Our Staycation

For Spring Break we decided to stick close to home.  But just because we weren't going anywhere didn't mean we weren't going to have any fun.  We made the most of our Staycation by packing it full of excursions to new places and a couple of our favorites.

On the first day off of school, we met up with our friends Sarah and Caitlyn for a playdate at Good Times Park.  It is the most impressive indoor park that we have ever been to.  It's huge and so much fun!!  We had a blast jumping on the giant inflatable trampoline, climbing on the spiderweb, zooming down the slides, spinning on all the fun toys, running around on the holograms, kicking the soccer ball and building things out of giant pieces of foam.

Owen bouncing on the giant trampoline

Owen stuck in the spiderweb

Owen shooting off the slide

Cole and Owen spinning in circles

Cole sitting in the spinning chair

Caitlyn, Owen and Cole intrigued by the holograms on the floor

Cole showing off his soccer moves

Caitlyn and Cole drumming on their foam creations

We could have easily stayed the entire day, but alas, it was lunch time.  So we bid a fond farewell to our friends and eventually I convinced the boys to leave (but it wasn't easy!)  Later that day, there was a high speed chase down our street!  A police car was in hot pursuit of a certain 4 year old.

Eventually he was captured and hauled away.  Yikes!  That was some excitement!

The next day we were off to the Monkey House - a perfect name for my little monkeys.  While a bit of a let-down at first (Good Times Park the prior day was seriously awesome!), we quickly got over it.  We bounced around on the several large inflatable houses, slid down the giant slide, climbed up to the tree house, and dove into the foam pit.

The next day was Saturday so the kids were extra excited to go on an adventure that included Pa.  This time we ventured to the aquarium at the Mall of America.  The mall was CRAZY with all the spring breakers, but we took full advantage of all the cool things the aquarium has on display throughout the waiting line.

Eventually we made it through the very long line and into the aquarium. Owen loved every minute of it and Cole, well, lets just say that he's still working on his attention span.

Posing with the fish

Gazing into the aquarium

Touching the sea creatures

"Whoa!"  A giant stingray swimming overhead

"Look at that sawfish!"

After the aquarium, we stopped by Izzy's - our favorite ice cream shop.  They just opened a new location so we were excited to check it out.  It did not disappoint.  Mmmmm.  Hands down the best ice cream in town.  But the best part - they have soy ice cream for our two little dairy-free boys.  They sure do love Izzy's soy chocolate!

Our next outing was to the Maple Maze.  The last time we had been there, Owen was only 1 year old, so it had been awhile!  The boys loved climbing through the maze and zipping down the slides, although my knees were shot by the time we left.  They definitely don't make those play structures for adults!  The boys even enjoyed playing in the toddler area, which technically we weren't supposed to be in, but this Mama's knees needed a break from all the crawling.

Owen and Shane spent one day enjoying the slopes at at new hill, Afton Alps.  They have really gotten into skiing this long, cold winter.  They had a great time and came home with no injuries.  That's a successful ski outing in my book!

And the staycation fun continued as the Slominski foursome headed to the Science Museum to see the new dinosaur exhibit.  While patiently waiting for our scheduled time to enter the dino exhibit, we checked out lots of other interesting things.

Soon it was our turn to see the dinosaurs!!  There were many dinosaurs both gigantic and tiny.  And as always, the museum had several hands on things for the youngsters.

Owen, Cole and Shane with a Majungasaurus

Cole stamping his dino sheet

Cole playing with the toy dinosaurs

Owen with a Carnotaurus

Owen, Jess and Cole with a giant Giganotosaurus

Owen putting together a dinosaur skeleton

After getting our fill of dinosaurs, we enjoyed the other parts of the museum.  Owen and Cole both love the Science Museum.  We practically had to drag them out of there.  They did not want to leave.  There's just so much to see and do!

Cole learning on the computer (for some reason, he really liked this picture of a skull)

Turning the wheel to see what happens

Pumping the handle some sort of contraption

Owen sporting a wind-blown hair style

Another new adventure was an outing to Wild Rumpus Bookstore.  I had heard about this very unique store and thought the boys would get a kick out of it.  With chickens walking around the store along with chinchillas, ferrets, cats, and a fish tank behind the bathroom mirror, it is definitely not your typical bookstore.  After looking at all the animals, we managed to find the perfect books to bring home.

The fish tank behind the bathroom mirror

The chickens roaming around

The chinchilla having a snack

Owen and Cole with their new books

Our last hurrah was an overnight stay at a local hotel.  The boys love staying there and swimming in their fun water park.  Cole had been asking for several days leading up to our stay when we were going swimming, so to say he was excited is an understatement.  Owen's now big enough to walk across the lily pads, which he did over and over again.  And Cole had fun playing catch and walking around in the zero entry pool.

What a great way to end our Staycation!  Now it's back to jam packed weeks filled with work, school and activities.