We had been planning a trip since spring and various things kept getting in the way. There was finally a break in the action the week after the 4th and we made the trek to Minneapolis. Unfortunately it wasn't the best time for Uncle Nick but we did spend an evening at his new house, ate some pizza, and hung out in his backyard.
We left for Minneapolis around 11 am on Wednesday, July 10 with the short goal of getting to Des Moines for a night at the "pirate ship" hotel. We visited the hotel last year and couldn't pass up a visit since it was on our way though it did make the trip a bit longer. This visit was better than last year as it was less busy, probably because it was a weekday but still strange since it was summer. Both boys were more brave in going down the slides except Ralph wouldn't go down the big slide this year.
Thursday morning we left for Minneapolis, stopping at Medford for a little outlet shopping which turned into a little longer than necessary based on our lack of bags. We did get some deals but not as much as we'd like. Made it to the Embassy Suites in Bloomington around 3, checked in, and headed to the Lego store at the Mall of America. Henry enjoyed playing with the lego table and Ralph finally found a computer station that worked. Left after a bit and made our way to Uncle Nick's. The boys had fun playing at his house - especially his backyard, I'm sure they were just thankful to be out of the car!
Friday we headed to Como Town in St. Paul. Mike told me it reminded him of rides at the county fair which is a good comparison. Henry barely passed the height requirement for the basic rides - train ride, cars that go in a circle - and could ride with an adult on the bumper cars and tilt-a-whirl. Ralph was tall enough to ride a few more rides and he rode a few I didn't think he would. There was a zoo attached to Como Town but after being in the park for 5 hours we were ready to go. We made a stop at the Science Museum of Minnesota. Luckily it was open past 5 but by 5:30 we were ready to find supper.
Saturday morning we headed back to the Mall of America not knowing if there was a ride or two the boys would want to do but nothing really jumped out at them and after spending a day riding rides the day before I didn't push anything. I had hoped to get some photos with costumed characters which unfortunately didn't start making appearances until noon so walked around and came across a Wii interactive exhibit. The workers were nice about letting Ralph try various games and knowing him, he could have stayed for longer but it was finally time to visit the character spot. Two of the Ninja Turtles were first up. Henry would not go with Ralph but Ralph had a good time posing as a ninja. After we went back to the Lego store and found some lego tables outside the store until the next character sighting. Just before 12:30 we went back to the character spot to get in line for Spongebob and Patrick. Ralph had fun posing with them - and I even got a hug too. We left the mall in the quest for a shorter lunch line but I took us to the interstate too soon and we started to head out of town.
We spent Saturday night in Des Moines and went Blank Park Zoo Sunday morning. We had visited in September 2011 and we had another great time. The zoo is a bit bigger than the Lincoln Zoo but not close to the Omaha Zoo. After lunch we headed back to Lincoln.
We had a great time - so much so we are working on ideas for our next roadtrip!
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