the best way to end July...

It took us all day Monday to decide what to do on my dh's vacation from work. The Black Hills, Valley fair, Okaboji, and camping at a local campground were choices that we tossed around in our heads for hours. Finally with a little coaxing from Sanford's employee discount we decided to travel to the cities for a few days.
After looking online for a hotel room and trying to decide which one was closest to Shakopee, we finally gave up and just decided to get one when we arrived. We had to stop at the hospital in Sioux Falls and get the tickets before we left and it was nearly 5 pm before we were on the road.
We stopped for a bite at a McDonald's and my dh grabbed a free magazine with coupons for hotels in it as we left. There was a coupon for a weeknight stay at a hotel with a pool and sauna for only $45.00! What luck?!?! We hoped it was a nice place.
We arrived in Burnsville at about 9 pm and hit the pool first. It was small but nice and the hotel was clean and cozy. The next morning we had a free newspaper and hot coffee and donuts, too! Ryan called his sister and asked if her youngest would like to come along with us to Valley fair. We stopped at their place and picked up S and still made it to the fair before 10:30. I had researched the rides for the kids and was surprised to find that there was almost 20 rides they could get on by themselves and even more that they could ride with daddy.
Right before we paid a full ticket price for S, my three year old tugged on my shorts and said, "Mommy, I found this garbage on the ground" I looked at what he was holding and it was a $6 off coupon for admission to http://www.valleyfair.com/. It didn't exactly pay for parking ($9!!!), but we used it and felt like we got a great deal.
The kids really enjoyed the rides, my ds especially like the Mild Thing. He was all smiles.
DD enjoyed the water park.

S said she really liked the Corkscrew. I paid an insane amount of money to ride a tiny Ferris wheel, the carousel and put my feel in some cool water. But I had the most fun watching my husband and kids ride all my favorite rides.





My dd usually disappeared into the armpit of my dh and my ds put his hands in the air and held his head up high. Dh says his stomach will never be the same after the Monster and the Twirl.
We watched a couple of really talented bands and acts while we were there, too. It was a very satisfying day. But by 6pm my feet hurt and dh's tummy was in trouble so we packed up and headed to his sister's house in Prior Lake.
Thus ends our July.