Back home now from our mini-vacation to Minneapolis. The zoo was a really great choice as a destination--two thumbs up for the Minnesota Zoo.
The Mall of America may have been too much for the kids. Perhaps it was the two hours I let the girls swim the night before at the hotel, but we hadn't been there an hour and they were dragging. We decided to rent a dual stroller for the girls to use along with the umbrella stroller we brought along for Luke. The kids enjoyed the rides--especially Cailey, who rode the roller coaster once and the log ride twice. Mia sat out the log ride the second time and the roller coaster. I'll give the Mall of America one thumb up.
Our hotel, the AmericInn in Shakopee, which I booked through Expecia, was really nice and had a water slide and a kiddy wading pool. Unfortunately we were placed in a smoking room, which the hotel tried to clean the air, but the hallway was filled with cigarette smoke and was unbearable. Lesson learned--just because Expedia asks you what your smoking preference is doesn't mean that is what they get. They have a very small disclaimer that they can't guarantee the availability of a non-smoking room. The hotel happened to be booked solid and there were no other rooms to move us to, so the assistant manager said if I want to come back up, call her directly and she'll take care of us. Two thumbs up for the AmericInn; two thumbs down for Expedia.
For some reason I've uploaded my pictures but they aren't showing up, so here's a link to my Flickr Photostream to see some pictures from our vacation: http://www.flickr.com/photos/queenshakenbake/.
