Minnesota Day 4- Nickolodean Universe!

(hopefully before summer offically ends I will finish up our JUNE trip!)

Finally, the day they had waited all week for, RIDES! I really like this park. We have always gone during the week, and have barely waited in a line, which is a HUGE plus to me. No need for a fast pass! But the best thing? AIR CONDITIONED! So, no lines and no heat, makes it perfect to me!

The AirBender. I did not venture on this with the oldest 2. I figured since I was almost sick on the swings, this would do me in!

We have quite a mix in our children. The 2 oldest will ride anything, and I do mean ANYTHING. Sawyer might be a bit cautious but can typically be talked into a ride. Then you have Malaine who is happy to ride the merry go round! Sage & Mavery would surprise you. Sage, is fine with just sitting on the side watching every one else ride. She will ride the kiddy rides, for the most part, but nothing to scary. Mavery, likes most rides, but sadly will not be able to ride alot of things due to her heart.


Sage wanted to ride the kiddy bouncing thing. No pause, just walked right on. (she is next to Malaine in photo) And then it began. I am almost certain that you might have heard her screaming here at home! They stopped the ride and let her off but it took her awhile to get over that one. ;-)

So sad!

Mavery & Malaine loved it!

Malaines favorite was the roller coaster that took you all the way through the park. She even rode it by herself at one point, so I do have to say she IS getting braver. It is probably a good thing she is not quite ready for the huge thrill rides. She is so small that it will be quite some time before she is tall enough for many things!

All of the Nickelodeon characters, and again NO LINES!

The above pictues are terrible because it was getting dark and the kids were so high up. The older 2 really loved this. It is a climbing structure, and you are hooked on like rope climbing. Many levels and obstacles. They could have done this all day long! Sawyer was a bit more cautious but as you can see Makenna happily walked out on the ledge to ring the bell!

A very fun day as our last day at Mall of America!

Minnesota Day 3- American Girl!

On Wednesday of our trip, we spent part of the day swimming, and much of the day napping! For dinner we went to the mall and dined at American Girl. Last summer we took the older 2 girls to Chicago and ate at American Girl but the little girls had yet to go. We had given them the bitty twins for their birthdays, so they were really excited to take those with them to eat.

This location is much more casual than Chicago, which was probably good for the little girls.

I am thankful I took Makenna last summer. She enjoyed it last year. This year, while she went along, she was not nearly as excited. Which depresses me. How do they change from little girl, to not so little girl, that quickly?

They still have all the little fun touches.

Tea for your doll. In glass cups. Which is not so fun with certain 4 year olds.

Sage & "Lucy"
The dolls even get a dessert of whipped cream!
The park overlooks the park outside so that was much more exciting to the girls than their food.
After dinner they shopped. Which was stressful. They want it all! Finally Mavery settled on this outfit for "Emma".
Sage had no trouble choosing an outfit that looked like a bride dress for Lucy. This is also her bear she built, with a bride dress.


Malaine had a bit more of a struggle. She REALLY wanted the doll of the year, which is Lainey. And I did offer her an advance on her allowance. But she decided she would add her to the birthday wish list and bought the puppy Sugar instead along with a bag to hold her dolls. Lainey is only out for one year, so we know our Lainey really wants her!
Makenna did get some ear rings for her dolls to replace what her sisters had lost, but she was not willing to spend any of her own $ as her sisters did.
Sawyer & Mark enjoyed dinner at Famous Daves BBQ, for some reason they refused to eat with us!

Minnesota Day 2- The Mall of America!

I know there are alot of people who visit the mall and say "I do not get the hype, it is just another mall". I am NOT one of those people. I love LOVE the mall, I really do. Now granted I am not getting to go there to shop, so I can't comment on the shopping part. (so sad, I love to shop, but that is impossible with all these kids, not one of who likes to shop)

My adoration is more of just what it offers. Hungry? Take your pick of ANY type of food you can imagine. Tired and stressed? Just go sit in the bookstore and read awhile. Need a smile? Just go watch some of the kids on the rides. Which is so nice to me. You can walk through the amusement park with out actually paying for it. Need some exercise? Just start walking and you can work off whatever you ate in all of those levels that you will surely be lost in.

Our destination on this day was simply to get out of the hotel. The park was being saved for later in the week. We did take a walk through it, which may have been a mistake as I heard nothing else but we want to RIDE for the rest of the time! But the girls loved seeing the Nick Jr characters with out waiting in lines!



After a walk through the park we spent a bit of time playing at the Lego store. Not as big as the Chicago stores by any means, but you can't go wrong with legos in any shape or size.

Then it was a stop at American Girl. Which started to set my stress level a bit high. This was Sage & Maverys first glance at American Girl and they wanted it ALL. Every little girls dream right? A WHOLE store full of doll things?

Sadly at this point is where my camera battery died, and I did not download makennas pictures before she left for camp, so I will have to add pictures later.

We had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. I was not thinking about the thunder and Sage, so she did not enjoy her lunch to much. But everyone else sure loves the place.

Last we went to Build a Bear. The 3 littles had gift cards unused from Christmas so they were thrilled to spend them, ALL of them. By this time it was nap time, which was a bad start. Imagine if you will 2 tornadoes in build a bear. A fairly crowded B.A.B. Trying to get 3 girls to, #1 make a choice on an animal to stuff. Then to wait in line(not a short line) which is next to the add a sound machine, which made Sage giggle so loud the whole store was coming to see her. #2 Choosing an outfit for each of those animals, in a place that has more outfits than most clothes stores I shop at! All the while trying to explain a budget, and that we can't run, yell, cry, have it all, or stuff another animal. #3. Typing all that info into a computer with impatient tornadoes who want to do it themselves on touchy computers. Oh with a line behind us.

But in the end? All 3 girls got new friends to hug on, and we got more of those crazy big boxes that they refuse to get rid of. Our hotel room was quickly getting more crowded!

We ended this day with dinner at our hotel. Love those residence inn's and their FREE breakfast AND dinner!

Minnesota Day 1- Swimming Fun!

We were able to tag along with Mark on business for a week. Who can pass up a free hotel room? Especially when it is at the Mall of America??

Our first day we spent at the hotel while Mark worked. We just made it a pool/unpack and rest day. We had traveled all day Sunday and got in pretty late. We LOVED our van for the drive down. I guess just all that extra space dropped the noise level down a few notches. That and the kids being able to spread out. Though we did have issues that the back row's wireless headphones did not work, to far away??

We were in a Residence Inn which my kids always love for their great breakfast buffet. This hotel was connected to an indoor park and a huge indoor pool. What we did not know was that the complex also had a retirement community attached to it. And open swim was only at certain times. The kids enjoyed watching Water Aerobics done by a group. Let me tell you those people are serious about their lap swimming. It was to begin at 12 and at 1201 I was asked when I was leaving. We were not even in the laps! I sure hope when I am older I am not so crabby as some people are!! ;-)

We were starting the day off with a problem listening, so while some kids were able to do this right away..

Some had to sit on the bench for awhile. They look terribly sad do they not?

My little water bug

Remember how scared she used to be of the water? She loves to swim now and is happy she has graduated to floaties instead of a vest.

The class used these floats to work out, my kids used them to make a boat!
And work out!!

Today's meal was at Tuchi Benuch our FAVORITE Italian place in the mall. If you ever go, try the baked spaghetti, it is fabulous! All in all, a good day. A bit crowded in our room, but free IS free. ;-)

Maverys heart update & therapy

We saw the heart doctor this week with Mavery. Quite a fun visit. Mark made me leave the room to try and gain some control over her. What is it about moms that seem to bring out the, what is the word, the hmm, well anyways, she was not acting so good with me. The visits are LONG for her. They just did an echo and an EKG but it took longer than usual waiting. Anyways, the news was not that great. There has not been a change since our last visit in December. He wants to go in and dilate the stent they put in last summer and is hopeful that will help. He claimed this SHOULD do it till she is a teenager. But I am wondering how they just put a stent in a year ago and it is already needing dilated and then we will be able to go 10 years?? We just take it one day at a time, one visit at a time and we are no longer surprised by anything. He wants to do it this summer so I am just waiting on a call from the hospital. NOT what we wanted to put her through again at this point, but at least it is simply a cath and not open heart surgery.

We also took her to her first therapy session today at Sensory Solutions. I have to say, her therapist looked a bit frazzled afterwards, which kind of made me giggle. ;-) We are hopeful that this will bring about good things for Mavery, and for us! She will go once a week. It is a bit of a drive, but I am planning to take one kid a week along with me for a date at BreadCo, which conveniently sits right downstairs of the therapist!

We appreciate your prayers for our girl!