Mall of America

Our last day in Minnesota was stormy.  It started raining the evening before and was constant all day Tuesday.  Mom and Grandma decided to drive up to the Mall of America and get some exercise by walking around.  It is the largest mall in the United States. 

 There was an amusement park in the middle of the mall.  It was Nickelodeon themed.  Dad laughed and said that is was originally Peanuts themed-Camp Snoopy when it opened!

I decided not to go on any rides.

They did have a really big Lego store.  Afterwards, Grandma dropped us at the airport.  I was glad to be coming home.

Cousin Max

 Cousin Max came to visit Tha-tha and Grandma Judy too.  They took us to the Rochester Athletic Center.  Max and I had fun there.  We climbed....

 We played miniature golf.... 

 kicked a ball and

 jumped on a trampoline!

We also took turns playing Minecraft on my lap top.

Quinn, the boy next door even played with us.  He shared his slip and slide!

We had a ton of fun!  

Vesterheim Museum

My mom and Grandma Judy drove me to NE Iowa (Decorah) today so that mom could go visit the Vesterheim Museum-The national Norwegian American Museum and heritage center.  I was really good and did not ruin her day.

 That's me by a fjord!

This was painted on a wall of an old cabin from the 1790's!

There was a lot of rosemaling-or painted furniture.

This is a small ship that some Norwegian immigrants sailed on to America.

Another old cabin.  Mom was amazed at how wide the planks of wood were.

 Woodcarving!

Rosemaling!

 Paintings of old Norway!

Mom was sad that she was going to miss this!

A small house from Norway.  We ate lunch in downtown Decorah and walked around.  It was hot and not terribly interesting.  We did find this sign though:

It was an hour and 20 minutes back to Rochester.  We did get to drive past several Amish carriages and farms.  Here's hoping that tomorrow will me a much more interesting day.

Quarry Hill Nature Center

My parents love this place when they lived in Minnesota.  I enjoyed the visitor center.  They had turtles, snakes and fish and this T-Rex skull!

 

 Below is the main entrance to the nature center-they were having afternoon summer camps.  Mom tried to sign me up for one, but they were full.

We decided to walk the shorter trail up to the old Quarry.

On the way, we found the old caves carved out of stone.  They we made in 1890, as a produce storage cooler for a nearby hospital.

 

It was a climb up to the Quarry, and we had to push Grandma Judy up the hill but we made it.  Trees and plants have grown back in the Quarry.

I was glad when we started heading back towards the nature center.

The woods in Minnesota are full of deciduous trees, with a lot of oaks.

The pond is next to the nature center.  I was ready to get in the car.

 

I did not enjoy Quarry Hill as much as my folks and grand parents do.

International Fountain

Andy and I are playing in the fountain at Seattle Center

International Fountain-Seattle Center 2

I love this fountain, and most of the kids I know who have visited this fountain love it too.  Today I went with my friend Andy.  The spray from this thing is epic!!!  We are in the middle of the screen, I am wearing a rash-guard with bright green sleeves, Andy is wearing a wet white T-shirt.

Geocaching

I finally started geo caching with my parents this weekend.  My Dad downloaded the app so that we can now start finding all the caches in our area, and in new places we go.  I got introduced to geo caching by Andrea, Andy & Elliot on our school trip to Leavenworth and have decided to pick it up as a hobby this summer.  Geo caching is like treasure hunting, except the treasure is a water tight box or container that holds a piece of paper, and possibly other stuff.  

 Our first location today was in a park just west of Highline Community College.  We are checking Dad's phone for the coordinates of the cache.

 I think we should walk this way.....

 It's pretty here, but a little wild.  The plants are trying to take the paths back.

 Huh...we are close.

 Dad found this one.  It was hard because it was small.  This plastic tube contains the paper that you write your names on.

 I wrote down all three of us, plus the date.

I found another one in a parking lot down at South Center, how funny.   Geo caching is fun.  It gets us all out of the house searching for something.