Minneapolis has had an impressive run in the last few years of opening some fantastic restaurants. Chef-driven menus, imaginative craft cocktails, and commitments to source locally are delightfully common attributes to a growing number of places to hit for a night out. Far less common – here or anywhere – is a restaurant that boasts a Ferris Wheel, a gorilla and mini golf. Fantastic in it’s own and very unique way, Betty Danger’s Country Club opened fairly quietly around the first of the year and is gaining traction and buzz now that the weather is turning nicer and patrons can enjoy more fully the things it has to offer. Spurred by a denied application at a local golf club, the woman behind Betty Danger’s set out to create the “The Country Club for the 99%,” and what she has described as a “country club on crack.” There is no shortage of cheesiness in the décor or the menu (a whole lot of melts and skillet offerings happening here), but it all seems to work nicely, especially if you’re in the right mood with good weather and great company – all of which was present the night we visited. I was particularly happy with the experience on the Ferris Wheel, largely due to my fear of heights not coming into play but also thanks to the super friendly staff and cocktail offerings while on the “vertically rotating patio” (which it is formally know as in the restaurant’s literature). I’m not sure how often we’ll go back for an evening out, but I definitely want to have the kids see Betty Danger’s, perhaps for an early brunch over the weekend. Taylor would love the mini golf and Ella would lose her mind over all of the pink that hits you from every angle.

I’m not sure why, but I expected the Ferris Wheel to be an old relic, cast off from some defunct county fair. But to my surprise and delight it was shiny and new and cute. And, presumably, safe.
The  Caddie Shack – where you purchase your cocktail and light snack options for the ride on the vertically rotating patio.
For certain the cutest stir sticks in town.
I love the Minneapolis skyline, and the Ferris Wheel ride offers great views.
Reality Check. The food wasn’t quite as yummy as I had hoped (perhaps my expectations for melts and queso are too high), but everything else was better than expected. The commitment to the country club theme is fierce but yet somehow doesn’t cross the line into being over-the-top annoying.

Our kids are great sleepers and Ella, in particular, is a champion napper. There are a number of fabulous benefits of this but there is one drawback, which is glaring on a sunny warm weekend day – being trapped at the house (and for the most part, inside) with the older sibling while the younger one takes a three, sometimes four, hour snooze. But I refuse to compromise the nap schedule – always have. Trevor was busy taking care of some things during this past Sunday afternoon, so I wanted to find something that Taylor and I could do together inside when we put Ella down for her nap. I had an idea for a DIY project I would like to do at the cabin with sailing/signal flags, and hoped that he would enjoy picking out ones he liked and then would help me paint the designs on paper. He was thrilled to learn that each flag represented a letter, and quickly determined he wanted six flags – one for each letter in his name. He loved the idea of the flags (not so much of the paining after a little while – see “Reality Check” below) but decided that he’d prefer to draw the flags with markers. He then hatched a plan whereby he made flags for each of us (“D” for daddy and “M” for mommy, “E” for Ella and “T” for Taylor), found sticks in the yard to attach to the flags, and devised an Olympic competition for us all to have once Ella got up from her nap. What started as a personal craft project led to the perfect imaginative play day for Taylor and a fun activity for the whole family. The best part? Seeing Taylor so proud of his idea and its execution. After Ella got upset during the first race (she, like her mommy, doesn’t like to lose) he would race several more, letting her pull ahead and win just at the end.
Taylor picking out the flags he wanted to paint.
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Today’s leisure post is the last set of pictures from our family’s recent trip to Grand Cayman that I plan to use on the blog and looking at these shots, in particular, brings up some interesting thoughts and emotions for me. When I think of this day at the splashpad I’m reminded of how much fun we all had on the trip and I get this overwhelming sense of happiness from looking at the huge smiles on their faces and still being able to hear their giggles in my head. But there is another lingering emotion – not really one of sadness, but it’s definitely an unpleasant feeling that results from the realization that days like this are so different that what real life is like and speaking personally, real life for me as a mom. I feel as though I spend 95% of my time with the kids telling them to do something or to not do something. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I was a different person while on vacation, but I was a different mom. The smiles on those kids faces and the giggles I still hear in my head are indecipherable from what I see and hear any time they have carefree play. The difference, in large part, is how much I allow myself to enjoy it. And these kiddos are smart, perceptive cookies – they get it. Looking at these pictures has been a powerful reminder to remember to take vacations from everyday stress, parenting overload, and maximum multi-tasking. Vacations don’t need to involve substantial time and expense. You know where else has splashpads? Minnesota. I can name three in a five-mile radius of our house. You know how often have we gone to one on a hot summer day or evening? Not a once. That needs to change. We need to – I need to – start spending more time enjoying things as simple and easy as a glorified sprinkler.

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