This summer is shaking up to be a busy one. The kids and I have had a lot of fun and memorable times, but we all miss Daddy. It seems like with work, busy weekends and unexpected house problems that keep stealing his attention, we haven’t gotten to spend a lot of time with him. When he mentioned taking a day off of work to take a little field trip with us, we were very excited and couldn’t wait for the day to get here.

We decided we’d venture out of our little suburb and explore the amazing Minneapolis. We are so close to downtown, yet we don’t seize the opportunity to try new things. We squeezed as much into our day as three young children (and their day without naps and quiet time) would allow!!

Stop 1: Yum Bakery
This was a super fun spot that looked like it had an amazing menu! Because it was mid-morning, and only our first stop, we started out pretty light. We got a few bakery items to share – and some coffee for the parents! Then our arms (or was it our stomachs) were twisted with the thought of a chocolate cupcake with blue frosting and sprinkles! Madiana first requested it and it turned out she had great taste in pre-lunch food choices!

Stop two: The Wild Rumpus
This wasn’t our first trip here, but it was just as amazing as we remembered it. Both times we’ve been here, we were blessed with gift cards from various friends and family to spoil the kids with. This time was no different! My beloved friend and co-worker, Barb, had given each of the kids a gift card to The Wild Rumpus at Christmas. I’ve been excited to get here ever since and it was the perfect day.

Gretchen was so excited about the endless children’s reading nooks and animals that she could hardly contain herself. If you haven’t been here, you should definitely check it out! While you shop, you’re greeted by cats and chickens and ferrets and more! Although some animals are in their cages and talk/ sing to you from afar, others are roaming the store ready to pop out of bookshelf. The kids love it, and we love to see the kids so excited about that fun. The kids had no problems finding choices to spend their gift cards on – Though it’s always difficult to narrow down so many great choices!!

Stop three: Lunch at Convention Grill

Lunch was something I had been excited about. With so many wonderful sounding lunch spots, I didn’t know how to choose! Despite all the great foodie spots I saw while researching online, we knew it had to be a place that was kid-friendly, quick and carried with it a decent amount of ambience to block out our three 🙂 The Convention Grill didn’t disappoint, and it got 6 thumbs up from our littles.

Stop four: Minnehaha Bunny

When a friend mentioned this to me, I knew this would be a stop no matter how many minutes out of our way we needed to travel!! If you know our girls, you know they are currently in a VERY big “bunny” kick. I think it is in connection to the hundreds of rabbits we see roaming around in our backyard. Each and every time there is a bunny sighting, we have two excited girls screaming at the top of their lungs. This bunny sighting was certainly no different!

Step five: Minnehaha Falls

Minnehaha Regional Park is a beautiful place with a majestic waterfall and beautiful bluffs. On the particular day we visited, it also happened to be a record-breaking day of heat. We didn’t stay as long as we would like, and weren’t able to rent a family bike to get around, but we’re already excited about coming back in the fall as the weather gets a bit cooler.

Stop six: The Pumphouse Creamery

As it turns out, Minneapolis does NOT have a shortage of fun ice cream shops!! Our research pulled up many great choices, and with many of them containing non-dairy options for our Gretchen, we were excited to try one out. It was Walker family approved… Both dairy and non-dairy choices alike!

Stop seven: Impromptu Pool Party at home

If only we could have gotten to all of our stops without being in the car! The rides between stops were, well, um…. Trying. To say the least.

Whether it was the heat, or the fact that we were squished into Eric’s jeep instead of spread out in the van, or simply the fact that it’s summer and our schedules have been out of whack for well over a month now, the minis had a D.I.F.F.I.C.U.L.T time in the vehicle. So difficult that at some point I had to channel my own car trips with my father 25 years ago where he would reach into the backseat and pinch my legs if I wasn’t behaving. Although it worked to curtail the fighting with my team (short lived only), it wasn’t so fun for them.