Weekend Get-Away

This past weekend, Josh and I were able to take a little “get-away” with just the two of us. It was originally our Valentine’s gift to each other, but then after everything that  happened we weren’t sure we were still going to be able to go. We were so blessed that Josh’s parents were still willing to watch the boys for us and things all worked out for us to go. It was a much needed respite!

You may think we were a little crazy…but we drove NORTH for our little get-away: Minneapolis. Hey, it’s within driving distance and when Josh found out I’d NEVER been to the Mall of America, he was ready to take me. (And I never refuse a trip to a mall!)

Before we even got to our hotel, though, we decided to stop at a restaurant we were dying to try. We’re big fans of Man Vs. Food, and on his trip to the Twin Cities, Adam Richman stopped in to a couple different places that make the “Juicy Lucy.” We chose to try this delicacy at The 5-8 Club and we were NOT disappointed! Sadly, we didn’t get any pictures on our fab new camera, but I did grab a couple on my iPhone.

My delicious bleu cheese Juicy Lucy…

…and Josh getting ready to take his first bite…

After our tasty early dinner, we headed off to our hotel (which was wonderful), and then after a lovely nap (Yes, a NAP!) we went over to IKEA! It was my first IKEA experience, and while it was incredibly overwhelming (think furniture store on steroids) it was fun. We walked through the ENTIRE place, but didn’t buy a single thing. I did grab a catalog before we left though… ;)

The next morning, it was off to the Mall of America!

We got a primo parking spot, thanks to showing up at 9:30am. Then, our first stop: LegoLand.

And I had to catch a quick pic of me with Jango Fett… for Zack, of course ;) 

After that, we wandered into the amusement park in the middle of the mall, Nickelodeon Universe.

It was fun just walking around there! I did seriously consider this ride…

…but then I wimped out after witnessing this…

Say what you will, I’m not a roller coaster person most the time… And drops straight down like that? Not for me. I almost had myself hyped up enough to do it, but then my hubby took pity on me and suggested the Pepsi Orange Streak instead. No death drops. ;) 

(We didn’t get a picture of it, so I ‘borrowed’ this one…)

I don’t know if you knew this, but there are more than 520 stores in the Mall of America. There are 4 levels and the walking distance around just one level is .57 miles (of course, that doesn’t count walking around inside the stores!).

So, like I said, we arrived at 9:30am… And we didn’t leave until 4:30pm! We managed to walked around EVERY level and see pretty much everything there is to see. We didn’t DO everything (that would be a little too pricey!) but we did plenty and really enjoyed ourselves. We rode a roller coaster, ate way too much, picked up a couple unique gifts for the boys and got to just “hang out” together all day.

That night, we decided to eat dinner somewhere NOT inside the mall… so we looked for another “local” joint to check out. Praise the Lord for web enabled phones and GPS! We found a place called Punch Neopolitan Pizza in Saint Paul that turned out to be INCREDIBLE! We both decided it was a the best calzone we’d EVER had. Not to mention an amazing caesar salad and tiramisu! Boy, do we ever wish there was one here in DSM! Needless to say, we HIGHLY recommend Punch’s if you’re in the Twin Cities! (They have more than one location!)

We headed home the next morning, and were so excited to see the boys. They had a great time with Grandma and Papa and we had a great get-away! Praise the Lord!