Ringing in 2012

Saying good-bye to 2011 was something we did from Minneapolis this year. As part of the boys' Christmas they received tickets to the Vikings v. Bears game on New Year's Day. Aaron and I had decided that we would like to head up a couple days early to finally use the Science Museum tickets I purchased at the elementary carnival last April.  YIKES!  It's hard to find a free weekend in our lives that we can actually get away.  Maybe I should remember that this spring when I'm a bidding fool at the carnival.

We made sure we arrived at our hotel in enough time that we could set up our very own little "tailgate" spread in our hotel room to watch ISU play participate in their bowl game.  Hmmm...not a happy ending.  However, the boys got over it pretty quickly as they headed down to the pool and were able to swim until their little hearts were content. We had a great time just hanging out at the hotel playing games and watching bowl games.

We headed out the next morning to the Museum of Science and Industry. This is right up all 3 of my guys' alleys.  They were in science heaven!  I'm not sure any of the three could tell you what was their favorite thing...the musical steps, the wave maker, the mummy, the pulley system, the omnitheater, who knows!  I just know they completely LOVE anything interactive ~ all of them.  It was pretty cool for Austin to experience some things with earthquakes and volcanoes that he had just studied about in school.  

I have no idea how Austin managed to do this, but he sure thought it was pretty darn cool!  I had shimmied off to find a nice place to sit for a spell while the guys were still exploring.

Of course we also had to head to the Mall of America.  Now, I would have preferred the shopping side of it, but the boys of course were all over the rides.  They had so much fun and got braver and braver as the night when on.  Carter thought it was pretty cool that one of his football coaches from last year was there with his son too.  I just laugh because we drive hundreds of miles from home and still run into someone from Ames!

Amazingly enough, we only had to wait about 10 minutes to eat at the Rainforest Cafe.  The boys didn't actually mind having to wait for their food because there is so much to look at.  We even caved and had a brownie volcano.  Oh yummy!

The boys were determined to ring in 2012 that night.  Thankfully the ball in New York drops at 11:00 and that seemed to satisfy them as we had had quite a full day and were pretty wiped out.  Before we knew it, it was time to be up and at 'em so we could head to the game.

The boys were thrilled with a Bears' victory and had an absolute blast experiencing a professional football game.  The entire game day presentation and atmosphere is quite an experience.  I'm so thankful that Aaron and I were able to provide this opportunity for our kids as I know it was a great memory making time for our family.