Trip to Tiny-sota, March 13-16

We took a trip to Tiny-sota!! It was just the girls, and we took a super-quick trip to see Uncle Jake in Minnesota. Since there is a line in the movie Rio involving Minnesota being called Tiny-sota, we made that the theme of our trip... the prompt for photos was, "Say, 'We're in Tiny-sota!'" The whole trip was planned because of some Frontier Airline vouchers that landed in our hands after our trip out to WI at the end of December wound up being delayed due to mechanical issues. It was a long-overdue trip to see Uncle Jake in his surroundings. 

Our flight in was relatively smooth, though due to the way we had to book our tickets and use our vouchers I did have to wait in line at the Frontier desk for 30 minutes so that the kids would not need to be considered "unaccompanied minors" and I wouldn't have to pay $400 for them to travel... But, once we got to MN, Uncle Jake picked us up and we were off and running. He took us back to his pad and he had the place filled with some favorites for the girls--french fries & mac-n-cheese, to name a few. We had a quiet evening while Uncle Jake & Ruby cooked up some noodles, and Scout & I had some chips & salsa. Our first night in MN was a hit, since the girls also discovered the plethora of pillows on Jake's bed (perfect for fort building) and we had access to Octonauts on Netflix, and really, the fun was just beginning.

In the morning, the girls ate their favorite morning treat, and they explored a bit of Uncle Jake's landing.

Scout and her most favorite breakfast

Sleepy stretches

On Saturday morning, Jake took us to the Como Zoo in St. Paul. The zoo is so nice, and it's free/by donation. We met Mary and Willi and their two sweet kiddos there. It was an unseasonably nice day, and we lucked out. The kids & us grown-ups ambled about for a bit, and got to chat. We started out in the indoor tropical greenhouse. I got to see an anaconda, which my kids know I'm awfully fond of. Then we ventured out--big cats, zebras, giraffes, American Bison (not buffalo, of course), some polar bears, lots of monkeys and other primates and many others. 

The girls and I even took in a photo booth:

We spent less than 2 hours at the zoo, and when we left the place was hoppin'.  From there, Jake wanted to take us on an excursion to a shake & burger place he knew... but he mentioned "Old Spaghetti Factory" and the rest was history. 

Jake's thinking... "Why did I even MENTION this place..."

Fancy doors, just like the one in Denver

After we returned from our spaghetti lunch, we gathered our things and went over to Jake's girlfriend Jess's place. It is so cute and Jess has the sweetest dog, Bailey, so we had fun there, too. We took a little walk, and Scout helped Uncle Jake brush Bailey's hair. Jake & Jess made us homemade pizzas for dinner on Saturday night. 

On Sunday, we had a leisurely morning with pancakes, and then we headed to the Science Museum in St. Paul in the afternoon. Before actually entering the museum, we headed out the door to grab a bite to eat, so we got to see a bit of downtown St. Paul. The museum itself was great to see, plenty of hands-on things to keep the kids interests. There was an area devoted to rocks and river ecology, and we even found a vial of sand that said it was from Le Poudre River, CO. I can only think they mean our Cache La Poudre that runs right through Ft. Collins, fun connections.

There was a portion of the exhibit that was devoted to a newscasters desk

"Back to you, Ruby..."

And after our big day at the Science museum, we headed back to Jess' place. Here are some photos from the time we spent there. 

This is the upstairs room where we slept... Ruby is holding one of Jess' books, which she used as a book of spells 

Brushing Bailey

This was a prominent position for the weekend... in front of Jess' TV watching Octonauts

The next morning, uncle Jake dropped us off at the airport and here are the last two photos of our trip.... yes, they both fell asleep on the ride home from the airport, within 30 minutes of home...

On board our flight home