This is the first entry in the 2009 Trip to Minnesota blog. We got to our hotel late last night, about 12:00AM. It did not take long to put the stuff in our hotel room, but it was 1AM before we stated thinking about falling asleep. The wake-up call came at 4AM, and we had 45 minutes before out shuttle left for the airport. We almost missed the shuttle, but they waited a few extra minutes for Aunt Tami and my mom. It was only a ten minute ride to the airport, and we got there in pleanty of time.

After mom and Aunt Tami had some breakfast at the airport, we went through security, and got to our flight gate. Right as Nico asked if we should call uncle Chris, he came up to the gate, about 10 minutes after we arrived.

The flight went pretty smoothly, and all of my camera gear made it through security. We arrived at the Minnesota airport 20 minutes in advance, so we had to wait a few minutes before we could exit the plane.

We had no idea as to where we were supposed to meet our relatives, so my mom called to find out where they were going to pick us up. And what a better surprise than to find Gary there waiting with them when he had originally planned not to come to the airport! (Or so they said).

The first thing that we did when we left the airport was have lunch at the Mall Of America. We ate at this place called the Rainforest Cafe. I will not explain it in detail, as the pictures show a lot of it. But the food was very good, and we had a fun time.

It was a lot of fun walking around the mall. It is five levels, and has a lot of large roller coasters. Nico and I went on the largest roller coaster, one that went straight up (you were laying on your back) and then went straight down. It also went upside down, and had loops and things.

I found a nice lens case at Ritz camera at the Mall of America for real cheap.

We had a blast when we got to Gary and Joan's house, there was two different types of soup to chose from, and the side dishes were very delectable.

Here are some pictures to describe the events of the day: