We used the girls’ fall break to visit B’s sister, Christi. Christi and her family live in Northern Wisconsin, in a very small town (8,000 people) so we had to get creative on our travel out there. We flew to Minneapolis and spent the night at the Mall of American before heading out on the next leg of our journey. We had never been to Minnesota and we’re always up for an adventure so here we go…

We got to the airport early and had a lovely lunch at Root Down. 

American Girl dolls joined us for our journey:

Oh, these two:

I’m always the one behind the camera but trying to be better about that: 

We arrived to Minneapolis just in time to grab a quick snack at our hotel…

…and then off toNickelodeon Universe in the Mall. 

That is one crazy mall and we are not big shoppers, but the indoor amusement park was pretty great. It was a Thursday night and we had the place nearly to ourselves. We rode all the rides and never had to wait in line. 

And off they go: 

hilarious!

Annabelle is our thrill seeker. She loves all the rides. Gwyneth not so much. This was the ride that did her in. We went as a family and she hated it. She was tough though and didn’t cry, but I think she really wanted to. After this we split up. B and I each took turns going on roller coasters with Annabelle and then some of the more gently, swing kind of rides with Gwyneth. 

This is more up Gwyneth’s alley…

We took advantage of the after 5 deal at the park and stayed until closing time. We rode all the rides and had a blast! 

The next morning we packed up our rental car and went for lunch in downtown Minneapolis. We received a great recommendation for Hell’s Kitchen. The food was delicious and we got our first sampling of cheese curds (the first of many on our trip). 

I enjoyed Minneapolis. I loved all the walkaways connecting the buildings so you don’t freeze in the winter. It was a very fun first stop on our trip.