The Day that Devolved into a Trip to The Mall of America

Did you know it was "Take a Kid Ice Fishing Weekend" this weekend in Minnesota? I learned about it weeks ago and finally looked up events at local state parks yesterday. Finding a Child/parent ice fishing clinic at our nearby Fort Snelling State Park for this afternoon, I was psyched. I asked Theo if he wanted to go. He certainly did and starting planning his day around it, wanting to call a friend to come along. Just to make sure we could participate, I called the park. Turns out the clinic filled up weeks ago. Damn.

A very disappointed 4-yr old quickly rejected all alternative suggestions for an outing. Even our typically successful offers of going to the Mississippi River Gorge for a walk/ski or going to the park failed. Descriptors like "boring" and "not fun" were used. Theo was dead set on going to "that place that Henry went to with the baby sitter yesterday, that place with Legos and other fun things". That place would be the one and only Mall of America. That place that I avoided visiting during my first five years in Minnesota. That place that I have only visited about three times during my second five years here. Truly enjoying these occasional forays to the MOA, I offered to take Theo and Henry to the MOA for Lego land time, one ride at Nickelodeon Universe, and one food item. It would be our first outing together to the Mall and I knew I better set some limits ahead of time.

We set out with the double Bob stroller on the 3/4 mile walk to the light rail station. Once there, we were offered meat to buy by a man waiting for the train. We politely declined. He looked at T and H and proceeded to tell us about the $150,000 he has sunk into child support for his son who reputedly just got a scholarship to Yale. (BTW, you gotta love the characters that you meet and the stories that you hear while taking public transportation. They never cease to amaze!)

Long story short: we joined the mobs at the MOA, breezed through Lego land (Theo was not that interested), rode the carousel and Ferris wheel, got ice cream, strolled around a bit, and headed home. Both kids fell asleep on the train giving me the opening to pick up some things at the grocery store on the way home. Ah, the beauty of being able to go everywhere with a stroller and not have to get in and out of car seats! Yes, it was a long excursion, five hours, but I sure got my exercise in!

The MOA was fun in its novel way. But I really wish we could have gone ice fishing.

Riding Phrius to the Opera

The free parking ticket was of no use. But the affordable tickets for two to the Minnesota Opera were just the gift for me to give to Hillary for Christmas this year.  (An opera buff friend suggested it - little did I know she had been wanting to go to an opera for a long time!)  We decided to go all out on our clothing since it was opening night.  I donned my tuxedo from orchestra playing days and Hillary wore a beautiful long burgundy dress.  We had the babysitter all lined up and even checked in with her earlier in the afternoon. Due to the house by 4:55, we were quite worried when she had not arrived at 5:10, 15 minutes before our bus. When we weren't able to reach her, we scrambled to find a backup plan.  Hoping to at least make the opera (skipping our dinner reservation), Hillary began calling alternate sitters.  Long story short, our original babysitter thankfully arrived at 5:38. We quickly reviewed the transportation options: catch the next bus in 3 minutes (long shot) and arrive at the restaurant with well less then an hour to eat, or call a taxi and maybe make our 6 pm reservation.  We called the taxi, hoping it would arrive quickly.  Our lucky night.  It came within 5 minutes and got us to Pazzaluna in downtown St. Paul at 5:58. Well worth the $20 cab fare to ensure we got to eat dinner and enjoy the full evening.

Perks of dates via the bus: the extra time you need for the bus gives you plenty of flexibility when situations change.  This time a taxi provided the backup.  In the summer months our bikes have served as a good backup.

The opera - Donizetti's Mary Stuart at the Ordway - was fantastic.  It was our first real opera production, and we savored the opening night scene.  As our opera guide told me, you can never be overdressed at the opera!  It was amazing to see everyone all dressed up and hear about others' opera going traditions.  And of course it was great to hear and see great singers acting in an excellent set.  The ice sculptures for the 125th St. Paul Winter Carnival were a nice bonus, and we enjoyed a relaxing bus ride home. But thank goodness for taxis when you need one!