Labor Day Weekend

We decided to have one last summer hurrah before Mallory trekked off to Kindergarten.  It was very important to me we would have a few days together, just the three of us, before I would have to learn to cope with Mallory being gone everyday.

Since the weather was AWESOME, we tried very hard to find something outdoors we could enjoy.  I started digging through all my coupons and found two free admissions to Canterbury Park.  We arrived with a little spare time before POST so we took advantage of Sunday Family Day.  This included face painting, pony rides and a petting zoo! 

 
After letting Mallory enjoy doing kid things, Christopher and I took advantage of an adult thing and enjoyed the best bloody mary I have ever had to date.  This thing was a beast and ohhhh so good! 

We are not big gamblers, but we bet lightly on a few races and actually came out ahead at the end of the day.  A whopping $10.80!  It was such a relaxing afternoon.  Mallory enjoyed watching the "pretty ponies prancing to the gate and then running around in a circle".  She also thought it was pretty cool that we won a little bit of money.  She doesn't quite understand how, but she promptly suggested we buy her something fun with our "extra money".  Nothing beats relaxing while the breeze blows by, hand in hand with your loved one, little lady snuggling on your lap and a little more in your wallet.
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Back in the beginning of August, Minnesota celebrated Night to Unite (formerly National Night Out) and as a result we were given some Mystery Tickets to Nickelodeon Universe at the Mall of America.  Mystery Tickets can have anywhere from a few points on them to a years worth of free rides.  The catch is you don't know how many points are on the ticket until you scan it and once it's scanned, it's activated and expires at the end of that day.  When starting to plan our Labor Day weekend, I suggested we spend one day at the Mall of America and with those Mystery Tickets Mallory would be able to go on a few rides, we could have lunch at the mall and then do a little shopping. 

You can imagine our surprise, and excitement (well sort of), when one of the mystery tickets had 100 points on it!  The rides range from 3-6 points depending on the length and size of the ride.  The Merry Go Round is three points, the roller coasters are six.  Mallory is right around 41 inches tall, just shy of the 42 inch mark which makes a child eligible to ride most rides without a chaperone.  That means one of us has to ride with her on some of the rides.  The required chaperone does not usually have to pay to ride, so you can about imagine how many rides Mallory was able to go on with 100 points.  We ended up spending about five hours total in Nickelodeon Universe and Mallory was able to ride everything she was tall enough to ride, some of them twice!  

 

 

 The highlight of her day...

she got to meet Spongebob Squarepants.  

Look at how excited she is!  Her smile is HUGE!  

 

For those of you who know me, that was as challenge.  I successfully lobbied Christopher and Mallory to leave Nickelodeon Universe for about an hour somewhere in there because I had about had all I could handle.  It was just what I needed to rejuvenate and we were back at it.  We spent the ENTIRE day there.  I figured we would be home before 3:00PM and it was 7:30PM when we pulled into the driveway.

We got home, had a light supper and then it was off to bed as in the morning, Mallory would be in Kindergarten.  Officially a school age child.  After taking a shower and getting all cozied up, Christopher and I tucked her in and sat down to read two very special books.  We've been saving them all summer and now was the time.  I cried a little with the turn of the pages.  Big steps ahead!