Our Weekend in Minnesota | The Ice Castles

This is less a 'What to do when in Minnesota' post and more of a 'here are our photos from the Ice Castle' because I was having major issues with my phone and therefore have no photos!  

Friday Adam and I surprised the kids by pulling them out of school at noon and heading for Minnesota.  We headed straight to the Ice Castle in New Brighton.  If you remember, they used to be in Stillwater -- one of my favorite weekend getaways with my family!  Look at my babies in 2017!

Noteworthy, on the way there my phone wouldn't charge with the car charger.  I flipped it to airplane mode so save enough battery for the Ice Castles.  It's super hard do explain/imagine if you haven't been there, but trust me when I say it's a really neat experience.  They kids had a blast just running around having us follow them in and out of little cave tunnels {technical term there!}  This year, we got tickets for late afternoon/early evening so we could see them light up.  Last time we went, it was during the day so we didn't get to experience that.  They also had a flame thrower show that the kids loved.  The highlight is always the slide!  They have two smaller slides for kids until 42 inches tall and to bigger slides for anyone over 42".  It's a great time -- for all! ;)  

After the Ice Castles we checked into our hotel.  We didn't stay in Minneapolis this weekend because we wanted to be close to our friends who live in Woodbury, so we stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott St. Paul/Woodbury.  It wasn't fancy by any means, but the rooms were cute and the pool was warm {a must for this mama!}  

I have to photos from dinners/lunches for the weekend because my phone wouldn't charge all weekend, apparently it will only charge with a wireless charger {which is all I use at home, so I had no idea} but it's okay because we hung out with our friends and their three kids all weekend and it was just fun to be super present. 

My only real recommendations if you haven't been to Minneapolis yet would be to make sure you get a Juicy Lucy from the 5-8 Club or The Nook.

The kids first Vikings game

For Christmas, we got the kids tickets to their first Minnesota Vikings game.  Well their first NFL game, too I guess.  Our friends Jon & Jess and their boys were there too, so we stayed in a hotel in the night before and went to the game together.  We always like to stop at The Vikings Longhouse before the game to get in the spirit.  The kids got to meet the cheerleaders, so that was fun.  

As for the game itself, the Vikings sadly lost to the Bears, but it was a great game!  Especially when you consider none of the Vikings starters played.  I was worried the kids would get bored, as football games can get a little long sometimes, but neither kid seemed bored at all.  We did however spend $6157248645 dollars on food! ;)  

It's been so long since we were there I can't even remember where we ate {sad!} but I do remember we stated at the Hilton Downtown Minneapolis {thanks Priceline!} and it was beautiful!  Longtime followers know how much my kids love a good hotel!  It's all about the pools and the two double beds to jump back and forth on.  :)