Minnesota Day 2

We woke up on Thursday morning excited to try the breakfast buffet. And folks, this wasn't your run-of-the-mill breakfast feast---it was a superb set up of all your favorite morning treats.

I think their eyes were a bit larger than their stomachs--

--but honestly mine were too! In fact, we all enjoyed the muffins! They were soooooooooooo good. The absolute best I've ever had! They had apple-cinnamon which I tired once, carrot-ginger which I failed to try only because I tried to limit myself to one (okay, 2)and I couldnt' get enough of their orange-cranberry. OMG!! These are for sure the one food I take with me to a deserted island.

She was only a little sad that she couldn't join us! 

But she managed just fine with her binky and toys!

In fact, she was an excellent stroller-traveler. She was always happy and content as we cruised downtown Minneapolis. The girls had never see a sky-way, but they thought they were really neat. 

Here's the view from the sky-way which connects Target to Macy's. 

And our new favorite Target store--the girls just thought this 2 story Target was the best store ever! We actually spent a couple of hours here and the girls spent their own money on a My Little Pony toy (one each). I spent some money on new clothes. And all three girls were so well behaved while I shopped the racks and tried on clothes!

And I wished we had a fridge because there was a farmer's market up and down the entire street for several blocks. Tent after tent with fresh fruit, veggies and flowers. We even saw a few food trucks (which I would've loved to eat at and I wish we had one) and tried to eat at one, but they were all sold out of their food.

So we decided to become some of the only customers at the Melting Pot. 

And YES, we enjoyed dipping (mainly) bread in the cheese--I was the good girl who dipped my veggies in a minimum amount of cheese! Oh, but I enjoyed the bread as well! I was on vacation after all!

Mmmmmm.... cheese!

We walked back to our hotel so I could shower and so the girls could rest a bit. After an hour or two we headed back out and walked to Loring Park.

If you don't know, LP is just beautiful green space with walking paths and a park setting. It is gorgeous (and a fun place for kids to burn off energy). 

Even if they're forced to sit in a (dirty) stroller! 

Just some pretty flowers as we walked to our main destination-- the playground!

Some sweet girl had her first swing experience. And oh my, did she enjoy it!

Well, she does show her serious side sometimes, but on vacation...

...she knows how to have a good time!

The older girls played in sand, went down slides, and went swinging on a tire!

They were giggling and laughing the whole time. And those sounds were so joyous for me to hear. 

Not only was I taking a mental (and a real) photograph, but I was taking a sound memory as well.

It almost brought tears to my eyes to hear them squeal with excitement! 

Before leaving to go meet Daddy for dinner, they made a sand castle of sorts. 

After lots of digging in the sand, we brushed ourselves off and headed to the hotel to meet up with Daddy. We ended up eating at Rock Bottom Brewery where we gobbled up some Southwestern egg rolls (which I recreated at home... yum). And of course we could not stop entertaining a certain baby...

...by having her look out the window. You'll see in later posts that this was her favorite activity!

Day 2 was full of shopping, walking and playing. Day 3 is coming soon...