mall of america

Remember at the end of last year when it seemed like all Rob did was work, work, work out of town, work late, work, work out of town again...you get the picture?

Well, one of his coworkers in Illinois felt grateful for some help he provided her on one of those late night work sessions, so she gave him some tickets to attractions at the Mall of America that she had won on a radio station. It was very nice of her and now that Rob will be in town for a bit (I'm probably jinxing us now), we decided to cash in on the tickets last weekend.

We got to the mall right away in the morning and started our day with a trip through Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium. 

The girls had been before with Rob, but I hadn't seen it before. It was really cool and I absolutely loved the giant sea turtles. I couldn't get enough of them. The girls thought it was so awesome to walk under all the fish and sharks and other creatures swimming above us. It was certainly a great way to start off the day.

Next, it was time to hit Nickelodeon Universe. We had four unlimited ride wristbands so really we could have stayed here until it closed (not that I ever would want to do that!). The girls first ride choice was the carousel.

Little Pie thought it was so cool she could ride a bunny.

We rode several other rides including a hot air balloon! 

Finally, a trip to Nickelodeon Universe wouldn't be complete without a visit with some characters.

The Backyardigans

Diego and Dora

We also had mini golf passes so the girls attempted mini golf for the first time. Let's just say it was a pretty stressful round of golf. It was hard to explain the rules, remind them how to stand, and keep them from stepping in others shots all the while trying to play ourselves and not keep up the line behind us.

The girls favorite part of mini golf? The hole that had the sound of a flushing toilet when you hit your ball in the cup.

The last passes in our generous packet of MOA tickets were for the Ice Castle exhibit. We did not have enough time to visit it, so the girls and I went back today after we dropped Gramma and Grandpa off at the airport. Of course it was only 18 degrees today, but it was beautiful (and not crowded!)! I'm glad we visited (even if I was apparently the only one who got too cold).