. I came close this year, Sarah Palin came through the lobby of the hotel about 2 minutes after me. The guys at my table for Lunch saw her and said hi. I guess she was very nice and friendly...she does have a new book and TV show to sell though so being friendly is in her best interests!

Shortly after we both got back, we had a vacation to Puerto Vallarta planned. It was a VERY unique vacation in many ways. It was our first vacation with a toddler which made it quite unique and extremely tiring. The first half the trip was rough, the 24 hour flu swept through the family. I got it the night before we left so I was basically worthless on the trip there. A couple nights later it was Addison's turn, which is something I wouldn't wish on ANY parent. Last was Meghan who got it the night after Addison after sacrificing herself all night with Addison. Luckily, Doug and Jeannie (Meghan's parents) were with us or I don't know how we would have managed!

We did manage to spend some time on the beach though. Addison loves playing in the water...she HATES the sand though. She hates it so much she won't even let us set her down in it, we have a great video but its not on this computer. It worked out to our advantage though cause she wouldn't leave the beach mats we put down.

Addison's top 5 favorite things about Puerto Vallarta were:

1. The tigers and birdies which we visited many times a day to ROAR at.
2. The waterslide that she would go down with her dad...over and over and over
3. The slide at the mall nearby (see video below)
4. Playing in the ocean and pool
5. The water fountain in the hotel lobby (see video below)

While the vacation was tiring and not nearly long enough, it was SO memorable. I can't help but to think how fortunate we've been with vacations during Addison's life. It won't always be like this but we are taking advantage of the opportunities that God blesses us with. I am sure we'll be back in Puerto Vallarta again one day though, its a wonderful place and Paradise Village is a great resort.

The worst part of vacations, beside them ending, is coming home to a pile of work. At my job, I am a one man team so when I go on vacation, everything just waits for me...it makes vacation into both a blessing and a curse at times. I am just now, weeks later, finally getting caught back up again. I would take this vacation again in a heartbeat though...seeing the joy on Addison's face as she experienced the ocean was priceless!!

What's going on with the Rasmussen's

Well we are a little overdue on an update with what we are up to these days. Addison is now 15 months old. I remember a short time ago bringing her home from the hospital wondering what in the world we are going to do with this little tiny pooping machine. Its amazing how much changes in just 1 year and 3 months. She's walking, talking, winking, roaring, laughing, running, playing, and smiling now. She's burrowed into our hearts in a way I can't even put into words. Honestly, its hard sometimes for me to even enjoy being away from home because I might miss something funny or amusing. I remember the first time she "winked" at us. I put it in quotes because we call it winking but really its blinking. We were at the mall in Coon Rapids and we let her down from the table we were eating at. She wandered over to a table with a couple kids and one of the girls was smiling at her and winked. Addison laughed and blinked at her. It was such a precious little moment that I cherish so much. You can see some videos of our little girl here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/trevorrasmussen

She's getting ready to visit her FOURTH country (not counting the one she lives in) in less than a month and it makes me think what a charmed life she's been able to have so far. I never left the country until I was old enough to vote and she's seen France, Grand Cayman, Britain, and now soon Mexico before she can even go to the bathroom on her own!! I can't help but be thankful for how fortunate we've been with all the traveling we've done in the past year...it won't always be like this so we are enjoying it while it lasts (and while Addison can fly for basically free). God has blessed us amazingly...I can't lie there...we live a charmed life. Sure others have more, do more, its easy to focus on what we DON'T have...but what we DO have is pretty amazing.

Valentines Day is coming up, this year we are keeping it low-key again...following our past traditions. While its a fun day to remember how much we love each other, we try to not get too caught up in the whole thing. I usually buy Meghan a little something and we'll have dinner and then maybe relax by watching a movie together or something. This year, the Roelofs are coming by and we're having pizza (heart shaped of course) and renting a movie. Honestly I look forward to that as much as I do some extravagant dinner. I've learned to really enjoy the little things like that.

Our eBay business has expanded. We are no longer just a place to buy covers for your Wii Remotes. Our focus has moved more into selling clothes, books, movies, collectibles, etc. Anything around the house that we no longer use. Amazon and Craigslist have also been great places for us to unload stuff we no longer need! It started with our garage sale last summer. Our friend Rachel had a TON of nice stuff that just wasn't selling so we made an arrangement to sell it for them for a fee. Its worked out so well and we've both made a lot of money in the process. Then we moved onto our own stuff and even stuff from both of our parents. I actually enjoy it more than the our Wii Remote covers because every item that sells means a little more room in our basement and garage! We are finally getting close to fitting both cars in the garage which has truly been my goal. Once this is done, we hope to use some of this money to finish our basement and add some more value to our house. While eBay takes some time, its proven to be a great venture for us and we are thankful to our God for providing the extra revenue stream!

Back on our own...

Well the craziness has started to settle down. In the past 3 months we've had a HUGE rollercoaster of craziness that has kept us SO busy we didn't know what free time was. In that time we:
- Lost our renters in IL (spent thousands redoing inside due to their damage)
- Bought a new house in MN
- Found new renters in IL (signed the up to a 2 year contract...thank you Jesus)
- Moved into new MN house
- Spent weeks getting new house livable (it was a foreclosure)
- Work/vacation trip to Paris and London
- Lost renters in Rochester (We'll miss you Bristol's)
- Found new renters in Rochester (1 year contract, hopefully there for 2)
- Plus tried to maintain somewhat of a social life

Now with all that behind us we finally feel like we can take a breath and enjoy life again. We have a weekend camping trip (in a cabin...not trying camping with a 9 month old) at the end of the month that should provide some much needed relaxation time. While we just had a long vacation in Paris and London, we spent so much time sightseeing that we didn't get to really relax much. We are really looking forward to meeting Addison's newest cousin who should be born in the next month (to Krista and Bill, my sister and brother in law). And then after that its the start of the football season which should bring a lot of excitement for us like it always does. The rest of the summer and fall promise to be lots of fun and relaxation. We are so thankful to be where we are and even though its been a crazy summer, our God has taken great care of us and we know he'll continue it.

London Blitz

This is a blog Meghan wrote for Patrick and Susan's blog, but it really summed up the second half of our trip nicely so I am going to put it on our site as well. I added additional details about our day trip to Brighton:

Seeing London in five days means that you see many sites in a little amount of time. Our family planned a ten-day European getaway, first to Paris for five days and then to London for another five days. We left Paris and arrived in London on Thursday night via the Eurostar train. Patrick was kind enough to meet us at the train station to help us navigate our way to their place and to help haul our two big suitcases, two backpacks, a small duffel bag, a stroller, and a car seat. Addison was excited to finally get to meet her Uncle Patrick and Auntie Susan.

On Friday, our first blitz of London included the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey, and Big Ben/House of Parliament. We made it home in time for dinner—our first experience with Indian food. We could not come to London where the best, most authentic Indian food is made (besides India) without trying it for the first time. It was some good stuff.

Saturday we decided to take the bus to Harrod’s where I was wowed by the monstrosity of a single store. We then took a stroll in Hyde Park and stopped at Blockbuster on our way home to get some movies for the evenings.

On Sunday we took a day trip to Brighton where we had a picnic on the beach and spent a few hours on the pier where we indulged in guiltless pleasures. (Written by Trevor) A couple very interesting things about Brighton: 1) The entire beach was made of stones, not a morsel of sand to be seen, 2) Brighton has a great pier kind of like Santa Monica, and 3) I can ride a bull for 35 seconds! We had a blast though. The coolest part we found was that one of the arcades had lots of 2 and 10 pence games...and they were the kinds of games where you could actually win money back. In the US those games would give out tickets for some lame prizes but out in England, they actually let you have the coins. It really makes the money last a lot longer which was a lot of fun!! To read more about our time in Brighton, you can see Patrick and Susan's blog where they did an entire blog about our day in Brighton. (End Trevor)

On Monday, Trevor, Addison, and I blitzed through Buckingham Palace, took a stroll by St. James’s Park, visited the Horse Guards, journeyed into Trafalgar Square, saw the National Gallery, walked through Leister Square, headed on up to the Piccadilly Circus, and from there also went into the British Museum until finally ending our day there and catching the tube back to Patrick and Susan’s flat for some dinner and a movie.

On our last full day, Patrick lead us through our final blitz of London. We visited the Somerset House, St. Clement Danes (the Royal Air Force church), and walked up Fleet Street to Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese where Susan met us for some lunch where I had my first meal of fish and chips. After lunch Patrick brought us by St. Paul’s Cathedral where we then continued on our way across the Millennium Bridge to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. We finished up our day by taking the tube to the Imperial War Museum.

We spent Wednesday morning packing and had to leave the flat at 11:30 for our long flight home. I think in order to fully take in London (at least all the major attractions), you need at the very least a week there. We loved every day we were able to spend there. We saw a good majority of the major attractions, though we went for quantity, not quality.

Today is the day

We leave for Paris today. Its crazy because normally we would have been counting down the days, making lists of stuff to bring, etc. We have been SO busy trying to keep up with life that none of that happened. While its a nice 10 day vacation for my wife and daughter...its a week of work for me followed by some vacation. Nonetheless, I am quite excited for it. I am just realizing how excited I am right now though.

We are also a little apprehensive though as we are bringing a little 7 month old cutie on the flight with us. How will she handle 8 hours on a plane? Will she stay sleeping? Is she going to cry the whole time? Will everyone around us like babies? Will the seat between us still be open when the flight leaves (man I hope so)? How will she adjust to the time change? Some of the millions of questions floating though my (our) mind (s) today as we begin packing.

Even knowing all those questions and potential for stress, we know this is going to be a memorable trip. First, we get to spend about 5-6 days in Paris which despite having a vast population that doesn't think much of Americans is a gorgeous city filled with amazing stories. We have a boat cruise down the Seine on Tuesday night that will allow us to see MOST of the sites. Meg gets to hang out with the wives all day and roam the city (lucky ladies) while us guys man the booth at the show and try to convince customers to give us their business. After Paris, we are taking the Eurostar under the sea to London to spend another 5 days with Pat and Susan in London. This is when MY vacation starts and man do I need it. We don't have an itinerary set for the trip yet. I think we are just going to let them tell us what sites are the most worthy of our time. We can't wait for London though too...again so much history...so many sites. Sadly I think Meghan is most excited to see Platform 9 3/4 though...you Harry Potter fans will appreciate that.

Anyway, we'll let you all know about the trip. We plan to take LOTS of pictures.

Going to Paris and London for $300?

It has been planned that I would join Trevor on his every-other-yearly trip to Paris for the Paris Air Show for two years now. What made this trip even better was that we were going to visit Patrick and Susan in London after Trevor's business part of the trip was done. My brother and sister-in-law moved to London for two years in September 2008. They have not met Addison yet.

A few weeks ago when Trevor was in LA on business, he met with his boss, who told him that the company was cutting costs. No layoffs (thank you God); however, Trevor's name was taken off the list to go to Paris.

I had already purchased my ticket via WorkPerks miles. There was no way in my mind that we weren't going to make this trip that we had been planning for two whole years! Trevor's boss knew we had purchased tickets and knew we were going to vacation after Paris, so he was very apologetic. Trevor's boss (Mike) came up with a compromise. If Trevor could get to and from Europe, then the rest of the trip would be paid for (meals, hotel, transportation) in Paris. What a relief! The cost for round trip coach class ticket on the flight I was already booked on was only $4000! Well, Mike offered Trevor his own WorldPerks miles so that we could make this possible. Talk about having the world's best boss.

So we paid a grand total of about $300 for round trip tickets from MSP to Paris and London to MSP. (We are taking the Chunnel train from Paris to London.) I am so excited for this opportunity to go to Europe again and explore some cities and countries I have not visited yet. Or wait, have I visited London? Here is a picture I found of us at the Somerset House doing some ice skating!

P.S. For a cute pic of my bro and SIL in London, click here: http://pscorcoran.blogspot.com/2008/11/blades-of-glory.html

The First Few Days

Greetings from sunny, warm, not-humid, gorgeous Grand Cayman. We enjoyed our first two full days on the Caribbean island. On Sunday hopped in the car and drove up to Rum Point where we ate lunch on the beach. The view was fantastic. Rum Point has some of the most amazing stretch of ocean and beach on Grand Cayman. It was a real treat to get to spend some time there. We plan on going back for a day at the beach, and I cannot wait. Addison got her first touch of the ocean at Rum Point.

Then we went to Georgetown where 90% of the shops were closed (most of the island closes down on Sunday). We had some ice cream at DQ and took a short ride up 7 Mile Beach where we reminisced about our honeymoon and saw the Marriott (where we stayed) and some of the restaurants we ate at. Then it was back to our condo for pizza and snacks during the Super Bowl.

Monday was a day of relaxing. We stayed out in the sun most of the day; Addison in her Bounce 'n Play.

For dinner we went to the Lighthouse where Addison slept the whole time, and we were able to enjoy a dinner in peace and quiet for once!

Vacation Part 1 - Wausau, Wisconsin

The Rasmussen Family Reunion - Wausau, Wisconsin - July 18-20

We stayed at a newly built Holiday Inn Express for Friday and Saturday night. On Saturday we met Trevor's, what seemed to be, hundreds relatives at a park for a reunion. We engaged in a cribbage tournament, too much eating, an adult pinata, fun, and games. Unfortunately, the hands dealt to us for the cribbage tournament (Trevor and I were partners) did now allow for us to much of anything as far as winning.

Later on at the hotel, the kiddos had their way with the pool area and played for hours!

The Beginning of the End?

I just realized today that this weekend is the beginning of the end for us. This weekend marks the weekend that we are gone from home almost every weekend (except two) from now until we move on September 6. It it kind of bittersweet. That only means that our month and a half left here in Illinois is going to fly right by us. That's good and bad. We have made some great friends here in Illinois and just this past summer were starting to finally get a bit comfortable living here. Not that we (I more specifically) like living here itself, but our friends are great and will be missed a lot. So about being gone. We decided that we haven't been spending enough money on gas lately, so we are wanting to travel some more to contribute to the failing economy.

OUR VACATION WEEK:
This weekend (Friday-Sunday): Wausau, Wisconsin.
What: Rasmussen Family Reunion, staying in hotel.

Next week, part 1 (Sunday-Wednesday): White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
What: We celebrate our 1 year anniversary (man that went fast), catch up with some friends, and enjoy a week off of work.

Next week, part 2 (Wednesday-Saturday): Grand Rapids, Minnesota.
What: Langenbrunner family get together at Little Wabana Lake property. Camping, fishing, swimming, visiting, bonfires, wood ticks, and mosquitos.

Next weekend (Saturday-Sunday): White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
What: Hang out with friends. Leave on Sunday back to Illinois.

THE REST OF AUGUST THROUGH MOVING DAY
August 2, 3: Appleton, Wisconsin.
What: Krista's (Trevor's sister) bridal shower on Saturday morning and combined bachelorette/bachelor parties Saturday afternoon and evening.

August 8, 9: Lakemoor, Illinois.
What: Relaxing!

August 15, 16: Lakemoor, Illinois.
What: We will apparently be enjoying our very last weekend ever in Illinois.

August 22, 23: Rochester, Minnesota.
What: Fantasy football draft, our first baby shower, hanging out with friends.

August 28-30 (aka Labor Day weekend): Appleton, Wisconsin.
What: We are both attendants in Krista's wedding on Friday night.

September 6: Lakemoor, Illinois, to White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
What: We are moving! The day will be here sooner than we will be able to believe. Will somebody please tell me when are we going to have time to pack?

So come back to visit our blog often. We hope to write more blogs and post a lot of pictures during the rest of our summer!

How Could I Forget??

We are going to Grand Cayman sometime at the beginning of next year. Since winter is not exactly the season to buy summer clothes for newborns, we thought we should get a few outfits for Addison for the trip. I could not help but post them since they are the first ones :) Tell me that our little girl isn't going to be the cutest thing in the world?

Hi From Mexico

Greetings to everyone from Mexico. For those of you who do not know, Trevor and I came down to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, with my whole family and Trevor's parents. We arrived on Saturday and took it easy. Sunday was a day spent at the beach and boogie boarding--Trevor's first time, and he was a pro! Today six of us went fishing. We got up at 5:15 this morning and were on the ocean until 4 this afternoon. We caught nine mahi mahi. We also saw humpback whales, dolphins, and a sail fish. Needless to say, tomorrow night my brother-in-law chef (Erik) will be cooking up the mahi mahi for dinner.