Fantastic Weekend!

We had a great weekend! The festivities began Friday morning at the Hopkins Stages Theater. Tony and I took Oliver to his first musical, Rudolph. What a fantastic experience! Kid-friendly, fun, authentic to the story and in general top-notch. Oliver had a blast and was very well behaved. Here are photos from before the show began.

The cast lined up after the show and gave autographs, hugs and took pictures. Here are a few (keep in mind we were snapping on the go, so the quality isn't the best):

After the morning musical we headed out for burgers and malts...then to the rides at the Mall of America. Nickelodeon Universe was nearly empty, so no lines and lots of rides. Tony even took him on the log chute!

On Saturday Tony and Opa took Oliver ice fishing. Unfortunately Tony was the only one to catch anything, but Oliver got a chance to hold a "cropper" and hung out in the ice house with Opa. He lasted far longer than expected and all three guys had a good time. 

On Sunday Oliver helped bake the first batch of Christmas cookies. We picked one of Tony's favorites -- peanut butter blossoms (the ones with the kiss on top). Oliver helped open all of the candies (and managed to do a good job and not eating them all), prepare the batter (mixing, measuring and spooning), and then rolled the batter into balls and covered them in sugar. Tony snapped a picture and although he looks a little stunned here, he had a good time:

I've mentioned this before, but Oliver has a wealth of compassion. This past weekend he was especially attached to his "Baby Otter" and kept putting him down for naps, coming to get me when Baby Otter was crying, trying to find a home for Baby Otter, and more. Last night he put his new Misfit Airplane (from the musical on Friday) and Baby Otter together in Baby Otter's home. I mean, how sweet can this kid be?! Melt my heart...