Day Three of our getaway was a trip to the Mall of America. We got there right as they opened and the kids were blown away by all of the sights and sounds. Right when we walked in they saw the entrance to the aquarium with a huge tank of sting rays and another filled with tropical fish. We decided an aquarium tour was definitely on our list for the next time we visit! As we moved a little further into the mall, we found ourselves in the Nickelodeon Universe theme park. The kids' favorite TV characters were everywhere in the form of rides, t-shirts, and stuffed animals. Livi made up her mind pretty quickly that she wanted to go on some rides, but we decided we were going to get the lay of the land a little first and wait until after lunch.
We headed on to Lego Land and all of us were practically speechless upon seeing the GIGANTIC Lego sculptures hanging from the ceiling. They were so impressive and so enormous. Nolan picked out a Black Panther Lego set that he got to bring home as a special treat. He could've spent hours looking at all the sets in the store. It was awesome!
We headed a few stores down to the Disney Store. I'm not sure if it's their brilliant marketing or nostalgia or a combination of the two, but I wanted to buy EVERYTHING in that store. It all seemed so magical and fun. Livi was enamored with the Princess clubhouse that had a magical mirror that played Disney video clips every few minutes. The whole experience in the store excited me for when we can take our kids to Disneyworld. It promises to be an amazing experience!
After a quick lunch at the food court, we headed back to Nickelodeon Universe to go on those much promised rides. Livi was determined to ride the Diego bus and was pretty much fearless. She had a great time and giggled the whole time. Next up was Nolan on the race cars. He wanted me to go with him and I have to admit that it was pretty fun. However, Livi was beside herself because some other kids were riding in "her" car and she wanted to ride too. She sobbed the whole time.
We finally got her calmed down when we told her that she could go on the Bubble Guppies ride with Mom and Nolan. Again, she was totally fearless even though that ride went way up to the top of the park. They both had fun (and Mom did, too) but it was time to wrap up and head back to Grandma and Grandpa's house in Eau Claire. We left with the promise of coming back another time to explore more.
Our final stop was Nadia's Cupcakes in Woodbury for some specialty cupcakes to take to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Nolan picked a rainbow cupcake and Livi picked a raspberry lemonade and we got an assortment to share with everyone for dinner that night.
We had such an amazing time on this family getaway. It was great to have the opportunity to make some special memories with our little family of four. Both of the kids did so well tolerating all the changes to the routine and having action-packed days. It makes it seem like we might be able to tackle a bigger vacation with them at some point in the not too distant future.
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