You know a Dad loves his kids when....

You know a Dad loves his kids when.... he plans a trip for spring break, and it is the type of trip he despises, but knows it will make the kids happy. What a good guy! Matt planned to go to Minnesota to the Mall of America for spring break. Morgan and I went several years ago, and has talked about it every since. The boys have heard so much about it, that they have been dying to go to. There is a hotel with an indoor waterpark right next to the Mall of America. It claims to be the "biggest indoor waterpark in the USA."

The mall also has an amusement park that is huge. It is not just a ride or two. It has tons of rides. The little kid rides are all Dora/Swiper/Diego and Spongebob themed. Which is perfect for Camden, since he is the #1 Dora fan.

We hadn't told the kids that we were going anywhere. We woke them up at 3:30 am on Sat. morning, for a very early morning flight. Of course they were so excited- and none of them fell back asleep. I didn't really expect them to, since they don't sleep unless they are in a bed. I just hoped they would!
Driving to the airport in a blizzard. Way too early!

Anyway, we dropped our bags off at the hotel and went straight to the Mall, where the kids rode rides all day long. On Sunday, the hotel had a breakfast and pictures with the Easter bunny.

We had brought plastic eggs from home, and hid them in the room.

Doesn't she look ecstatic that I made her take a picture of the egg hunt? :)

Camden pointing out the eggs he sees. Love the drool on the chin. :)

The Easter bunny had also brought Easter baskets, and sent them on a treasure hunt for them. Afterwards, since it was Sunday, we just hung out in the room. By about 4:00 though- the kids were dying of boredom! We got some games from the front desk and played games, and took it easy the whole day. Then on Monday, we went to the water park all day long. The kids had such a great time! They loved all of the slides, and play areas. For dinner we went to the Rain Forest Cafe in the mall. On Tuesday, the kids wanted to go back to the amusement park, and we spent the majority of the day there, then swimming again that night.
Have you ever seen a kid having more fun on a ride?
Wed. we did the water park again, and spent a few hours in the mall before our flight left that night. The kids loved doing the mirror maze, and the ropes course as well.

The ropes course. Morgan, Dillon & Logan are all up there somewhere.
We shopped a little, but since none of the boys like to shop, (including Matt) we walked more than we shopped. The kids had so much fun! They are already saying things like, "Next time we go back, I want to ...." I think it may be a long time before we can convince Matt to go into another mall again, let alone the Mall of America. :) We had a great time spending time together as a family though!