Mall of America

Mall of America, Aquarium

A small contingent from my family went to the Mall of America, which I generally try to avoid.  I'm not a fan of shopping or other forms of macho consumerism but had specific things to see:  the Lego Store and the Aquarium.

The Lego Store was a dream for our 5-year-old, an enthusiastic and talented block builder.  He ended up buying the kit he's holding and within a day, had assembled this swept-wing jet.

The shallow tank with rays swimming around for people to touch was especially fun.   Our boy was pretty tentative about touching a leathery ocean creature, requiring dad's encouragement.

Jelly fish were in vertical tube tanks with a light underneath.   There was precious little light making photography challenging.

The vertical tanks were good for looking but awfully disorienting - thankfully a camera straightens things out.

My son (in the center) was transfixed here by sharks and rays overhead.  Between the lighting and the slanted walls, our brains got pretty confused.  It harped back to my psychedelic 1970s days of old.

This is my shark picture.

As we made our escape from the aquarium on an escalator, I looked back toward the beginning step of our tour, the ray tank.

The play area in the mall was awfully busy - so busy we passed on rides.

The top of the Lego store - the constructs of thousands of blocks - were impressive.   We shopped and bought underneath - you can see a cash register in the lower right-hand corner.

Despite being an infrequent patron of the mall, I thought the legos and aquarium were interesting but being a local (a Minnesotan), I should have picked a quieter day for this outing.