We visited my husband’s family in Hudson, WI and Minneapolis, MN and spent a week with my two nieces that are roughly the same age as Mia (almost 3) and Jordan (7 months). We live far away from family on both of our sides, so the pandemic hit us particularly hard. We feel incredibly lucky to be vaccinated and have time with our nearest and dearest.

Here’s a list of things we did with our babes and tots in Wisconsin and Minnesota:

As we drove from the airport to my SIL’s house we drove by and paid our respects at George Floyd’s memorial. The small section of the street where he was murdered - still heavy but evolved - is now filled with art, flowers, notes of empowerment, sculptures and lots of love. This area will never be the same and neither will the world.
The next morning we headed to Stillwater and hopped onto a River Boat on the St Croix. During pre-pandemic times, the boat offered a buffet. For obvious health reasons, they served our turkey croissant meals with a side of potato salad. Super fun and a relaxing couple of hours going in for shade and out for some sun. The tots especially loved it!
The next morning just us gals headed to Troy Beach - this is a very cute 5-acre river beach/park. Be aware that it’s super rocky so come prepped with water shoes!
Later that day we got some classic Midwest junk food… because WHY NOT!? Cheese curds and butter burgers at Culver’s and tacos from Taco John’s.
This Lakefront Beach Park is city-run with quality sand and a wonderful view of the river. We had a beautiful morning and made lots of memories.
The Como Zoo is a FREE zoo in St. Paul and is funded by the city. It’s a great place with a large conservatory that’s also accessible for free. Totally loved our time here and is just a short drive to the next spot we hit up…
We ate lunch at Dock and Paddle at Como Pavillion (which we came back to the next day to watch the coolest Gamelan concert in this gorgeous and family-friendly venue. On premises there’s a bar/lounge, waterfalls, and extra-large games).
And for good measure, we went to one more beach on Lake Nokomis. Such a fun/cute day with lots of friends and family. We had ice cream and snacks from Sandcastle, just beside the sand.
Just us exhausted parents did a double date night while my amazing MIL and FIL babysat the kids. We went to the beautiful Hewing Hotel Rooftop for crafted cocktails and famous wings at the Monte Carlo.
For our final day together (which happened to be father’s day) it was raining so much! We decided to take the entire family… babies tots and all to the nail salon, Happy Nails, to get pedicures. Somehow it all worked — special thanks to the amazing staff there. This was a beautiful and clean spot with friendly people. ps. All the guys got their toes painted too!