9/22/09

The Moxie of Minnesota


Tuesday~September 22, 2009



I would like to introduce you to Mona...
Yes, I said Mona. Maybe you've met her?
If not, please welcome her.

(Clap now. She deserves some applause, she's
been in my bag for quite some time now.)

Mona is making her way around (almost) all 50 states
via the blogosphere, and she's doing it in only 5 days!

When she arrived for her visit with us here in the lovely Minnesota,
she wanted to head straight out to see the world around her.
I said, "That's my kinda superhero/blog traveler!"

So we strapped her in the car and off we went.

(She asked if we could pull a Thelma and Louise
by running away from life and then driving off a cliff,
but I said, "Are you kidding me? My
kids are in the car!"
So we went to the Farmer's Market instead.)


Mona may not be Minnesotan, but she sure knows how to pick her corn!


Next, we took Mona to the State Fair,
where she went on a gondola ride with Miles and I.
I didn't like the heights. I imagined Miles and I falling to our deaths
atop the sea of tractors below. I kept panicking a little.
Mona said, "Hey lady, I have an invisible jet!
I'll tuck you under my arms and save you both. Get over it!"

I thought that was a little snarky,
so when we finally got down, I made her take a little nap
atop the stroller...


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As most Minnesota newcomers do, Mona insisted on a visit
to the Mall of America.
So on another day, after recovering from the fair and all it's foods on sticks,
we headed to the biggest mall in all the world.
Can you see her there, pretending she's the mall superhero?
She may have Moxie, but humble she is not.
(That's Mommy Mo, looking on with pride.)

Do you see that wide open space above Mommy Mo's head?
Yeah, that's the amusement park that's in the mall. I neglected to take
more photos of that. Mona is STILL mad about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I didn't want Mona to spend all of her time here in Minnesota
on fun-but-frivolous things (like shopping and gondolas),
so we headed out for more cultural experiences...


Here is Mona with Miles at the Walker Art Center's famous
cherry on the spoon in Minneapolis.

Mona wanted to pose like the cherry, so we humored her...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another day, Mona tried climbing through the fence at the governor's mansion.
I was all, "Um, do you want to get SHOT?" And she was all,
"Heather of the EO, c'mon, you're forgetting about my wrist deflector thingies!
No worries!"
The mansion of the governor. Jesse Ventura once lived here.
I'm so proud.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

During her visit, it was no secret that Mona had a special place in her
heart for my Asher. Perhaps it was due to his unconditional love
for her pillow-like hair?

Ryan and Asher with Mona near the St. Paul Cathedral.

St. Paul Cathedral


After the cathedral, we stopped at the state capitol.
Mona was quickly bored, so we left.

(She's not very historical because she's from another planet.)

So we went home and talked about the importance of history
and government while we ate tacos.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another night, Mona came along for girl's night.
We ate at Cafe Latte, finishing off our meals with their famous desserts.
An overstuffed-with-cheesecake Mona with
Kelly of Love Well and Heidi of Minnesota Mom,
on historic Grand Avenue in St.Paul.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All in all, I'm pretty sure the highlight of Mona's trip was her stop
in Darwin, Minnesota to see the world's largest ball of twine!!!
Mona, reading all about how one man rolled twine into
the very most hugest ball of twine in all the land.

Big ball of twine


On another adventure, Miles finally convinced Mona that historical sites are not boring,
by taking her along to the James J. Hill house in St. Paul.


She liked it there so much, she even signed the guest book
with her real name!!!

I mean really, what's not to love about this beautiful place?




And lastly, here's a very tired Mona in the hands of Miles
outside our very most favorite Minnesota library...

Everything had gone so well...

Until...
She passed out.

She said Minnesota was
so beautiful
so much fun
so full of lovely people...
she just couldn't take it one minute more.

So she up and flew off to see another state,
another blogger...

Who will it be?

You can see if
Mona made it to your
favorite state
by clicking HERE.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mona, we loved having you, and we're sorry
you got so worn out while on your escapades with us.
Please come back again.
Minnesota loves you!



59 clicked right here to comment:

Liz {Learning To Juggle} said...

Visiting from 7 Clown Circus...

You guys definintely showed Mona a wonderful time - no wonder she was so tired and lazy when she finally got here!!!

I now have to get to Minnesota so I can go check out the cherry - that thing looks fantastic!!

Jamie said...

This cracks me up! Looks like Mona had a grand time seeing all those sights.

Anonymous said...

Dude! You took her to all kinds of historic places.

Now I feel like a failure ;)

charrette said...

I don't know how you managed to DO all that in one day. No wonder it wore her out —I'm exhausted just reading about it! But it DOES make me want to come visit you! :)

(Hilarious idea, btw. My friends and I had a "traveling trophy" Barbie in 6th grade. We each took turns altering her appearance, then passing her on. Some ideas never grow old. Although you were much kinder to Mona than we were to Barbie!)

stonebrookcottage said...

I love this. i have been following all the blog post about Mona...This girl is getting her vacation on. should i be jealous a doll made of cotton? no..but i am! she gets free travel!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the great tour of your home. Mona sure has the Moxie.

Scary Mommy said...

Minnesota looks awesome! I am loving seeing all of these posts-- I totally want to pack my bags now! And I'm so glad she didn't go the Thelma and Louise route. How tragic that would have been!

Annette Lyon said...

These posts are hilarious. I'm so glad to see Mona wearing her seatbelt. :)

That ball of twine was my favorite.

Unknown said...

LOL@mona wanting to pull a thelma and louise...to funny...what fab pics-mona had a GREAT time in your state

Laura Marchant said...

I was reading to fast adn I thought you put "the big open space inside mommy mo's head" Glad I reread it, lol. I love both you "buddies".

Sherry said...

I had no idea who Mona was, but I got a huge kick out of your post! Nothing like laughing out loud first thing in the morning! :)

Ann Imig said...

Well, good to know she has a wholesome side.

Great post!

Mama-Face said...

LOL.

Can I come for a visit? SO many places to see and things to do! :)

Claremont First Ward said...

That Mona can be pushy. And. It's settled. I want to come to Minnesota. How did it escape my knowledge that the largest mall in the US is there? LOve, Love, Loved reading about Mona's adventures in Minnesota!

Megan@SortaCrunchy said...

Oh MY! So adventurous! I myself am a little blown away. I have to say, in a completely un-ironic way, that I think I might like to pay this magical land of Minnesota a visit. (But not in the winter.)

Sabrina said...

I remember the first time I met Mona. She did creep me out, I'm not going to lie... but she grew on me. Although I kinda felt like drowning her in Kelly's hot tub. (she was giving me the evil eye!)
You took her to all my favorite landmarks! You did MN proud!!!

jmt said...

What a fun idea! You captured Mona's trip with some GREAT photos!

Mayhem and Moxie said...

An utterly fabulous post, my friend. If I ever visit Minnesota someday, I want to have a trip exactly like Mona's. However, I should tell you that I do not have pillow like hair. Will Asher still love me just as much? I can promise to wear gold wrist bands if it would help. :)

Thanks for being such a fabulous friend to Mona.

KatBouska said...

She is snarky. I'm glad you didn't let her get away with that. And I love all the pictures you took!! You all were BUSY!

tiarastantrums said...

I need to take my kids to that mall!!

Anonymous said...

Wow you really showed Mona a good time - I really had no idea all those things were in Minnesota!

Live.Love.Eat said...

MN looks like an awesome place I have never been!!!!!! That Cafe Latte would be one of my 1st stops!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Kameron said...

I'm jealous that she has laid eyes on the ball of twine. I want to see that!! It looks like she had a fun filled stay with you guys! She was a little lippy with me too, but it's nice to see that we were consistent in laying down the law!!

C @ Kid Things said...

Mona gets out more than I do!

Mommy Mo said...

Oh Heather!

That was such a fun trip and I am SO MAD that we didn't take more pictures at The Mall of Americas. Can you send me that ONE? Tell Mona she better behave for you or you're going to send her to Texas! And what's up with Midwest MOmmy dissing me like that? Although, I have to admit that I burst out laughing reading her comment.

Love you!!!!!!

Lesley said...

Looks like Mona had a fabulous time...she's gonna be pooped by the time she comes to my place on Friday!

Kristina P. said...

Mona looks like she had such an amazing time in Minnesota! Someday, I will get there to visit you, Sabrina, and maybe Kelly. I might be shunning her.

Oh, and I loved your MMB post today. Although, since you aren't Mormon, I have to cybershun you too.

Sarahviz said...

That was great! The shopaholic in me is salivating over the Mall of America.

Stephanie said...

Geesh, Mona knows Minnesota better than I do. I really need to get out more.

One with many names said...

Oy, hey. Didn't know you were also in Minnesota. Don't let my kids see what Mona got to do... they had a "Boring" weekend and week last week.

My plans include a trip to a corn maze this weekend and that's about it for me :) Did Mona go in the log ride at Nick universe?

Michelle said...

Very cute, as are your boys!

Jen said...

This is awesome. Mona has such a great time with you!

Unknown said...

Talk about a great time in Minnesota! That ball of twine is impressive....and the cherry? Yum! How fun that Mona got to visit a few other bloggers while she was out visiting you!

Rita Templeton said...

Oooh, it looks like she had an awesome time (until passing out, that is) ... and I am in LOVE with that cherry on a spoon! :)

Elisa said...

The largest ball of twine? Mona has lived out my dream. I'm totally jealous!

(my dream vacation is driving all over the states seeing roadside attractions like that!)

Unknown said...

Wowza! What great pictures. I love the things you did with Mona : ) What a fun state you live in!

Grand Pooba said...

Oh my god, I think I would faint too! Cherry on a spoon?! That is one huge cherry! lol

Kathy B! said...

Wow!! You really gave Mona the VIP tour... I think she's going to be sadly disappointed when she gets to NC :)

heidi said...

That was some sort of SERIOUS tour!! Very nicely done. :-)

Erin said...

Moxie Mona had such a fun time with you in your great state! I loved the tour. The ball of twine is astounding.

Kelly @ Love Well said...

Mona, Mona, how I miss thee.

I'm glad to see you had fun exploring the Land of 10,000 Lakes (and 1 million mosquitoes, ha-ha; did you hear that joke while you were in town?). You saw so many interesting attractions. (Although you did miss the Spam Museum. Next time, OK?) You are truly a wonder woman.

Smooches,

Kelly

Suzy said...

Wow! Great job showing Mona around the State of Minnesota. Being a fellow Minnesotan(!!!) it just gives me a sense of pride knowing that you showed Mona such a wonderful time here!

A huge woot woot and a you betcha coming your way.......

Suzy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

If it weren't for this darn stuck-on-bedrest situation I would so invite Mona up to Canada for a little tour. Looks like she's having a splendid time!

Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings said...

I love how the kids are looking at her in that last photo. Like: "Hee.Hee. She actually passed out!"

So jealous she got to see the ball of twine. I totally want to do that!

Unknown said...

i trip to minneapolis would not have been right without seeing the spoonbridge & cherry. also, glad to see st. paul got some props too.

april said...

Looks like she had a blast!

Liz Mays said...

Ok, when you said her pillow-like hair, I lost it. And her thighs...I saw cellulite when she was looking at the ball of twine. That means she may be a superhero but she's still one of us. Loved your tour! :)

Anne said...

Wow - you are quite the tour guide! If I were Mona I would be passed out, too! Sounds like you guys had a blast!

Kazzy said...

Looks like a great place to live!

Lisa @ Crazy Adventures in Parenting said...

You are ridiculously cute. I love you. That is all ;)

Mammatalk said...

Wow. What fun! It was killing me to see her invisible jet, but I guess that's...ah.....well, invisible.

annie valentine said...

Mona makes me want to visit Minnesota.

Anonymous said...

Way to go, Mona! I would have passed out too!

Jennifer said...

BWAHAHAHAAA! I loved her adventures there in Minnesota! Oh my gosh, I am living for you forcing her to take a nap! Sometimes, we ALL need nap time! LOL!

Looks like you were an awesome host to Mona! And hey! I learned way more about Minnesota through her travels there and your pictures! Thank you for sharing!

Heather said...

Mona looks like she had a fabulous time! I am sure she will be back, altho she may stay at a hotel or something as you look like a pretty tough tour guide *wink*

MamaJoss said...

Wow...that girl got to travel while she was there :) Great post..with MM...you got a ton of great photos :)

CC said...

Mona rocks. Cuz she and I are super-tight, super-hero types. ;)

Chrysanthemama said...

Love it! I just read Steph P's post about Mona too. :)

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