Mini-Vacation, Day 2

On Friday, we joined Aunt Mary Ellen and Frankie's cousin Kristy at the Minnesota State Fair. Who wouldn't love a day of high fat and sugar foods, plus lots of farm animals?

We didn't have a baseball hat for Frankie on this beautiful sunny day, but we found this awesome cowboy hat at the fair.

Frankie was a lot more interested in the animals this year. We spent a lot of time checking out bunnies, chickens, pigs and petting sheep ...

We ended our day at the fair with a fun ride on the Giant Slide ....

Like a true cowboy, Frankie kept his hat firmly in place, even on a wild ride down the slide.

Mini-Vacation, Day 1

Frankie and Dad played hookey from school and work on Thursday and Friday this week for a mini in-town vacation.

On Thursday, we went to Grand Rios, a huge indoor waterpark in Minneapolis. Frankie loved all the slides and the small pool with basketball hoops. He especially enjoyed soaking in the hot tub.

It was a rainy summer day, so there tons of other kids there. Frankie had a great time exploring all the small and large slides. We swam and slid for almost four hours!

Bad News Makes Good Kick Ball

We didn't get the answer we wanted from Frankie's orthopedist on Monday (Aug 13). Frankie's leg is healing well, but he still needs time for it to heal complete.

So...we'll be slipping on the boot when Frankie is at school. He can still have it off whilst he is at home and when we swim.

But look at how much he rocks playing kickball at school!

We go back on September 13, when we should be done with the boot for good.

First Time Swimming after Breaking His Leg

Frankie got the green light from his foot doctor to have his "boot" off when he was at home -- and to swim!

Right after that doctor's appointment, we went to Lifetime Fitness in Plymouth, MN and got ready to swim. Frankie was understandably hesitant about putting weight on his leg. But as soon as the pool opened, he was ready to go!

Whole Lotta Catching Up

I have been telling people for a while that Frankie's blog is "woefully in need of updating". So here's an attempt to catch up....

Right now, today, at this very moment, it is Sunday evening, August 12, 2007. Since I have posted since January, let me try to recap some of the major things that have been shaking.


Frankie Takes a Tractor Ride!

Uncle Larry gave Frankie a tractor ride at his estate outside Forest Lake, MN.

Frankie Goes to the Playground (again and again)

This is a shot from early spring at the playground in Linden Hills.

The Night Before ...

On a beautiful Monday night in June, Frankie strolls near the Lake Harriet bandshell.

...Frankie breaks his leg.

Sometime on June 26, 2007, Frankie broke his right leg. Luckily, he didn't have to get a full cast. He just got stuck with a "Wee Walker" boot.

So our summer plans changed a little bit. Instead of swimming 3 or 4 times a week, we found other fun things to do. We attended lots of concerts at the Lake Harriet bandshell. We made picnic dinners and sat on a blanket, taking in the scenery and the tunes.

As you can see, Frankie adapted to walking on his boot pretty quickly.

We saw RATATOUILLE and then had dinner at Hooters. Long story ....

We visited the Como Zoo in Saint Paul. Frankie's favorite part by far was watching the polar bear swim. We probably watched that polar bear swim and do flips for 30 minutes.





During this time, we kept track of the days until Frankie got his "boot" off with this calendar. We were hoping he would get rid of the boot on July 23. At that time, though, an x-ray revealed that Frankie had healed well, but that his bones still needed time to finish mending.





So we got the green light to take off his boot while he was at home and while swimming. You can see a video of his first time swimming in a separate post.


That's where we are tonight. Frankie goes back to the foot doctor tomorrow (Monday). We're hoping he'll politely hand the boot back to his foot doctor and say, "Thank you."