We’re going to MINNESOTA…

…come you know what or high water! I booked the hotel room tonight!!! It feels so good to have something solidified into place that means we are taking our first out of state family trip. (Because Jay has determined that we’ve gone on family trips before- well of course dearie, but always with other family.)

So this will be just us three hitting up good ‘ole Minnesota for three days in August! Well, probably more like 2 1/2 with the driving included, but fun none the less and cheapish, lol!

I’ve scheduled three things that I would like to do while we are there, pending on Sunday we cannot make it to the golf course with Jay’s friend JT. Jay and JT could most definitely go golfing alone, but that would leave Ayden and myself alone in Red Wing, MN with nothing to do. I have no doubt that we would get along with JT’s family, as Jay has met them and says they are great, however I told Jay that I will not spend four hours with someone that I’ve just met while also trying to keep Ayden entertained. I would not mind going with them on the golf course and just reading while Ayden golfs with them, but JT is not sure if the course would allow that or what they would charge us for that. I will not pay to sit in a golf cart watching someone golf.

If golfing is not in the cards, I’ve decided we can hit up the Minnesota Children’s Museum in St. Paul for a few hours on Sunday (we are going from a Sunday thru Tuesday in August because we are hoping the places won’t be too busy at the beginning of a week) before reaching the hotel in Bloomington. I was stoked to find a good deal on expedia.com for a Days Inn right across from the Mall of America. I’ll admit, they are not five star quality, but they will suffice for sleeping arrangements as we don’t plan to stay there for much else.

On Monday (btw, praying for good weather)… I would like to visit the Minnesota Zoo and on Tuesday the Underwater Adventure/Lego Land/anything else that looks fun in the Mall of America and then head home.

The three places will run us about $130 for admission and parking which when figured out is about $14/person per place… considering the places, I guess that is not too bad. The hotel for two nights was just over $100 (thank you expedia- well I checked hotels.com, hotwire.com and travelocity.com and all had good rates… regular priced rooms for hotels around there were over $100 PER night!)… and I factored in another $100-150 for gas/shopping/food/etc… so about $350-400 for the trip. If you think about it as $400 for a three day trip, that sounds kind of expensive… but for a family of three who cannot afford to fly anywhere, much less afford to stay anywhere longer than that and do anything, I think it is okay. Plus, I reason, it IS our first family trip and want to have fun without going TOO overboard!

I told Ayden about it and he asked if we were going tomorrow. Part of me wishes yes, and a HUGE part of me wishes no because that would mean July is OVER and half of August and right around the corner is the start of my first year of grad school! Lets not go there, lol, not yet!

CIAO! LOVE ME!