Thanks to all the advice of you gals, we had a great week in Minneapolis! Read on if you need any ideas for stuff to do there!
The first day we went to Como Zoo (suggested donation only for admission!) and we loved the polar bears, monkeys, and sea lions. We went on a few rides at Como Town, and then checked out the Conservatory there -- surprisingly interesting for the kids -- they liked the bonsai room and the sunken garden where the Koi fish come right up and kiss your fingertips.
Later that day we went to the Children's Museum. I wish we could have spent more time there -- can you believe they close at 5 PM?
The next day we went to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, a beautiful, really fascinating place. I was surprised there also that there were lots of things for the kids to look at, and at the end of the trail there was a Nature Maze! Then, we went to the Hyland Park playground, and it was humongous! Not only were there giant jungle gyms, but mist-sprayers for the kids to run through.
We had supper that night at Big Bowl, a tradition whenever we pass through Mpls, and it was fabulous as usual.
We went to the Mall of America the next day, and really enjoyed the Lego play area and store. We shopped just a little at the Discovery Store (closing and all on clearance!) and Children's Place (LOVE their sales) and looked around before heading to the Underwater Adventures aquarium. My advice is don't let them take your photo at the entrance or you'll get a hard-sell at the end. The pet-the-sharks/rays pond is really cool, and their gift shop has fun stuff. The kids got shark-tooth necklaces for keepsakes for only 2 bucks apiece, and when they're sick of wearing them I can put them into a scrapbook.
The Ikea store was a new experience for me, and I don't really recommend it if you are bringing the kids (they do have a kid-drop-off place at the entrance, but NO THANKS) because they will find it frightfully boring with the exception of the kid's room section. IKEA's food was actually amazingly good and inexpensive.
The next day we went to the St Louis Park Aquatic park, since all other waterparks were very spendy and wouldn't allow our 4 year-old to ride with us on slides. It was a nice pool with a really cool shallow play area and two very good slides. It's not quite as impressive as big waterparks, but very, very nice and we had a great time. They also have a really cool sand-box area.
Then, we checked out the Science Museum. I was a little disappointed in how many exhibits seemed like they needed updating or repair. There were a lot of cool things to do, and the kids liked it, but I was disgusted that for almost 40 bucks there were things that we couldn't enjoy. To top it off, there was a developmentally disabled man in a wheelchair that kept following our kids around telling them what to do or not to do -- I thought staff could have maybe distracted him or something, but we just had to try to avoid him.
We loved cruising down Summit Avenue seeing the mansions -- totally amazing.
So, we really loved Minneapolis. I highly recommend it for families with kids of all ages!!!

okay I just need to clarify for u since I live in St Paul, the other city. Some of what u described is in St Paul not Minneapolis. For those that don't live here we have a sisterly rivalry and HATE being confused with each other. No need for me to specify which was in St Paul, unless someone really wants me to, but I HAD to speak up. It's a rivalry thing.
edited to add: Glad u had a good time. I was so caught up in the sisterly rivalry of the cities that I forgot the most important message.
allgirls

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

It's Girl Scout Cookie Time

sounds likd you had a gret time!! you were at the mall not to far from me!! and Ikea is much easier on the weekdays I think!!!LOL

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Kelly mom to 2 gymmonkeys!!!

Glad you had a good time!! We need to do some of that stuff since I only live an hour away from the cities

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~Happiness is a large family~

Sounds like a lot of fun! I'm so glad you had a good time!! I LOVE Summit Avenue too.....and it's really close to Cafe Latte (yummy desserts and lunches).

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I stand corrected, I should have written Twin Cities instead of Minneapolis.

Here in North Dakota and especially our family, we loosely use Minneapolis to refer to the general area. Perhaps it's just shorter than saying "Minneapolis-St Paul", and for some reason, no one here really says "Twin Cities" because it's sort of like saying "I'm going to the Windy City" or "I'm going to "the City that never Sleeps." I do understand the need for recognition, but to an outsider, it's just sort of like "What's the difference? They're right next to each other!"
I'm glad you still caught the message -- the TWIN CITIES METRO AREA INCLUDING SUBURBS AND OUTLYING COMMUNITIES are a lot of fun!!!

So, do people really leave their kids at Smaland at Ikea??? I just can't imagine, but perhaps I'm just so....rural...

For those of us who live in MN but not in the Minneapolis/St Paul or suburban area, the entire region is just referred to as "The Cities"

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~Happiness is a large family~

I have always called it "twin Cities" and I grew up in way north MN, about 1 1/2 hours east of Grand Forks ND...I always just assumed that everyone called it "Twin Cities"...It is fun to go there, there is sooooo much to do there. We love como zoo as well, it's our favorite in the area. Children's museum is Great! We never go to the MN science museum anymore because, we too were turned off by it (about two years ago), it's pricey, not as great as we thought it should have been! We travel around A LOT and MN science museum is actually not even equal to most other big city museums...I was let down as well last time we went there.
We LOVE mall of America! Some people that we know ( who live in the cities) dont' go there, because they think it's too touristy...we love it- my entire family loves it- we've actually gotten better deals there than anywhere else. I love going when the stores there have all of the clearence deals!!! We could spend two days there!
Glad you had a good time there. i love living close to the twin cities area! We've lived close to other large cities (Atlanta , Charlotte, Des Moines, Denver) , and I think over all, we like the twin cities the best!

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One happy wife and mommy!!!

I am so glad to hear that you had a great time ~ no matter what part of "the cities" you were in

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