Valleyfair - Day One

On Friday the 5th, we all went to Valleyfair, an amusement park in Shakopee, Minnesota (southwest of Minneapolis). There is so much to see and do at Valleyfair, we can't possibly describe all of it here (and couldn't fit it all into one day, so we went back for a second day - that post is coming later). They have acres and acres of rides, roller coasters, games, food, entertainment, an IMAX movie theatre, go-karts, bumper boats, mini-golf, a waterpark - just a ton of fun in one place!

On our first day at Valleyfair, we went to Whitewater Country, which is a waterpark inside the amusement park. Lillianna got to put on her brand new swimsuit and play in the kiddie splash pool and float on an innertube with Joy for the very first time! She LOVED splashing in the pool and almost fell asleep on the lazy river ride floating on the tube. Cheri, Kellen and Cody rode the big waterslides and the faster "raging rapids" innertube ride.

After the waterpark, Kellen and Cody rode several of the roller coasters in the park - the Wild Thing, Renegade, High Roller, the Flume, the Mad Mouse (just to name a few). Joy rode with them on the Flume (a log chute water ride) and with Kellen on the Mad Mouse.

Fun in the sun at Valleyfair...

Before long though, it was midnight and the park was closing. We decided a couple days later to come back to Valleyfair for a second day - we have more pictures from that day that we will post soon!

Bathtime with Lily and Aunt Cheri

Aunt Cheri gave Miss Lily a bath. She loved playing in the water (Lily, not Cheri). Thanks for the bathtime, Aunt Cheri!!

4th of July at Lake Minnetonka

Food, music, the lake and fireworks - does it get better than this? We celebrated the 4th of July in Excelsior, Minnesota on the shores of Lake Minnetonka. First we went to the store and filled the cooler with lots of good food and drinks - Tom even tried sushi for the first time! It took two trips to haul everything down to the lake (thank you Cody and Kellen for going back to the van for all the stuff!) but we staked out a great spot by the shore. We sat and listened to the Minnesota Orchestra and then watched the fireworks as they were shot from a barge out in the middle of the bay.

After the fireworks, Cody and Kellen jumped in the water and took a swim in Lake Minnetonka. Are they crazy or what?!? Here are some photos from our 4th at the lake...

And yet another thing for the memory books ... on the way home, the car in front of us began swerving in and out of its lane, nearly sideswiping the cars in the next lane. The driver was also having a difficult time maintaining a steady speed and was clearly unable to stay in his/her own lane. It appeared the driver was quite intoxicated. Kellen called the police on his cell phone and reported the driver. He stayed on the phone with the dispatch operator as we followed the car. Pretty soon a police officer pulled out from a side road and pulled the car over. We were told to pull over behind the officer to give a statement. As it turned out, two police cars arrived on the scene. After they checked out the driver of the other car, they came back to our car to talk to us and get our statement about what we witnessed. It turns out that the driver of the car was an elderly man who was unable to drive safely, especially at night and should not be driving. It made us feel conflicted - sad for the poor elderly man, but also glad that we reported the vehicle and could have prevented an accident.

At "The Mall" with Aunt Cheri and Cousins Kellen and Cody

Aunt Cheri, Cousin Kellen and Cousin Cody came all the way from Oregon to visit for a whole week!! We spent their second day here at the Mall of America. We saw lots of stores, went to the Underwater Adventures aquarium, ate at the Rainforest Cafe restaurant and had a ton of fun in the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park. It was a very fun day and one we'll remember forever! Memories of our day at The Mall...

Nickelodeon Universe Theme Park

Cousins Kellen and Cody were brave and rode the roller coaster in Nickelodeon Universe (look closely, they're in the second car). Then Aunt Cheri, Cody, Kellen and Mommy all rode the Log Chute water ride. I was too little for the big rides so I rode on the carousel with Mommy and Daddy instead. It was fun! Here's pictures of all of us "ride warriors"!

After all the excitement of Nickelodeon Universe, we had lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, a "wild" restaurant in the Mall of America that has a rainforest jungle theme. We sat in an area with animated gorillas that "came to life" every few minutes and there were even thunderstorms while we ate. Aunt Cheri bought me a stuffed baby gorilla and a tiger.

Rainforest Cafe

After lunch, we went to Underwater Adventures, an underground aquarium underneath the Mall of America. We got to see tons of fish, turtles, stingrays and sharks. They had a small pool where we all got to touch stingrays and sharks (well everyone except Miss Lily).

Underwater Adventures

Wow - what a busy day. After all the fun and excitement, I am exhausted. I am off to sleep, dreaming of my day at the Mall with Aunt Cheri, Cousin Kellen and Cousin Cody. I can't wait for all our adventures to come this week - we'll post more pictures of all the fun!