Hanging with the family part 2: The Boys Come to Town

Friday Night:  I left my house to pick up tacos.  The crew was gathering luggage and heading to hotel.  I came out of the tacos restaurant and it was raining sideways.  Then I had to drive a mile out of the way due to 35W construction.  So we've started off in a fairly Minnesota way.  I did have fun hanging out with everyone though.
Only in MN: Our own "taco tour" or Lake Street, and the adults had a Surly or two in the hotel lobby.

Saturday

Morning in the rain: Mall of America.  We surveyed the go carts and the rides and ultimately hit up Lego Land before abandoning.
Morning in the mostly not rain: Lock and Dam 1.  There are vary levels of comfort with being up really high in this group, so we all took this at our own speed.
Lunch: Punch Pizza

Afternoon: (the rain may have stopped, we are unsure)  Explored St Anthony Falls Visitor Center and the Upper St Anthony Falls Lock and Dam.  (Lower falls is still working and a bit harder less visitor friendly.)  Then we poked around Mill Ruins Park.
Quiet Time: We all took naps or "read" with our eyes closed.

Late afternoon: We poked around Minnehaha Falls Park until it became clear someone would go in the creek if we weren't careful.
Supper: Peppers and Fries is one of my favorite local burger joints.  We did the thing.
MOA again: The boys played laser tag.  Their Mom and I wandered the mall and visited.
Bed: I had a nightmare that I was late picking everyone up the next day.
Only in MN:  Mall of America.  Also, learning Dakota words like "Minnehaha" (it means falling waters).

Sunday
Pick up: 8:20am.

Morning: The hotel was by MOA, so we took the Blue Line downtown. We found the Mary Tyler Moore statue, though none of us remember the television show.  Breakfast was at Hell's Kitchen and we got to sit in the Far Side Room.  This is not related to the crazy chef on TV.
Part 2 of the morning was walking across the Loring Greenway and Loring Park to the Sculpture Garden.  There were varying levels of interest.  It was starting to really heat up at this point.  So we got on the bus and headed off to baseball.

Afternoon: We saw a Twins game, including what may have been my first in person grand slam.  (It was the good guys who got the grand slam.)   This is only my second time visiting the Twins Stadium.  Big Cousin has been there both times. After the game, we all had quiet time and several of us got to take showers.  I was hot and gross and I do want my family to continue to enjoy my company.

Evening: Tiny Diner was actually a request of Big Cousin and he remembered it from last time.  We had cheese curds as an appetizer. Then we went back to the hotel and the boys swam while the grown ups hung out.
Only in MN: Mary Tyler Moore.  Spoon Bridge and Cherry. Twins Territory!  And Cheese Curds.