Just like high school...

So I kinda had a special day about a week ago, and my dear, sweet husband planned quite the celebration for me, spanning over about 36 hours. It's fun being back in the area where we initially met because we revisit some same locations a decade later. That's a little surreal, thinking that we've been together for over 10 years now, but really fun to revisit some great times.

Last Monday night, Mike took me to the Melting Pot in downtown Minneapolis. This is actually a fairly new addition to the Twin Cities; Mike and I originally discovered this fondue restaurant in Chicago while in college. In fact, we went there the night after we got engaged and had to turn down the champagne they offered us because I was still on the Pledge at Wheaton. I'm a sucker for sentimentality, what can I say? But really, what's better than totally gorging yourself with deliciously fresh food, literally cooked right in front of you, with all kinds of wonderful flavors, and ending with everything dipped in chocolate? And you all know how I feel about chocolate! The dinner event inevitably lasts 2-3 hours too, so it's great to eat, talk, laugh, and just spend time together; school, three jobs between the two of us, and various travels recently have not left us a whole lot of time for just us, so it's great just to reconnect.

Tuesday, we slept in, another marvelous rarity, and then we packed the camelback, donned our swim suits and lots of sunscreen (at least I did), and headed to one of Mike's early job sites: Valleyfair. For those of you not as familiar with this area of the country, it's an pretty good sized amusement park, not quite a Six Flags, but the largest in this part of the midwest. He hasn't been there since high school, and I've only been back as a chaperone with various youth group events. It's fun to be a kid again, get on whatever ride we want, skip the ones we're not interested in, go back to the good ones again, with no schedule or agenda. Here we are on the Scrambler, I think only rated a 3 on VF's 1-5 scale for thrill-seekers. And let me tell you a little secret, Tuesdays in the early summer are the best days; there are no lines, everything is open, and it's hot enough to get a kick out of at least a few of the water rides. One funny encounter worthy of note: we found this little guy directly under the Wild Thing; fluffy bunnies and rated 5 roller coaster seems and ironic match in such close proximity.

And when we had triumphed over the Power Tower, Wild Thing, and Steel Venom three times over, when we ate molten cheese in a corn-dog shell on a stick and funnel cake to our hearts content, we decided we had enough and left. Perfect timing, not a moment wasted. And we decided that it was time to eat again.

This time we headed to another venue familiar in days past, Dangerfields in Shakopee. I'm sure locals know all about this one, but it's not necessarily a first to be recommended to visitors, which is too bad, especially in these summer months. Dangerfields offers consistently amazing food, good value, great selection, and a beautiful, completely screened in deck overlooking the river. Most people see deer, especially at twilight, but while we sat there, a whole family of raccoons appeared just feet away in the treetops. I guess they are practically tame and interested only in the food that might fall from the deck, but occasionally they do cause a little mischief, as only these little masked marauders can. We ate, drank, talked, and enjoyed the company of our furry friends. And of course, because Mike plans everything perfectly, the day ended with a gorgeous sunset as we headed home.

I love that my birthday is in the summer, you can do so much, so many things are happening, it's such a celebratory time. It seems I've shared this time with so many happy occasions, weddings, Father's Day, graduations. But I'm not going to lie, sometimes it's nice for it to be all about me for just a day, and Mike knows just how to do that; thanks honey!