We took the kids to the Mall of America for a quick Spring Break getaway. There wasn't any sun or sand...instead we battled snow to get there. We left on Friday morning and ran into snow about the last 30 minutes of our drive. It was pretty slick & hard to see, but we made it!!
We checked into our hotel and went over to the Mall. We grabbed a quick lunch at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Factory. It was good as always. We then went to the amusement park in the mall, which is now Nickelodeon Universe. There were several new rides since the last time we were there (when it was Camp Snoopy). Allie is our little daredevil and rode every ride possible. She got in a lot of bonding time with Scott riding the big rides. Jake isn't quite as fond of the big rides, so he stayed back & watched his sister tackle the big ones. We spent several hours at Nick Universe and had a nice time. We left around 9:00 and went back to the hotel for a late dinner and then off to sleep.
We got up early on Saturday morning and grabbed breakfast at the hotel. I let the kids swim for awhile in the hotel pool before we went back to the mall. We went to Underwater Adventures at the mall (a big aquarium). It is a great little aquarium, the kids got to touch baby sharks and sting rays in a touch a touch pool. The kids enjoyed watching the sea creatures swim all around us when we walked through the tunnels of fish. Allie insisted that the sting rays were smiling at us.
After we were done exploring the aquarium, Allie and I went to Build A Bear while the boys went looking for tennis shoes. Allie chose to build a hot pink bear with silver flecks of fur. That was her souvenir. Jake opted to wait to pick out anything until we stopped at the outlet mall on the way home (he spotted some new basketball shoes there). We had a bite to eat at the Rainforest Cafe before leaving for the outlet mall & then home.
Our little trip was no Florida or Mexico...but it was still nice to get away as a family. Something we don't do often enough. We are looking forward to another mini vacation this summer when we go somewhere with my high school friends (the Dells, Chicago, Mall of America, St. Louis & Adventureland are on the table). Florida with my family is the following summer...plans are slowly coming together for that trip.
Allie tracked down every person that was dressed up at the mall. This is Sharky from Underwater Adventures. We caught him wandering around the mall. She also found a Moose & a Bear from Build a Bear that I didn't get a pic of.
Here is Allie with Sponge Bob at Nick Universe. 
The kids are waiting to ride the Ghostblasters ride
Jake in LegoLand. We wandered over there while Scott & Allie were on a roller coaster
Allie & Scott are on this coaster. Front row, right side.
Allie & Jake on a ride
Allie with her smiling sting ray
A shark swimming over us in the tunnel
Jake & Allie by a beaver at Underwater Adventures
A big, old lobster
My little treasure
Jake being goofy
The kids petting sharks and stingrays
Allie at Build A Bear
Allie with her new bear
Allie with Cha Cha the frog at Rainforest Cafe
The kids outside of Rainforest Cafe
Allie making a wish into the alligators mouth at Rainforest Cafe
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