Minnesota is not the first place that comes to mind when I think of a vacation, but with family living there it made for a good reason. Tyson's sister's (Natalie) family lives there in the Minneapolis area called Minnetonka (yes, this is where Tonka trucks come from). They are starting their last of four years as an oral surgery resident (yay!), so we needed to get out there for a visit before they moved back closer (they better move back closer :).
First of all, Collin and Mackenzie were beyond excited about riding on an airplane. They were too little to remember the last time, which was 2 years ago and a complete nightmare! So for them this was a new experience, and I was just hoping it would be a better one for me (it couldn't get much worse than the last time).
To keep the story short, we made it to the Denver airport much much later than I had planned due to road construction and rush hour. It was stressful!!! So we managed (after Tyson getting into an argument with the lady about how late we were) to get our bags checked in, and then she told us our flight was overbooked and there were no seats for all four of us! We were stunned! After another argument with the lady, we ran to the security line, only to realize that the Denver airport is extremely slow at processing you through any line!!! Finally got to the gate, but it was too late. It was a stressful few hours at the airport, but we managed to get on the next flight (somehow by some miracle since it was also overbooked) and made it only one hour later with our bags waiting there for us. Hooray, we actually made it! Oh, and yes the kids did MUCH better on the flight!
Minnesota is beautiful in June, reminds me of Florida except there were no palm trees. It was so lush and green, thick dense forests everywhere among the houses and all around the city. Thunderstorms and humidity, it was cool!
We just went to hang out, but did lots of fun stuff as a bonus!
At The House...
The kids loved playing out on the swingset in the wooded yard. Mackenzie was loving swinging with Carter wearing swim goggles. It was adorable!
At The Beach...
Minnesota is not exactly the place you think of to find a beach, but we did. They have brought in sand and made very nice beaches at the many of the lakes. This was a swim pond we went to that was all sand, even clorinated, but felt like the beach and it was my kids favorite part of the trip.
This is what Mackenzie loved to do...
And this is what Collin spent a good amount of time doing...
The Swimming Crew
Making sandcastles
The first victim...Aunt Natalie!
Next...Carter!
And of course....Ty!
Mall of America
This place was incredible! Every store you could think of (yes, I spent all my time shopping) and this amazing Nickelodeon theme park inside, which is where the rest of the crew hung out.
Legoland - these dinosaurs are made entirely from legos!
And this guy with his motorcycle too!
Mackenzie and the Blues Clues dog (you'd think I'd know his name by now).
Lake Minnetonka...
We went on a boat cruise on Lake Minnetonka. There are tons of lakes there, but this is the state's largest and sits right in the city with houses all around the waters edge. We saw the house, or should I say mansion, for the Pillsbury founder...for sale at the price of $50 million! It was awesome!
The Milne's! Thank you so much for all the fun!
