Week in Review

This week was a busy one...

Tuesday morning we (Jackson, Sone, and I) left early in the morning... ok so it was like 9:30 when we pulled out of the drive but that is kinda early and actually I woke up around 6:30 to get everything done (pack, look up info on places we wanted to go,feed everyone, take Chloe to kennel, etc... so... ok so I might have been a little pokey or I could have prepared a bit better). Trip to Minnesota pretty uneventful - Jackson had his books and DVD player so there wasn't much complaining coming from the back seat. We stopped once at some filthy gas station in Clear Lake... I think Sone might not be able to sit still very long either so we got out and stretched and took a quick bathroom break (this is where the filth was) and then moved on.

We got to St.Paul about 1330 and headed for the Children's Museum. Jackson and I had been there before (when he was still in a stroller) and he loved it last time but I think my guy has grown up more than I realized and he didn't really find anything that tripped his trigger there so an hour later and $30 poorer we left and headed to the hotel (Embassy Suites - Downtown St. Paul) to check in. Our room was ready a little early so we trekked up to the room to drop off our stuff... hotel was ok... we even got a half eaten pizza in our fridge to enjoy if we got hungry... hmmm yeah. Since the cold left over pizza wasn't tempting us we headed out to look for lunch. Jackson wanted fast food so ala GPS we were headed for Culvers. Lucky us it was the one Culvers in town that McGruff the crime dog was visiting (now for those of you who aren't aware Jackson has a huge phobia of mascots and things wearing costumes) and Jackson walked in, saw him, then ran out refusing to go back in. So I went in and ordered and we ate outside and sweat.

After a fun fill lunch (ha ha) we headed to the Science Museum to check out the big reason we decided to take a quick over nighter to St.Paul... the Star Wars exhibit. We found the parking ramp... ok so Jackson saw it as we were passing by and headed in to buy our tickets to the Star Wars exhibit and an IMAX presentation about the making of special effects in the movies. We walked around a bit since there was some time before our show and the museum was great... lots of very interesting and interactive displays that everyone enjoyed. On to the IMAX ~ Now I've never been to an IMAX show so I was amazed at how the screen came down and enjoyed the movie... Sone fell asleep and Jackson wanted to leave about 3/4 of the way thru.... Then to the Star Wars display ~ a large room full of models used for special effects, costumes, and interactive learning experiences ~ fun exhibit and worth the few dollars it cost. Afterwards we finished checking out the exhibits and headed down to play a round of mini golf at the museum's little interactive/learning course.

We ended up the eve at a wonderful Italian restaurant downtown St.Paul and a few melt downs from Jackson (he was hell bent he wanted to go home) and then an early to bed for all (especially Jackson who had kinda been on emotional roller coaster all day).

Up early Wednesday morning and down to free breakfast (remember I'm dutch ;) ) and out the door. We got to the zoo soon after they opened which was great ~ it was cool, not very crowded, the animals were active, and everyone still energized. We had a great time there... dolphin show and all (ok the dolphin show was cancelled but I had to hear about it over and over again... ). After the zoo we headed for the IKEA. IKEA was great and we all had fun (ok so Jackson started complaining after awhile) and snacked on some cinnamon rolls. Then off to MOA. We walked about the whole mall shopped, played mini golf, and only had one melt down (some body was walking about in a shark outfit and well... remember the whole mascot fear).

After the mall we plugged pizza into the GPS and randomly picked a little family pizza joint (what did we do before we had GPS) ~ it was clean and the pizza was great and we filled our bellies before making the journey home. Jackson passed out about half way home, the weather was good, and the roads weren't busy at all so it was pretty uneventful.

Then Thursday am Jackson and I got up early and headed to the fair... we thought we'd try to be part of the record but we got there a little late for that (0810) but we did get in free (dutch remember) and walked around for a couple of hours (with Jackson you have to do things in little bits). We headed off to register Jackson for school, eat, run a few errands, and pick up the dog. Later that night we headed back the the fair to catch a Nadas concert (Jackson's first concert). I had hoped to go to the 7 and 9 shows but Jackson barely made it thru the first show (guess he got bored??? IDK guess he doesn't have good taste in music) and asked to go home... well at least I got to one of the concerts.

Friday it was back to work for me... East Side night at the fair so a few fights but not as bad as it could have been (thank goodness). The plastic sheet in the triage area driving me crazy but the improvements made thus far are nice... can't wait until this area is completed tho....

I hope everyone has a great weekend ~ have fun and be safe :)