Home again, home again.....

The kids and I returned from our trip to St. Paul Minnesota.  We had a fantastic time!  Thanks grandma and grandpa!

My kids and I are so fortunate to have parents/grandparents who truly went out of their way to make our trip fun and memorable.  We only had one full day to spend in the Twin Cities seeing the sights.  Our first stop was the Como Zoo in St. Paul.  I am not kidding when I say St. Paul has a truly beautiful zoo.  Admission is a donation, the zoo gives suggestions, but the actual cost is at the visitors discretion.  Personally, I would never feel comfortable not giving something.   Zoos are in desperate need of financial support.  Regardless of how one feels about zoos, animals are there no matter what and need to be fed.  I say this because my 10 year old daughter is a true animal rights activist.  She is very conflicted on how she feels about zoos.  I respect her opinions, and agree with some of them.  All that aside, we all had a great time.  If one has the opportunity to go to the Como Zoo, take extra time to go to the Primate building. It is a wonderful experience and the primates are guaranteed to entertain.

Next, we were off to where else, The Mall of America.  Not to shop though.  We went to the aquarium.  Again, we had a great time.  It is not a huge aquarium, don't go thinking it is like the Shed in Chicago.  It is an aquarium in a mall.  But, the wildlife that was there was amazing. I took some great pictures of a HUGE sea turtle that came right up to the glass and looked at me.  It was an experience that people don't have everyday.  It made me truly appreciate what we have in our beautiful oceans.  This great big world has so much to offer.  I am lucky to have gotten a glimpse of it at The Mall of America.  Who would have known?  The aquarium also gave the kids an opportunity to touch some of the sea animals in a "petting zoo".  They touched them, but to be honest, I don't know if that is the right thing to do.  Does a starfish really need to be pet?  Maybe my animals rights, activist daughter is rubbing off on me more than I know?

We did a little bit of shopping.  Grandma had given each of the kids $20, which was of course burning a hole in each of their pockets.  My son, the practical, organized one wanted a yo yo and a Godiva Milk Shake.  He was very easy to please and done shopping early.  The girls on the other hand, had spent unwisely early at the zoo.  To their disappointment, Mall of America does have an American Girl store.  Because they had spent unwisely at the zoo they only had a few dollars to spend at the American Girl store.  My 6 year old was disappointed to learn that the only thing she could afford was a pair of red shoes for her doll.  But, I will give her an A for effort in attempting to find a full outfit for her doll that was within her budget.  I am proud to say, I only bought one thing.  My 10 year old had earned a small gift for good grades.  I also bought the girls ice cream cones for getting along.  Yes, I am bad, but I wanted one afternoon of no fighting.  So, I bribed them.  Plain and simple, no fighting equaled ice cream. My grand total at the mall was $15.00.  How many people can say they went to the Mall of America and spent $15.00?  Not many I would guess.

Our trip ended with dinner out for my birthday.  My parents treated us to a great dinner at a restaurant near their home.  We had a great time and look forward to visiting again soon.  I promised we would be back in the summer, I plan to keep my promise.