Doctor, Luke, and Mall of America

So, last Tuesday morning we slept in a bit at my brother's house because he works late. That was our excuse anyway! After getting ready we visited with Harvey just a short bit before we had to head out to the clinic of the doctor who would perform Gerrit's surgery on Wednesday.

Following the doctor's appointment we drove to Loren and Kelly's place in Plymouth, MN. Loren is Nancy's brother and Kelly is Loren's wife. We each held their month old child, Luke, before the pizza Loren had ordered arrived. We took the below photos with Nancy's camera.

Luke knows how to wink already!

Donovan is the only one who wouldn't hold Luke. He wouldn't say why.

Even this old man remembers how to hold a baby. You need to work on your tan, Luke. Just kidding.

After pizza we visited some more with Loren, Kelly, and Luke. In a bit we drove back over to the Mall of America (MOA) for some fun and games and some shopping. Donovan and Gerrit shopped at the LEGO Store and Aleah and Samantha shopped at Build A Bear. There are probably some other stores at which Nancy and the kids shopped but I don't remember.

The majority of our seven hours at the MOA was spent at the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park at the center of the mall.

Samantha was super excited to meet Dora. She loves Dora so much.

Nancy, Gerrit, Aleah, and Donovan were first to ride the Log Chute.

Never have I seen so much terror in one place. Gerrit was trying to smile but was not able.

Later on I rode with Aleah and Donovan. While it certainly didn't feel that way, it almost looks like I'm sitting relaxing on a park bench. I considered lifting my shirt for the camera but didn't want to risk arrest! Actually, trying to smile for the camera took my mind off of the drop.

After all that excitement we decided to look for a place to commence some mastication. We walked the whole route of the food court before deciding on Famous Dave's. At the entrance we were informed of a 15 minute wait to be seated. Of course, that was not acceptable so we settled on Kokomo's Island Cafe next door. It was very good and we all enjoyed our meals - I had fish tacos for the first time and was impressed. A bonus is that a kids meal was free with each purchase of an adult meal. The ticket was only slightly more than what we might have spent at McDonald's.

After supper we went downstairs to visit the Underwater Adventures aquarium. That was super nice and the kids had a great time. It was a nice way to end the day.

We purchased a family membership because it was only slightly more than purchasing individual tickets. I found out later when visiting their web site that Tuesdays are Toddler Tuesdays and memberships are half price.

The aquarium photos are a combination of cell phone pictures and my digital SLR photos. We went back on Thursday and I took my camera inside. I need a faster lens to take good pictures in there without a flash. Please make a note of this, Nancy.

This is a tunnel aquarium. Very cool.

It was neat the way these fish were suspended in the water with minimal movement.

This dude or dudette had some nasty looking teeth.

After the large aquarium they had a bunch of smaller aquarium displays of sea horses. Very interesting creatures.

In the shark cage!

From the MOA we drove over to my brother's house in Eagan to pick up Nancy and Gerrit's things for their stay in a hotel next to the hospital where Gerrit was to have his surgery the next day. Harvey lives only minutes from the mall so that is nice. Thanks to the new GPS unit we had a nice drive to the Sheraton near downtown Minneapolis.

After checking Nancy and Gerrit in and going up to the room so everyone could see the room and use the bathroom (of course), the rest of the kids and I drove back to Harvey's house. It was nearly dark and the kids did not utter a peep all the way, which was eerie. If you know our kids you know how unusual it is for them to be quiet. On arrival at my bro's house we played Animal Crossing on Wii for a while and then I tucked the kids in for another night on the air beds.