A Marathon Mini-Vacation

We took a mini-vacation last weekend to the Mall of America in Minnesota. I won a hotel stay, four wristbands to Nickelodeon Adventure (theme park inside of mall), a Mall of America coupon book, and a gift card to go out to eat at a raffle for Cystic Fibrosis. (My twin, Lisa, puts on a fund-raiser for Cystic Fibrosis every August.) I was thrilled to win the trip and we decided to extend our stay and make it a family getaway. Travis took Monday off work which was great.

We left early Saturday morning and stopped for a couple hours at Cabela's in Owatonna. Travis had a lot of gift cards to use so the girls and I checked out the aquarium and mounted animals display. (Kinda cool and creepy at the same time...there was a waterfall in the display and the girls loved that.)

We headed to the hotel, swam and ordered pizza. We had a lot of fun and still got the girls to bed at a decent time. Sunday morning we ate breakfast and then headed to the mall. We were there for 7 (!) hours and had a blast. Travis and I were both shocked the girls made it that long but they were just so excited for all the rides. Travis had to take them on most of them, because the safety bar of the little kids rides wouldn't fit over my pregnant belly. (I was okay with that...especially after we all rode the balloon ride and I almost got sick.) There were also fewer rides Zella could go on, so while Papa and Madeline went on the roller coaster, bumper cars, etc. Zella and I rode the train and merry-go-round over and over.

They both were in awe of the rides and were very good all day! We anticipated that we would stay for a couple hours, go back to the hotel room for nap/rest time and then go back to the mall. They didn't want to stop, though so we just followed their lead.

Here are a few of the pics from the day...

Our family at the end of a long day of fun!

Playing at Lego Land. It was all fun and games until Zella threw a Lego at someone.

Travis, Madeline & Zella at the top of the Ferris wheel. It was Madeline's favorite ride.

Papa and Zella

Zella "driving" the school bus. Her favorite ride.

Madeline waving from the Blues Clues ride.

The pool was really cold and the girls didn't want to get in, so they

swam in the bathtub instead.

Mama and Zella on the merry-go-round.

Papa and Madeline riding the race cars. Papa's long legs barely fit!

Travis snuck away and rode all the scary roller coasters while we shopped for souvenirs. He had a blast and thought it was weird that I didn't want to go on any of them. I seriously can't stand roller coasters OR any scary rides. Pure torture.

On Monday we headed to Ikea (my favorite store!) and got some things I needed. The girls had fun playing in the kids area. Then we headed back home.

We had an incredible time. It was nice to spend time as a family! Travis has been so busy with work, and the girls and I have had a very busy schedule, so it was very relaxing to spend some time just the four of us. It was strange to think that this will be our last "vacation" as a family of four!

More later,

Lori