Mall of America

The trip to Minnesota was fun. I only wish I could do things without an electric cart, but it at least allows me to get around enough to see everyone having fun without their having to wait for me.

And besides, every cart has a basket for things you find during the time there.

The two boys and Anna had a lot of fun, but occasionally, there was a ride that Anna was unable to do because of height requirements.

This ride however with the semi truck things was a favorite. Anna and the boys could enjoy it, and I think Anna liked the whole feel of being in a small version of some sort of monster truck.

It must have been noisy, because the lady in the back of the ride with Anna had her fingers in her ears, which is funny considering Anna's response.

I have a number of pictures of this ride, because the three grandkids went on it at least four or five times.

The inside of Mall of America was fantastic, because it was a hot day that afternoon, and it still remained reasonably cool.

A fun thing was this young father I kept running into with his family. He looked familiar, yet I didn't say anything.

Finally, he was at a table eating near us at one of the concession places in the mall. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but you look like this kid I taught at Rigby High."

"Herr Ward?" he asked. It was a funny experience, and it was great to see him. I taught him for several years in German, but he never did the trip during the summer. He loved baseball, and that was the time he did camps and participated in American Legion ball or something like that. To make a long story short, he was never able to travel with one of my exchanges.

It was fun for me to see him again, but the best part was seeing how well things are going for him and his family. It's always such a "rush" for me to learn about former students enjoying life and doing well.

The rides were fun. All three smiled all day long, except of course when Anna was too short to go on one coaster ride.

It wasn't a problem, because Jack doesn't always like those, and he gladly went with Anna occasionally, but Jack did do the one coaster that had a steep drop.

As long as nothing is dark and loud and scary with it, it works alright. I went with him on one coaster at Legoland, and it was a bit more than I wanted to do. The drop was a sheer fall, and the cars were short. We were in the front. That explains why I feared it would be too scary for Jack. But he loved it.

I don't remember this ride at the left at all, but Jack enjoyed it. I wish I could remember what it was like, but I'll have to check with Jack or have Tommy see the picture and respond in a comment.

The day was an incredible day--one full of fun, yet we didn't really do anything expensive for lunch like we usually did. Each year we always went to Ruby Tuesday or whatever the steakhouse is we frequented.

We just had fun with the little ones, and that's really what made the time there so much fun.