Mall of America

Stacy proposed a random weekend trip to the Mall of America and we figured, why not!  I'm always up for family road trips!  We left the day after Halloween, which maybe wasn't our finest planning, but hey, at least they had snacks for the road!  We stopped in Des Moines at one of Charlie's old college hang-outs for dinner and finally (and boy was it a rough drive this time) made it to Minneapolis after 9 pm.  My kids do pretty well in the car so I can't complain too much but this trip took longer than it should have!  We only stayed Saturday and Sunday morning and then headed home Sunday afternoon.  It was a good time though and I'd love to go back!

Jacob, Sophia and Sarah checking out the giant aquarium at Rainforest Cafe

Love. This.

Excited to build Lego people anyone?! :)

Sophia and Sarah with a giant Lego Friend

Log Ride before

Log Ride after

Even Charlie gets in on the rides!

Linny and Ming Ming from The Wonder Pets.  Leo is beyond excited.

It happened to be Hello Kitty's birthday

Grumpus 1 and 2 on their phones

Andrew eyeing the largest gummy bear

This was my favorite ride!  It went round and round and round!

TMNT, baby.

Jacob and Leo did some ghost shooting, but I think it was a bit too scary for Leo

nothing seemed to be too scary for Sophia who rode everything!

Leo in the Fly Boat

Getting ready to go up!  This ride was fun and a tiny bit scary, but what scared me most was Leo who seemed too small to be held in by the harness.  I was terrified that he was next to me.  I kept one hand on him the whole time!

A MUCH needed cocktail at dinner

This was our family this year....

And this was our family (8??) years ago

I love this so, so, so, so much.  Partially because it has Shelby in it and partially because I think I'm making almost the exact same face, Charlie too!  This was a fun memory of Shelby and the last time I was at the Mall of America.  Before I even saw our picture from this trip I knew I was going to buy it just as an homage to Shelby, but when I saw it I couldn't stop laughing and I can only imagine she was too.  I miss that kid a whole, whole bunch.