WW: @mallofamerica in Minnesota {Linky}

I'm a bigger shopper than my boys, but not as big as my sisters or other girls I know.

We knew if we went to Minnesota that we'd have to go to Mall of America. It's an iconic place. We didn't want to make it an all day thing though. 

Parking:

They have FREE parking. The fast train links up to it.

We spent the morning at Fort Snelling, the afternoon at Mall of America, and the evening at Minneapolis Institute of Art. A worker at MIA said we're crazy, and hardcore. Let's just say that Isaak and Mica were DONE. I had a blister on my foot that indicated I was DONE. BUT I loved all the places. I don't think I would have changed things. Possibly do Fort Snelling a different morning. My husband likes to pack all our time as full as possible. It was handy having the fast train hook up.

Eating:

We had reservations to Rainforest Cafe. We rushed to go eat. Then, for some reason we looked at the brochure only to see the map thinking it was outside of the Mall of America. I was annoyed because the boys were set on eating there. In another way happy because online people said the service wasn't great, and it was expensive. The place we ended up going to had crappy service too. It took way too much time to get our food! I wanted to eat at a place we don't have in Omaha, Nebraska. Looking back I would have gone to their food court. Lots of choices there!

Cupons:

Online they do have a coupon book. If you're a shopper, that may be something to invest in. It's $10, and full of savings. We didn't get it.

Shopping:

I didn't want to freak the boys out by going into all the stores. I said, "Ok we're only going to go into stores that we don't have in Omaha." Even after saying that we skipped a lot of stores.

L.L. Bean - I know the catalog, but have never been in the store.

 

Paper Source - Kansas City has one, but it's not in Omaha. They have fun things in there.

Chapel Hats - I know they shouldn't have tired them on (lice), but dang they had fun. They look like Elton John, only younger. 

Crayola Store - The boys had fun with their computer that did a drawing of a photograph. 

Lego Store - We've been in them in other cities. Mica drooled over $300 and up sets that I'd never buy. I do have to say that The Stranger Things set looked pretty cool. Just not $200 cool. 

 

 

 

There were some other fun stores we went in. I have to say that I'm proud that I didn't buy a whole lot. There was a bee shop that had all things to do with bees, a shop that had fun socks, a shop that had cool shirts. I do wish we found some artsy local shops in Minnesota. I found that, that's what I was longing for. There is an art district, but we ran out of time to go there.

Favorite Store Front:

Rides:

Isaak's so like me. He said, "Mica we don't have to go on rides. Mom and Dad spent enough money on us." I always thought that way. Are we cheap, or practical?

Mica's like Travis. He said, "Don't be so cheap. We should get to do some rides, and pick out whatever Lego set we want. We are on vacation." My reply, "Ummm no!"

Log Ride:

Close Up - OMG Mica's face!

They weren't too excited about the swings, but after they went on different rides, this one was just the right amount of tickets.

Are you a shop till you drop kind of person?

Disclaimer: This is not a paid review. I got no compensation, for writing this post. All opinions are my own.

Homestead National Monument of America @HomesteadNM ‏

We didn't have planned in the books that we were going to go out of town this weekend. Sometimes life and death makes plans that for you.

My husband has has 2 people in connection with the lab he works at pass away suddenly last week.

One was the owner's brother. He passed away from a heart attack.

The other was a fiancée of a girl that works at the lab. He was 31 years old. He left behind his fiancée of course and her two kids that called him, "Dad". He and his fiancée had been together for 5 years. It was one of the hardest funerals I had been to, and I didn't truly know him. I was heart broken for everyone that did.

I cry when I see other people hurting.

His death brought up a lot of discussion with the boys. We talked about depression, that everyone has low spots in their life, suicide, talking about their feelings, death, what to say to people that lost someone they love and more. To me it's so important to talk to the kids as much as we can. We don't have all the answers, but I want them to know we're there if they do need someone to talk to.

After the funeral we traveled around the country roads to go to Homestead National Monument of America. We wanted to see the land of where this wonderful guy grew up. Besides a card, money, and hug driving around to see where he grew up was our best tribute. 

We stopped by their visitor center first. It's a pretty neat-o building.

On the side of the building were states that had homestead land given to the people. It's kind of sad because Native American's lived on the land first. They didn't feel like the land was meant to be given away. They felt like the land wasn't anyones.

Nebraska was a homestead state of course.

They have a lot of indoor exhibits of course. I love all things old. It was neat to see their displays.

Outside the visitor's center was an old homestead house. We couldn't go in it, but the outside was interesting to see.

The view from the house was very pretty! They own 195 acres. Each fence post had a different barbed wire fence attached to it.

They had a few other indoor displays to see. One had a train exhibit. Inside was a sculpture/painting of a man farming.

My favorite was the one room school house:

Just inside the school house was a small toad hopping around. Travis didn't want Isaak to pick it up. After he left I let Isaak pick it up. It's not every day a city boy gets to hold a toad.  They are so cute!

Disclaimer: The Homestead was free to enter. It's the best thing to see in Beatrice, Nebraska. Homestead did not ask me to write this post. 

Science Museum of Minnesota @sciencemuseummn

I wasn't sure if the adults would like Science Museum of Minnesota. It's hard to top Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, which we've also been to. While it wasn't as cool as Museum of Science and Industry, the boys still liked it.

Cost:

Varies on a lot of things. Do you want tickets to go to their Omni Theater as well? There's differences on age as well. Check out prices on their website before going.

We started out going to their Omni Theater to see Apollo 11, ate, and then went into the museum.

Hours:

9:30-5 Sun, Mon, Tues, and Wed
9:30-9 Thurs, Fri, Sat

Had I known that the museum would be swarmed with kids, I would have gone somewhere else in the morning. Then headed to the museum after lunch to whenever we felt like leaving. There were so many camp and daycare kids. It was hard to just enjoy.

The upside, the food (brick oven pizza) for lunch was actually pretty good. I didn't think it was more expensive than other places.

Meeting of the Minds:

I met my friend Debbie there. We've been friends, since preschool. Her son Joey and Isaak are the same age. They get along so well. I wish they could hang out more. You'll see another kid in some pictures, that's Joey.

I also got to hang out with my friend Rae and her daughter's Maddie and Ava. I didn't take any photos that night because we hung out at her house. Rae was trying to convince us to move to Minneapolis. While we loved the visit and how progressive the city is compared to Omaha; I don't think I'd like the even colder winters, not being around family, and despite Isaak's crappy year in school Nebraska has wonderful schools.

Lobby:

Without paying yet, the boys had fun in the lobby of the museum. We also spent a lot of time in the gift shop. Mica wanted all kinds of things. I just snapped pictures of those things, for future gift ideas. That's something that's always satisfied the boys, "It will go on your gift list."

They had a lot of simulators in the lobby:

Astronaut:

The boys and I had fun shooting our photo to put into this Astronaut's helmet.

Vibrating Chair:

All the boys loved this vibrating chair.

This was about the time my friend Debbie got there, so I slacked on taking a lot of photos. Isaak and Joey hung out from here on out. Debbie and I stayed to be with them. They ran here, there, and everywhere.

Travis and Mica stayed together. They spent time really reading the exhibit things.

Dance Baby Dance:

There was this simulator where you dance fast, then retrace your moves slow. The screen shows how in sync you were.

Big Chair:

These chairs always remind me of The Three Little Bears. Goldilocks sat in a chair that was huge, then a tiny one.

There was an exhibit I wish I could have spent longer at: Race: Are We Different? My friend and I were talking so much, that we just didn't read much of anything. I'm not saying I would change talking with her. Mica and Travis enjoyed the Race: Are We Different? display, for a long time.

Leonardo da Vinci Inventions:

I did make sure we spent time in this exhibit.

  

Omaha, Nebraska doesn't have a Science Museum. Probably the closest is in Kansas City, Missouri. It's not the best. My favorite was the one in Chicago. The one featured in this post is great for kids ages 12 and under. It has a lot for smaller kids. Travis at first described it as a Children's Museum/Science Museum. He did enjoy the special exhibits. 

Where's the best science museum that you've been to?

Disclaimer: This is not a paid review. I got no compensation, for writing this post. All opinions are my own.