While she played video games a few weeks ago, the teenager looked across the living room and asked "What are we doing for spring break?"
"Well, since 33% of our household gets a 'Spring Break,' what do you want to do?" I asked.
I got the usual shrug in reply so I offered the choice between Kansas City and Minneapolis. Both cities are around 3 hours away and have enough to keep our family entertained for a few days. She mulled over her options for about 5 seconds when she announced her preference for Kansas City as she had already been to The Mall of America a "bunch of times."
When traveling for business, I've been loyal to a certain brand of hotels; but after eight years on the road, I've actually run out of hotel points for free stays! I've used points for free nights on every personal trip since 2007, but as my career has progressed, my travel has died down. I lost all status on airlines and hotels, and now I'm free to stay wherever!
Ashlen suggested I checkout Hotwire.com where I booked a fairly nice hotel for around $60/night! We did have a couple customer service concerns and were disappointed to be met with "well, you booked through Hotwire, so..." even when we asked if it was customary for housekeeping to knock and try to enter a guest room at 7:30am on a Saturday.
This morning I shared some of the goodies we took with us from our friends at Love With Food (don't forget to sign up for your free box here, just pay $2 S&H!) which were super convenient to have in the car on our short trip and the hotel room during our stay. And if you follow me on Instagram (@laurenkidspert), you saw a quick video from the road here.
I did have to work a bit Thursday afternoon, so my husband and the teenager met up with one of her friends who moved to the area while I logged in for a meeting from the hotel room. Dinner was at Pei Wei's, a casual eatery by P.F. Chang's that would be great for young children. We rounded out our dinner with a stop at a local game shop and the nearest half price books.
Friday morning included my favorite part of both Minneapolis and Kansas City - IKEA! As a Swede, I jokingly refer to IKEA as The Swedish Embassy, where we had breakfast and made some decisions on future living and dining room furniture. That afternoon we visited our Nation's World War I Museum which was very well done and absolutely worth the trip. Tickets include 2 days for the same price, and it would be easy to spend two days to see every single item on display. There is a nice outdoor space at the museum; I could totally picture a family enjoying a picnic along the landscaping and letting younger ones stretch their legs.
After a big breakfast Saturday, we made our way downtown to the City Market.
While it's still a bit early in the year for the farmers market, we did snag some baked goodies and a boba tea as we walked around. Just to the right of this sign in the home of The Arabia Steamboat Museum, home to a cargo Steamboat that sunk in the Missouri River in 1856 and was excavated from a farm field in 1988 by the Hawley family. Midway through our informative and entertaining tour, we got a chance to chat with David Hawley! The museum was really neat and I think kids would really enjoy seeing and touching such cool artifacts!
After a late lunch at the famous Arthur Bryant's for BBQ, it was time to head on home. This trip was a great mini-getaway and left us very excited for more trips this summer!