Twin Cities Tour

What started out as a short trek for a maintenance appt for my Tahoe (a nice freebie they gave when we bought it) turned into a little Twin Cities tour yesterday. Well, I suppose we left the St Paul side out entirely, but the point is that we were all over the place.

Just killin' time at the dealership. It won't be long before they are asking their dad for a fast car like this. Don't waste your breath, girls, the answer is 'no'!

The day was so beautiful that we hated to hit our usual indoor attractions (MOA and other shopping venues), so we decided to check out an iconic downtown attraction and explore the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It was a fun little stop that allowed for lots of roaming for the girls. Jillian wasn't overly impressed, however, because there was "nothing to do" at this place (translation: no rides or playground).

How is it that we've lived here for 7 years and never made this stop?

More of the famous cherry and spoon

Checking out another sculpture

Beautiful foliage

There were large plants of purple kale interspersed amongst the flowers. I'd never think to put kale in flower beds, but the contrast was striking.

Bell sculpture, constantly in motion

How does this work?

They desperately wanted to climb all over the sculptures

Looking up at all the items "stuck" inside this sculpture above

Another view of the fountain

Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum?

If I had any clue we were coming to this place, I would have brought my real camera!!

The silliest goose in all the land

A glimpse of the sassy attitude that is the norm right now

Wind chimes hanging in all the trees--such a peaceful environment, or would be if our children weren't running amok!

We climbed the stairs to the highway overpass for some better views

Traffic whizzing by

Super cool moving sculpture swing

Can you see Adrienne?

Walking through the conservatory

Taking a peek at the 8-hole artist created mini-golf course (1.5 hour wait at 10:30 on a Saturday)

Adrienne was fascinated with the big fish

The succulent room was my favorite. Can you see all the teeny tiny plants?

More succulents

Longing for my good camera...

After the Sculpture Garden we headed to Southdale Mall in Edina, where we grabbed a bite at Cheesecake Factory and hit H&M for a few basics. We loaded back up and were on our way to an undisclosed (to the girls) location in Shakopee. Traffic was madness, and road construction was everywhere without warning.

Thankfully, A grabbed a quick nap en route

We pulled up to Canterbury Park for a little horse racing fun. Matt has been pretty excited about horse races ever since he went to the Derby, and read that Canterbury Park is actually very family friendly, even hosting an annual kids event with zebra and ostrich races (which you can bet we will attend next year).

Walking in. J still not sure what we were doing, asking bazillions of questions

A view of the track

Loading into the starting gate for a race on the green.

A lovely little spectator

Reading about the horses

I was surprised at how great this place was. It was very clean, kids were everywhere, and even had a large enclosed play structure. The pace of the races was just right--they had one every 30 minutes, which allowed time to place bets, grab another snack/drink/bathroom break, find a different seat if desired, and watch another race. It actually worked really well for our girls, and we stayed for 4 races before spending a few minutes at the playground. On our second race, Matt told me to pick a horse and go bet across the board. I liked the sound of #6--Blue Ra Ra, so I decided on her. And wouldn't you know it? Momma picked the winner!

Way to win it, Blue Ra Ra!

After my pay-out--$31.80 on a $6 bet! It was time for a bag of mini-donuts in celebration.

Watching the horses leave the track

Finger in nose...awesome

Our trip was not to be completed without a bit 'o drama. We decided to watch the horses parade around the paddock before entering the track for the race.

Getting a good view of the contenders. Jillian didn't think this was a good idea, but finally agreed to stand at the fence.

I took this picture about 20 seconds before horse #5 got a little squirrely and tried to buck her jockey. The jockey bailed, and it sent the next two horses into a tizzy. Horse #7 (aptly named Hot Body) completely flipped out, threw the jockey off, and crashed backwards into the fence (busting it), causing the crowd to go mad as if Godzilla was on the loose.

Right before the action. The man in the green shirt is standing in the spot where it began, so you can see were were pretty close to the drama.

From our perspective, it looked like people were hurt from the commotion that ensued (and the horse was running wild toward the parking lot), so Matt handed A to me, told me to get back with the girls, and went running into the action to help. Luckily, no one was hurt, they corralled Hot Body safely, and the race went on as planned. After all was said and done, J said, "See, Dad, I told you we shouldn't be watching the horses!"

The police officer standing in front of the spot where the gate was busted (they were quickly able to put it back together)

Hot Body getting cooled off after capture

We figured we should call it a day after that incident, so we headed home. We were in a part of the city we had never been to, so used OnStar for directions. We hit awful traffic (Matt actually put the car in park several times) and then our route was closed, causing further delay. Thanks, OnStar....don't they know which routes are closed for construction?!?! What should have taken us 1 hr 20 min took nearly 3 hours. And, after doing so well all day going potty, A peed her pants 15 minutes from home and soaked her car seat. It occurs to me that she probably has  no idea it's OK to ask to stop the car to go potty. Live and learn! These little hiccups could not erase the fun we had on this spontaneous family day, however. More memories in the book.

Is this MN or the NJ turnpike!?! Miles and miles and miles. We are so spoiled living in Rochester.