A nice day with Adam and Emily

We slept in this morning at Adam and Emily's!
It was nice NOT to be at a hotel,
the bed was really comfortable,
and Mr. Jones and I were extremely tired from the road trip ...

But after cleaning up and visiting a bit,
we headed over to THE MALL OF AMERICA!
I drove with Emily,
and Mr. Jones drove with Adam ...

The Mall of America is beyond huge.
It is four levels of incredible stores and entertainment.
It basically has four anchor stores: Nordstrom, Macy's,
Sears and Bloomingdale's.
There are about one million (!) stores in between,
and in the middle of the Mall
(spanning all four levels)
is what is called: The Park at MOA.
It's essentially an indoor amusement park
with rides like:
The Pepsi Ripsaw Roller Coaster,
the Screaming Yellow Eagle,
the Timberland Twister (all "thrill" rides);

and then they have family rides like
the American Carousel,
bumper cars,
a huge tree swing,
a great ferris wheel,
a huge trampoline, etc.
Here's a map of the place ...

It was so much fun just to walk around and see
the sights!
We arrived right about noon, and it wasn't
too very crowded at that time ...
The amusement park ...

I think my favorite store was
the LEGO store.
I spent so many hours playing
LEGO with the boys when they were young --
I love any toy that allows you to build and design
and imagine ...
The store was surrounded with HUGE Lego models ...

So we shopped there for awhile ...
A life-sized storm trooper ... No!
This is a life-sized Jango Fett (per Suz!)
Lego salt & Pepper shakers, etc.
This is a very cool working LEGO clock
that spanned two-stories ...
There are over 50 places to eat inside the Mall!
No! We did NOT eat at the Rainforest Cafe!
We actually ate at Famous Dave's - YUM!
(since none of us had ever eaten at one before)
We spent four hours at the Mall!
Look how happy Mr. Jones looks! He's just NOT a mall person!
But Emily and I shopped around,
went in and out of shops, touched a bunch of stuff,
bought just a very few things, and then it was time
to drive home --
this time I drove with Adam
and Mr. Jones drove with Emily ...
I bet you're wondering WHY we drove two cars!
Well, the back seats of both of their cars
are pretty small
and since Mr. Jones and I are tall folk
and since Mr. Jones was SICK of driving (understandably)
and didn't want to drive the van,
we took two cars to the Mall
(and it is just 15 minutes away!)
On the way home, Adam took me past where he works.
I took a few pictures through the window
of his car, but they really didn't turn out at all!
This is the only one where you can even see that there
is a building!
Anyway, this is Emerson Process Management.
Adam is doing well at his job, enjoys it pretty well,
but doesn't plan to spend his whole life at the place ...
It is just a quick 6-10 minute drive from
there to the apartment ...
Pixie and Emily playing ...
Pixie did not want to pose for a picture.
Pixie hunting a bug on the screen ...
I tried to get a picture of her washing her paws --
Before she eats, she puts her paws
in her water dish and spashes around
licks them dry, and then has her meal -- quite the little lady!These are the beautiful 24-carat gold roses
Adam purchased for Emily before they were married ...
Their beautiful white kitchen ...
The outside of their apartment ...
They have a two-stall garage, and the garage
is heated -- something that is pretty necessary with
the extreme cold of these Minnesota winters.
The back of their apartment building.
Lake Hazeltine is directly behind their complex.
All kinds of birds and wildlife are back here.
Won't it look beautiful as the trees change color?
I think I would spend a lot of time
on the back deck, just soaking this up!

We played a game of Clue (Adam won),
Emily showed me some stuff on the computer
(how to upload music and make a play list!),
we had pizza delivered,
and just relaxed the rest of the evening!
It's been a really nice day!

Tomorrow morning (early),
Mr. Jones and I are homeward bound!
I probably will not post anything
else until next week ...
I think I am essentially "blogged out." (!)