We went to Minneapolis/ St. Paul (or "the Cities" as they're known in this part of the world), and I found a hotel through Expedia that gave us a small suite (with a pull-out sofa, desk, kitchenette & 2 queen beds), with an indoor pool and a free continental breakfast for less than $100/ night. I felt pretty good about that (Spring Hill Suites in Eagan, in case you're wondering).
What we didn't bargain for was that there was some sort of National Pre-teen girls' softball championship going on and we had at least 2, maybe 3 teams staying in our hotel. We were secluded up on a corner of the top floor, but the pool was REALLY crowded and giggly and screamy.
On Friday, we went to the Mall of America. Xander's big thing that he was looking forward to was going to the LegoLand there (actually just a Lego store, but with cool displays). We gave him a spending limit, and he spent it all on Bionicles. No surprise there.
The kids with a Lego man
Have to get a picture with Boba (Jango?) Fett(they're hard to tell apart for a non-geek)
This was cool, a huge Bionicle, made of -what else? Legos!
(it's a Toa- "old school"- like from 2001- in case you care!)
Matt & the Death Star
Spongebob!
I got a dress. I didn't take any pictures. It's really cute.
Matt forgot to pack a book, so he went to Barnes & Noble and picked up a couple of books to keep him occupied during our down time.
We went to the Underwater Adventures aquarium, which was really cool. There's a slow moving sidewalk that winds through a tunnel and the fish swim all around you. Several sharks and rays, beautiful salt water coral reef fish... it was hard to get pictures because of all the glass.
Here's some Koi in a little pond on the way down to the aquarium:
Some bottom-feeding sharks
Maia was excited to have sharks swim right over her head! (or on her head as she said)
Here's some perspective. Matt kept getting in my pictures.
After the tunnel, there was a room with smaller tanks with things like baby alligators...
a tank like the one in "Finding Nemo"
(that's someone else's kid. I thought it was Xander when I was taking the picture!)
Some "jellies"
And I thought this was fascinating, an octopus that they have to keep in a special tank because she's so smart, she keeps trying to escape. They said that Octopi can get as intelligent as a 2-3 year old child. Is that why Mr. Potato head's in the tank with her?
That room opened right into the gift shop, where the kids had to check out some of the booty:
Maia was excited to have sharks swim right over her head! (or on her head as she said)
Here's some perspective. Matt kept getting in my pictures.
After the tunnel, there was a room with smaller tanks with things like baby alligators...
a tank like the one in "Finding Nemo"
(that's someone else's kid. I thought it was Xander when I was taking the picture!)Some "jellies"
And I thought this was fascinating, an octopus that they have to keep in a special tank because she's so smart, she keeps trying to escape. They said that Octopi can get as intelligent as a 2-3 year old child. Is that why Mr. Potato head's in the tank with her?
That room opened right into the gift shop, where the kids had to check out some of the booty:
Then we went and played in a kids' area for a while
Awww..... my treasure (nice picture, Xander!)
Got a picture with "Sharkey" then headed back to the hotel
That evening, we chilled at the hotel, Xander built some Bionicles,
Maia played with princesses
and Dad & I read our books (I had packed one).
Saturday, we went to the Children's Museum in downtown St. Paul. It was really fun! We started out in the habitat world, and the kids got to be turtles,
Climb around and get lost in an anthill (Maia was not so wild about the getting lost part. You could probably hear her screams from South Dakota!)
We got to "drive the clouds," which were on huge pulleys and suspended across the ceiling.
When you got all the clouds to one side, they'd break into a "thunderstorm" which was cool!
There was an outdoor terrace on the top floor, with a sand pit,
a fountain, where Maia painted with water
And an area where you could draw to the music that was being played inside. You could also play along on drums, but neither of our kids were interested in that.
The Curious George exhibit was very lively and colorful.
Maia found the (stuffed) animals that belonged in thesepens and put them away, a chicken and a bunny.
In one area, you could learn all about Curious George'sevolution from a French monkey named Fifi. This bike
told about the Reys' flight from the Nazis during WWII.
They fled Paris on a bicycle before flying to S. America
and eventually ending up in New York. See? Everyone
learns something at the Children's Museum!
Xander found a conveyer belt and played with it thewhole time we were in Curious George land.
Another gallery had water fun:
And another one was all set up like a little town. There was a post office, a doctor's office, a recording studio, an art gallery, a grocery store, a restaurant, a home, and a tailor where the kids could all find costumes to wear:
Xander really liked the "centasaurus" outside the museum. This dinosaur had a bunch of pennies glued to his back. Xander was convinced that he could get one off and it would be his lucky day.
We had a lot of fun and were exhausted after only 3 hours there. So we headed back to the hotel for the evening again.The next morning was Sunday, and since we rarely get a Sunday where we're not obligated to be somewhere, we took an opportunity to check out a church that is really different from ours. We wanted to go to Solomon's Porch, but they were having a service in the park and an outdoor baptism, and we didn't really want to intrude on that, so we opted for Spirit Garage in downtown Minneapolis.
They meet in a small theatre downtown, which is currently playing a show called "Double Espresso." The environment is really great, and we enjoyed visiting a different setting for worship, but we're also really glad to be at Mercy.
Sunday afternoon (hold on, I'm almost done) we went to Cascade Bay in Eagan- just down the road from our hotel. It was a moderately hot day (low 90's)- just perfect for water parking.
Here's some pics.
Some of the slides and the lazy river
The mini-golf course that Matt & Xander checked out while Maia & I had a snack
Maia being "Mulan"
Nobody got too sunburnt, just a few little patches.
Monday it was time to leave, but we took our time. The hotel pool was- predictably- empty so we played there for an hour or so, then headed out. 
We enjoyed dinner at Emma Krumbee's restaurant (or as Matt insisted on calling it, "Emma's crummy restaurant") outside of Belle Plaine, and the kids zonked out most of the rest of the way home. Me too. Glad Matt can drive without needing company!
