V - A - C - A - TION

Just the four of us left for Apple Valley and the Minnesota Zoo on Sunday, June 28th. We had

never gone anywhere that didn't involve going with or meeting up with family before. Kinda like a vacation.

We had to stop in Alexandria for our annual trip to see Big Ole (or Big Holey, as WD likes to say). He was just as we remembered him - larger than life. Em wasn't even too scared which surprised me a bit. She wouldn't climb up on him with Will though.We got to St. Paul on Sunday around 3:00 pm. The it was basically a no-nap drive so the evening was going to be interesting but we thought we'd be brave and hit the Como Zoo while we had a little time. All was well until Will decided he only wanted to spend about 3.3 seconds looking at each animal and then would take off into the crowd. I was a bit stressed so I only took 2 pictures before putting the camera away to keep a hand on him. Needless to say, we didn't stay there long.We stayed at the AmericInn in Apple Valley in a two room suite. It was a fine place except the carpet wasn't so clean and a bit damp and turned our socks black. On the bright side, the breakfast included donuts with sprinkles and the kids loved the pool. Will even jumped in into our arms at the 5 foot level all by himself. Of course I was in the pool the whole time and never brought the camera so you will just have to use your imagination for those images.

Monday we got up early and were one of the first people at the Minnesota Zoo. We had stopped at Target the night before and purchased a backpack with a long extension (aka leash) to help keep Will in our near vicinity. It really worked well despite him pulling on it like a new puppy and eased my mind tremendously. We got into the zoo for half price because we are members of the Red River Zoo. Very cool.

We walked through a few exhibits and then took the monorail ride, had lunch and then finished up walking to a couple more exhibits. It was an exhausting day. But the kids really seemed to have a good time and Brad and I were impressed with most of it. The indoor stuff was way better and easier to see than the outside stuff, in our opinion.

We got up Tuesday planning to get up and go but we dropped my wedding ring off at the Shane Co. to get unbent from too much lawn mowing and it wouldn't be done until 1:00 so we headed back to the Mall of America for a little tour. We got some simple ride passes and hit the Dora circuit which included the carousel. Will was thrilled that they had a purple dragon. We played a while, ate lunch in the food court and then hit the road (after picking up my ring.)We had fun on our first official family vacation but I think I'm glad it was only 3 days and we won't be going on another one until next summer.