Travel Day 2

Whew!!
What an exhausting day!!!
A great day, don't get me wrong, but, exhausting all the same!!
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Anyway...we got up late...9am (almost nine hours of sleep...how insane is that!?!?!!)
Got ourselves ready for the day, and headed out to the Minneapolis Science Museum. This is the same museum that I once got to go and do a lock-in when I was about 13, so it was somewhat nostalgic for me!
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They have a triceratops that is the most complete real bone trike in the world, and it is HUGE...their heads really do impress me. DD was truly amazing...it was really something to see her try to grab everything there. She was fascinated by almost everything...talking to it, grabbing it, wiggling at it, etc. She is SUCH a different baby than I remember! And again, we were just SO proud of her all day today...she was so well behaved. When she got tired, she fussed for just a few minutes, and then slept. She's just SO good!!!








Next on the agenda, was St. Paul Cathedral. Talk about awesome and breathtaking. This is another thing that I remember from childhood...and this one still took my breath away just as much as when I was younger. The architecture, the size, the beauty, and the religious aspects of it are just incredible. This is one place that I think modern protestant religion miss the point of 'temples' much of the time. Biblically, a church is 'any place where two or more are gathered in My name.'
And that's true, and wonderful, and the most important thing. However, the bible also frequently speaks of the incredible temples that God finds pleasing. They are built to glorify God. And yes, they are expensive, but you can't tell me that the ones in the bible that God ordered be made for Him were cheap.....
But, I digress!!
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After the cathedral, we drove around and took in the sites a little bit...so beautiful! But, I'll detail that after we go a little further North, and see the beauty up North.

Then, back to the MOA (Mall of America) and the aquarium in the basement there. That was certainly my favorite part of the trip thus far!
They have a HUGE aquatic tunnel that just goes on and on and on, and it is on a slow moving automatic platform that you can ride through. There are south american cichlids, stuff native to the area, sharks, reef areas, etc. etc. etc. Just beautiful. And we got to see a couple of impressively large sea turtles up close and personal! I was even able to shoot a little bit of video of one that was only a few feet away through the glass. Brings to memory the one I got to touch while scuba diving in Mexico. Talk about a moment that brings you a little closer to God...really. As always, it is increasingly obvious to me that He hardwired me to really appreciate the beauty of his living creations here on the earth.
DD was ENTHRALLED all the way through the tunnel. She loved the fish, the other people, the bubbles, the railing, the lit up information boxes, the whole thing! I think this was her favorite even of the trip so far, too.










Finally, we finished a quick cruise of the mall--we'll come back and go through a little better in the future. We walked through the park, as well, and saw some nifty looking rides--just have to figure out how that one will work. We'll either have to ride alone, or not at all.
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At about 9:30, pretty much completely exhausted, we headed over to a really neat grocery store called Byerly's and picked up some sandwiches for dinner. They were really awesome.

And then, back to the hotel, where I played Pokemon for awhile, and then bed!!!
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And, that was our day!!

Bethany

Vacation Day 1: Travel and top level of MOA

Wow!
Has it ever been a long long day!
It's only 8:30, and we're already tuckered out!

We got up at about 3:45 this morning, showered, finished packing, and headed out. I have to say that I was very surprised by how many people were on the road this early!

The airport went well--although we were totally unprepared for security! It was a small debacle, but not too bad...
Once through security, we had time to use the restroom, find out gate, get a little iced coffee, and play pokemon for a few minutes.

We got on the plane, and were very lucky--the stewardess had a woman who had three seats to herself switch with us, so that the three of us had three seats. That was really really nice!
And we were SOOOO proud of DD!! She was well behaved, quiet, and friendly. She only fussed a few times, and not for long at any point. She slept for about forty minutes, which was nice, and didn't even get fussy at take-off or landing. Better than the other baby on the flight...poor thing didn't have much fun, and spent pretty much the whole flight crying. I was surprised by how well the sound of the plane covered up the sound of the baby's crying, though.

Once here, we stopped off at super target and picked up a few things, then on the hotel. We got all settled here, and then hopped over to the mall of america.....
So far, we've managed to complete just the top level our of three!
We had a lot of fun!!!

I got to stop off at archivers, and pick up a few odds and ends that I just can't get back home...I only wish that I had more room nd (lots) more money!!! Hehe...it was a lot of fun anyway....I was able to get some new rain dots colours, lots of paper that I can't get anywhere else, the bobunny flex ruler (woo!!), and some great rub-ons. Not a huge haul for what I spent, but all stuff that just isn't available at home.

We also played a round of mini-golf at 'moose mountain' in the mall...a great view of the park in the middle, and a lot of fun. Very cute decorating, and a un, not overly challenging course. Of course, the final score really doesn't count, as we just had lots of fun restarting the holes several times until we got the shots we wanted. DD slept the whole time, until the very end...she would have kept sleeping, except that we woke her near the end in order to get some super cute photo's.

We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. which was very yummy! We had a nice view of the middle of the park, and the amusement rides.

Then for driving around for an hour, trying to find an ATM so that we could get out some money for pizza...finally found one...only to arrive back at the hotel and discover one at the desk. When we finally did order one, we discovered we could charge it to the room! Ack! Oh well...we got to see a kinda neat area of the country we wouldn't otherwise have seen. The pizza was yummy...thin crust, and we just ate it all slob like on the bed, with all of our junk spread all over the place....fun fun fun!! The kinda thing you really only get to do on vacation!

DD got to swim for the first time, and splashed and splashed and had a blast! Up until, that is, she got too cold. Then Daddy took her back up the the room while I finished up my swim...swam a dozen or so lengths. (Work off some of the soon-to-be-eaten pizza!) I then got lost trying to get back to the room. *sigh*...I'm so hopeless!!
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Last thing for the night for our little DD was a comfy kicked back sleep in her crib...she was just so tuckered out after all the fun events of the day! And that's only the beginning for her, even!

We shall see what tomorrow brings!

PS: A few photo's will follow when I get a cable to connect my camera!! (I forgot it at home....)

Whatta Cutie Pie!!!

Isn't she a doll!?!?
We spent the day yesterday at the Texas State Fair. All in all, I've got to say that every year we go, it gets a little less interesting.
I couldn't find the chicken barn, which was rather disspointing! I just love looking at all the crazy poultry...the HUGE turkeys, the chickens with all the crazy feathering, the big dangly things (under their chin...duh!), the crests, and etc. But, when we got into the pig barn, it was CRAZY! and we decided that trying to navigate girlies stroller around was just way too difficult.
It seems like there are less of the sales pavillions, and less interesting stuff in them each time too. Although, I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that I no longer am in need of everything it takes to build a household! I also no longer have any cupboard space left for it!!!

Anyway, we spent the day doing all kinds of great things...we checked out the "baseball as america" exhibit in the little museum that's at the fair...it was pretty cool, but really little. The best part about that was afterward, when we got to go and check out the little 'dig your own dinosaurs' sandbox there. And check out the photo we got! She is SOOO cute!
There were several other gorgeous little photo's of her first experience with sand...watch for them on a layout!

We also took her into the butterfly garden, where she actually was able to see those beautiful little colourful things.

We checked out the cows (which she slept through) and her Daddy and I had some yummy corny dogs (I'm not normally a corn dog fan, but these were GOOD!)
We got a couple miles of walking in, and all in all had a really nice and enjoyable day!
Here are a few more photo's from the day.........