Skip to main content

Scott's Actual Birthday Weekend in Minnneapolis: Jade Dynasty and Art Shanty Projects Edition

The day after we got back from the cottage Theo and I went to his first Timberwolves game.

He was a bit scared in the upper deck, but got used to it and loved the game.

Later that week it was finally my actual birthday. An unseasonably warm end to January has meant we haven't been skating. I thought we could walk to the new restaurant I wanted to try out for my (second) birthday dinner.

It felt like fall outside.

The old Fuji-Ya (Minneapolis' original sushi joint) at Lyn-Lake is now Jade Dynasty and I've been wanting to try it out for weeks. The owners previously owned Hong Kong Noodles in Stadium Village and Nankin in Downtown. 

We upgraded to Beef and Broccoli.

We were hoping the table would have the giant turntable like at MingHin in Chicago.

But it was the lo mein  and dumplings that were the highlights.

Cool space.

It is. 

Glad we went when we did because it was quite busy when we left. 


Back at home I debated where to buy my ice cream cake from. I settled on Bebe Zito's The Parent Trap cake. 

This family loves our ice cream cakes. 

I thought it was better than Sebastian Joe's oreo cake.

Theo has been requesting "apple"skivers for breakfast. 

The next day we went to the Art Shanty Projects on a windy first day of February.

We seem to always miss this every year. 



With no snow on the ground the lake was a slip and slide. Should've brought our skates.

I'm glad I brought my ice tracks. 




Art Shanty's is still rad after all these years.

Though they seem to be less shanty. 


You know we had to wait in line for the cat shanty. 


You got to dress and pretend to be a cat. Meadow's dream.





This shanty let you work a loom.


After Meadow got a turn, Theo wanted to try too.

The weaving shanty was the coolest of the ones we got to see.


We would've stayed longer, but it was freezing. 

The wind was so strong Theo and I got pushed by the wind and didn't have to do any work. 

Then we went to one of our favorite toy stores to get a birthday gift. 

Some kind of virus is going around at work and got me. I spent the rest of the day lying on the couch watching The Simpson's. I forgot how good this show is. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

A Smoky Weekend at the Cottage and a Stop at Ladysmith's Northland Mardi Gras

This summer we decided to go to the cottage any weekend we had nothing else going on. This week, due to fires in the Boundary Waters and Canada, the air quality was pretty terrible. We debated if we should still go, but it looked like it would clear up by Saturday. So we took the chance. And by terrible, we mean the worst air quality we'd ever seen. Along the way we decided to stop at John and Heidi's Happy Daze . We've passed this place probably 100 times. It was about time to stop by. I ordered the prime rib sandwich special.  Yummy. The sandwich that is. Everybody's food was really good, but Brooke's was the star of the show.  I want to get back here asap. Now if only this pesky smoke would go away.

To Chippewa Falls for the Northern Wisconsin State Fair

I saw that the Northern Wisconsin State Fair was happening and we didn't have anything else planned. We booked a campsite at Lake Wissota State Park and we were on our way.  We hadn't been to a county fair yet and this seemed like it might be even better. We set up camp first in case we would be back late. This was a good excuse for a quick camping trip. Plus we'd never been to Lake Wissota State Park before or Chippewa Falls, really. Since 1897 Chippewa Falls has been hosting the Northern Wisconsin State Fair. More of a super-regional county fair, Wisconsin’s other state fair started as a way for folks up north to avoid the grueling, long haul down to Milwaukee County. Our first stop was to fill up our big jug of lemonade. I think this is the 4th year of this big jug. Brooke brings a couple of our old lemonade jugs with just in case. Then you get the refill price.

Backcountry Camping with Kids in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Day 1  Back in May I stumbled upon Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I had no idea there was a National Park in North Dakota and that it was the northern end of the Badlands. Usually our summer vacations coincide with Scott's work trips. Since he didn't have any this summer I thought we should take advantage of actually taking a vacation. What, my workcations are always classics? I suppose a second real vacation this year wouldn't hurt. We definitely have more time than normal. As long as we took Covid-19  precautions and avoided people. We finally settled on a time to go. Blake joined us so we borrowed our dad's van so we could ride together. Scott had just driven from Michigan the day before. Blake had met my parents in Wisconsin to get the van and then drove from Duluth to pick us up. I offered to drive since I literally only drive twice a month.  I was still pretty tired from a long drive home. Since we were near Fergus Falls we had to stop by the abandoned state ho...