On Saturday, at the birthday boy's request, we went to Al's Breakfast in Dinkytown, and then to the Mall of America to pick up a few things for the new school year and to go on some rides in the amusement park. I was impressed with the rides at MOA - since the park has changed over from "Camp Snoopy" to "Nickelodeon Universe" in the past year, they have added a few more really good rides. Kristi came with us, and the three of us had a great time being kids for a few hours and enjoying the fun afternoon. My parents were kind enough to watch Mckenna while we were at the mall, and I love when she gets to spend time with them too - thanks, mom and dad!
After an afternoon of walking around the mall and going on some rides, the three of us went to eat dinner at Ruby Tuesday, and surprise, there were some family and friends there waiting to celebrate Matt's birthday! My mom and dad brought Mckenna, Brad and Jessica and their kids came, our good friend Liz from school was there, and our neighbors Tim, Nicole, and their son Carter were there as well. With Kristi, Matt, and I, there were 16 of us, so we had a few different tables in a back room, but it worked out okay. Thanks everyone for coming, Matt had a great time! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the dinner, but I did get a few during our breakfast and rides at MOA...
A Minnesota icon - Al's Breakfast in Dinkytown!
Waiting our turn in line...
This is kind of a random picture, but Matt and I always get a kick out of looking for a certain "tab" at Al's. Matt's uncle, Del Anderson, is a frequent customer at Al's, and actually has a tab there. Isn't this the most organized filing system you've ever seen? :) It's hard to see, but we spotted Del's tab - upper left hand corner of the picture.
We love this place! And Dinkytown is the neighborhood in Minneapolis right around the University of Minnesota campus, so it's always fun for us to go to Al's and to Dinkytown as UMN alumni - go Golden Gophers!
Onto our next fun birthday stop... the Mall of America!
The amusement park at MOA - Nickelodeon Universe.
Dora saying happy birthday to a blushing birthday boy. :)
Shooting hoops!
On Sunday of the big birthday weekend, we surprised Matt and took him to a Twins vs. Cleveland baseball game at the Metrodome. Kristi actually won tickets on the radio a few days before, so we asked our friend and Twins fan, Jason, to go with us, and we all had a good time. Matt didn't know where we were going until we got downtown, so it was a fun surprise for him. Unfortunately the Twins lost (4-7), but we still had fun hanging out together. Matt is a big Chicago Cubbies fan through and through, but I say he also likes the Twins by Minnesotan default. :)
This is the last year that the Twins will play in the HHH (Hubert H. Humphrey) Metrodome. They started playing there in 1982, and next year they will have a new outdoor stadium called Target Field, which is in downtown Minneapolis, right next door to Target Center where the MN Timberwolves basketball team plays. So at every home Twins game for the past year or so, there has been a "Countdown to Outdoor Baseball" board. A few of the fans are picked from the audience to take down the old number to reveal the new lower number, and then everyone cheers. I guess you could say Twins fans are pretty excited about the new field. :)
A sketch of the new Target Field.
We had pretty good seats, right off of third base.
Matt had a really fun birthday weekend - thanks again to everyone who joined us to celebrate!
