Minneapolis: When You Need an Aquarium

Day 7
It was a bitter sweet day. My brother Jeff flew in to Minneapolis from Seattle to be my road partner for the second week of travel because Pauly had to go home to work. We'd been having so much fun and in a weirdo van-shaped travel bubble for the entire week that it seemed impossible that "work" was an actual thing and that Pauly had to leave us. The only possible thing that could have kept us all from a weepy goodbye at the airport was an aquarium inside a shopping mall. Enter Mall of America.

Jeff arrived the day before to do a little sight seeing and karaoke around Minneapolis. We met him at his hotel and proceeded to have lunch at the Mall of America before bringing Pauly to the airport. Paul sat in between the kids in the backseat where I heard them taking turns telling him, "I'm going to miss you, daddy. Don't go!" We walked into the Mall and there it was - a freaking aquarium inside the mall. We could see the stingray pool below us from the escalators. The kids got excited immediately and while we were still sad to have to bring daddy to the airport, there was at least something concrete they could look forward to after dropping him off.

After lunch we brought Pauly to the airport and returned to the mall. As far as malls in America go, this one is very large with an aquarium and a Nickelodeon themed amusement park with rides. However, compared with malls we've been to in the Philippines the MOA could almost be described as "quaint." Just saying.

For our trip itinerary, I planned for this to be a day of rest for the kids after 7 days of being on the road. I figured we'd watch a movie, hang out at the mall, and swim at the hotel. The aquarium was way better than watching a movie. If you are ever at the Mall of America I'd recommend spending on the price of admission. Our favorite part was walking through a glass tunnel that went through several rooms while being surrounded by fish, sharks, rays and sea turtles. They also had a great room sponsored by Lego where they invited you to create your own Lego sea creatures and take photos of them on their display wall. Very cool.

After about 4 hours at the mall -- 2 at the aquarium and 2 walking around/snacking -- we headed back to the hotel where the kids excitedly introduced Uncle Jeff to "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse." This particular hotel was a lot more upscale than the ones we had been staying at during the past week (despite the fact that I had booked it using the same website). Much to Leo's delight and Ruby's chagrin, the bathroom had a square toilet seat. All in all, the day ended the best it possibly could have after sending Pauly home.



Leo found 2 of his faves: Angry Birds and video games


My sea turtle

Ruby's seahorse

 Jeff's stingray

 Leo's seahorse






 Yep. Wahlburgers.

Amelio the sea turtle

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