Adventures in St. Paul

A weekend home, finally! It was the first weekend in May we've been home, and we were looking forward to it. It was so nice to wake up alarm free, in our own beds. Harper must have really enjoyed it too, since she slept in both days past 8am!

Even though we were in town, the weather was too nice to stay cooped up inside. It's been months since we've seen the Donahue clan, so earlier in the week Kody and I decided to get something on the calendar! With sunshine in the forecast, we decided our activity had to be outdoors. After a couple days brainstorming, we decided to head to the Como Zoo to start our day Saturday. 

The zoo was a zoo, clearly we weren't the only people taking advantage of the nice morning. Parking was nearly impossible, but we finally snagged street parking a few blocks away. We met Paul, Kody and Bennett at the Como Zoo & Conservatory entrance in the morning sun, ready to check out the animals. 

For a couple hours we wandered the zoo grounds in the sticky humid sun. Since I complained so much about the long cold winter, I did my best not to fuss about it being so toasty. This is what we've been asking for, for the last 6 months! Harper loved the orangutans, seals, penguins, giraffes and bison. I made the mistake of telling her the bison was a buffalo. Mitch being an alum of NDSU was quick to correct her, "No Harper, it's a Bison." Harper thought it was funny to argue with him, so she kept responding - "No Dad, it's a Buffalo." They did this for a good 10 minutes, it was pretty entertaining to watch.

We wrapped up our time at Como, with lunch on our minds. Paul and Kody had never been to The Nook, and Mitch and I have only been once. I knew we were only a few miles away, and I recently saw the re-run featuring the burger joint on Diners, Drive-In's and Dives. The Donahue's were in, so our St. Paul adventures continued. 

Walking into the tiny restaurant you can immediately smell the burgers and fries - and it smelled delicious! Even though it was after 2pm when we walked through the doors, the wait time was nearly 30 minutes. Luckily a booth opened up downstairs within 15 minutes and we were ready for lunch! Last time Mitch and I were there, we ate upstairs. We were all surprised to walk downstairs to find bowling lanes, a cute bar and a few quaint booths. The walls were littered with old posters and advertising signs, and the ceiling was covered with drawn on dollar bills. Not only was the atmosphere fun, but the food was super tasty. Cheese curds were a pre-meal must, and it was the perfect start to our greasy yummy lunch. Mitch, Paul and I all opted for one of their infamous stuffed burgers, and Kody had a classic sandwich. The hot cheese oozed out of our burgers and the hand-cut fries were perfect. Our second visit to the hole-in-the-wall restaurant didn't disappoint. If you've never been, and you're in the St. Paul area - I highly recommend it!

You would think after cheese curds, cheese filled burgers and fries we'd be stuffed. Yes, we were - but that didn't stop us from making a pit-stop to Grand Ole Creamery for dessert. I mean honestly, who can pass up ice cream? Harper and I are suckers for coconut ice cream and Mitch went for his staple, chocolate chip. With cones in hand, we all sat outside enjoying our sweet treat. The clouds took over the sky, and the rain started falling. We said our goodbyes to Paul, Kody and Bennett (or baby Bennett as Harper calls him) and thanked them for the super fun day! Our Saturday morning activity turned into a mini tour of St. Paul that lasted most of the day, and we loved every minute of it! It never fails, when we hang out with the Donahue's it's always at lot of laughs and smiles!

The rest of our weekend was very low key, exactly what we wanted. We were able to get a few things done around the house today and lounged in our jammies most of the morning. I feel well rested after a fun and relaxing weekend.

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Until next time...

The Helleen's