June 17 Mall of America

Today was the big day for the big mall. For years I have heard about the Mall of America & the amusement park inside. I’m pretty sure I was more excited to go then my kids. I’m not much of a shopper, in fact I despise shopping for myself, but I will shop all day for my kiddos however, that wasn’t on the agenda. It was about having fun. We first went into the Sea Life aquarium. It was so neat. After some hesitation, Dalton touched the star fish without any help, but still yanked his hand back in a skiddish way when he started to pull one out of the tank. Annika kept saying how cute the hermit crab, lobster, & other creatures were, but she was not touching them. Instead she encouraged her brother to touch them. Sheesh. I loved how they put the different colored lights in the jelly fish tanks & they glowed pink, purple, yellow & more. The kids were kinda freaked out about that section so not much time was spent in there. The underwater shark tank was amazing! I was very impressed with the whole thing overall & they gave us a military discount, which made it even better. I gave in to the gift shop, but it had to be something small & of course the rule is “something in, something out” when it comes to toys/souvenirs in the trailer. We simply don’t have space for all that clutter. I also got a t-shirt for Dalton, which Emry will wear in a couple years. Gotta have those shirts so I can make a t-shirt quilt once all the shirts are out grown.

After the aquarium it was time for the amusement park. I thought it was going to be bigger, but still lots in there. We got the kids the all day wrist band passes & again got the military discount, which came to 33% savings. That’s awesome! They rode all the rides they could, minus a couple “scary” ones. Before we knew it we had spent 3 hours in the mall. We were starved & made our way to the food court then some yummy gelato for dessert. Ugh I was so full. Dalton was so tired & didn’t even finish his cookie before he was passed out. So it was mommy & daddy’s turn to look for a couple stores. Little man needed more shorts so I hit up the Carter’s store. Nothing good for the old man so we killed some time in the Lego store. By then Annika was tired & starting to melt down bcuz she couldn’t have her way all the time. I encouraged a few more rides before we left & then it was fun again. Dalton woke up & he too got on several rides. My favorite was the Swiper cars that whipped them around on the turns. I had to ride with Dalton & Annika was in the car in front of us & after the first turn I was laughing so hard I had tears coming down. The look on Annika’s face was priceless! They got on it a couple more times & it still made me laugh…..to the point where I had to run to the bathroom. The Barnyard roller coaster was another favorite & I think they got on it 5 times in a row. Even daddy got on it with Dalton & you could tell by the big grin on his face that he wasn’t expecting that last whip around turn. The one store we avoided like the plague was the American Girl store. We weren’t about to go in there & have to experience meltdown mania. Nope not happening & I think those dolls are ridiculously priced.  So it was rides rides rides. I know that is not hubby’s cup of tea, but he sucked it up & did it & got on a couple rides with the kiddos. Good man. So 7pm was upon us & we still had to find a grocery store. By the time we got back to the trailer it was about 9pm. Man the day just flew by. A quick dinner, bath & the kids were sleeping. Emry on the other hand was all energized & wide awake. Took a while to get her down. Tomorrow we’re heading out to Pete’s Retreat where it looks to be a very nice campground.