Minnesota

 I tried to describe the Mall of America to Ireland and Brigitta but how many different ways can you say it's just a really, really, really big mall with a theme park in the middle? I'd been on the road for hours but wanted to give them a taste so we decided to stop by and just have dinner- no shopping. Their jaws dropped when we walked in the door. Mall of America is really and truly massive.

We tried Cadillac Ranch for dinner. Ireland and Brigitta loved the half/half crayons. 

We slept hard, still trying to shake off all the stress in Iowa City.

Time in the pool and hot tub certainly helped. Check out Gita's stunning handstand dive.

 

 It was only when we made it to Mall of America this time that we noticed the lights on the ceiling of the parking structure- green means there is an open space. How brilliant is that?

For lunch we decided to try out Sugar Factory which is a really fun place to experience. We are all about that girly vibe!

Notice I said experience. The food itself was rather meh although the presentation was fabulous.

Where they excel is at the shakes. You know the kind of shakes with a whole slice of cake on top? That's this place. They were getting a break from the Chocolate Challenge so they went for a very chocolaty dessert.

Turns out the best part of it was the side of the mug. There was frosting topped with chocolate sprinkles and it was so dang good!

We were stuffed but luckily we did a lot of shopping to work off all the calories. The Lululemon at this mall is huge and I picked up a little something for everyone.

The next morning we headed to Bemidji and hung out in the downtown area for a bit. It's such a cool, little town with a lot of photo ops around every corner.

I know the creator of Snoopy is from Minnesota so this was a fun find just before the girls headed to camp. Gita dug out her blue blanket she'd packed for Spanish Camp.

With an August birthday, we had to call and get special permission for Brigitta to be in the 12-18 year camp or we never could have pulled it off because Ireland would have to go on different weeks. However, I did not closely look at the location and rather than staying in the actual Spanish Village which looks like this: 

They were booked at the "North Site" which is actually a Russian Village they also use as a Spanish Village. Is it nice? Sure. Does it make you want to break into Spanish? Not so much. Turns out the North Site is deeper in the woods where ticks are much more of a problem. 

Ireland and Brigitta made the most of it and got through Customs.

Settled into their casas.

And readied for two weeks of intensive Spanish.

I really needed to get back on the road. I'd already driven from Minneapolis and now I needed to make it back to Crystal Lake, IL for work the next day. That drive was hideous- all 13 hours total. I was so tired and to keep myself awake, I blasted Taylor Swift and sang at the top of my lungs until my voice was hoarse. I drank so many cokes from McDonald's and chewed on ice. Nobody falls asleep at the wheel chewing on ice and screaming. I made it, but vowed never to do that drive again.