10. Carpool - Thanks to my sister deciding to relocate literally 15 minutes from my driveway (if all the red lights are hit, which happens way more often than hitting all green...) we were able to drive together to Burlington to meet mom and learning our destination. She requested that we be there by 7:00 on Wednesday night. The trip found us brainstorming ideas on where we thought we were going and what she had planned that night. We decided on the monthly Bunko night and a trip somewhere in Missouri.
9. We were WRONG! - Oh wow, were we wrong. Mom decided to leave Wednesday night in order to break up the trip a little. We would be staying in Kansas City with my brother and then heading off in the morning for...
MALL OF AMERICA!
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| Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mall_of_America#mediaviewer/File:Schriftzug_moa.jpg |
8. Seven Hours - was the time it took us to reach Minneapolis. We weren't rushed to get there, we had two whole days to spend at the mall. We stopped to go to the bathroom whenever we wanted, ate when we were hungry and enjoyed the time in the car.
7. Souvenirs - Each Mystery trip we try to get some piece of memorabilia from that city. The last couple times have found us getting coffee mugs of some sort. I think this is a tradition that is going to stick.
6. Mall of America HOLLA! - We came with one purpose. To shop. And shop we did. We were all the mall from 11 AM on Thursday until 8 PM. (We did stop to eat twice). The family we sat next to on the shuttle to the mall Friday morning called us "Professionals." We were there again Friday from 10AM until 3PM.
PS... We still didn't make it to all parts of the mall. It is HUGE people. And they are adding on more! Craziness!!
5. Think Happy :)
4. Coach - So my dad has this thing about Coach purses and the ladies in his life. It all started quite a few years ago, when a lady at work had been to the Coach Outlet in Branson. She brought back a bunch of bags and dad got each one of us one. He loved the feeling of spoiling us with something we would never buy on our own. We loved that he did that for us (something so out of the blue). Since then he's bought different pieces from Coach at different times. He shocked us again this trip when he said he would give us some "fun money" to get something. Totally unexpected. And the best way we started our day on Friday. The sales ladies were AWESOME and made the hole experience worth it. We took a selfie to celebrate. Or is it an Us-ie?
3. Recommendations - We love to ask for recommendations on what to do, where to eat, and what to order. The people in Minnesota know how to answer. (At least all the ones we asked). The Catholic Church recommended to us was so welcoming and friendly. Seriously. They started Mass with having everyone introduce themselves to someone new. So cool! The sales lady we asked for a recommendation on where to eat sent us to Pizza Luce. Oh wow, was she right. I feel sad when I think that we could have missed out on this super yummy place. And our ROCKING AWESOME waitress (who is also a Special Education teacher during the school year...bonus!) helped make our meal so great by suggesting spectacular items for each course.
Drinks.
Dessert.
2. Reactions - I will never get tired of telling people about Mystery Weekend. To see their amazement and listen to them gush about how awesome it is just makes me smile from ear to ear.
1. My Support System at home - There is no way Mystery Weekend would happen if I didn't have some amazing people to help out. Ethan is such an awesome dad and the girls love him so much. I never have to worry about them. I have visions of my childhood and how much fun we had with our dad when mom went out of town. (Not that we didn't love having mom around), but just "dad" time was special. I know our kids will feel the same way.
And my in-laws who graciously take the girls during the day when Ethan has to work. Jackie had been saying all week that she wanted to go see "Papa and Gama" and even today packed her little bag and said she was going bye bye to see Papa.
Every year Mystery Weekend is one of the highlights of the summer. And I know that this trip will be one for the record books. Until next year...
1 comment:
I imagine you creating memories like these with your girls some day.
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