It’s not every day that you can say you saw wild monkeys in Minnesota! While we kinda cheated (went to the zoo), Mere and I were able to make that claim during our last trip back home. Yes, I know the picture is of an orangutan but we did see monkeys too.

Our whirlwind trip started on Saturday in Rochester with dinner with both sets of parents. Brunch was served Sunday afternoon and we were fortunate to be joined by some family and friends from Minnesota as well as a few Michiganders who made the long drive. Sunday night we had a nice little dinner with Phil’s parents; they spoiled us with bruschetta, a light salad, a filet, and a lobster tail.

Monday afternoon we headed back up to the cities were we spent some time with Mere’s folks. Tuesday was a day to ourselves while Mere’s parents worked. We decided to head to the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory in St Paul. We had a surprisingly good time. The facilities have been around for about 100 years and, while they aren’t as big and exciting as the Minnesota Zoo (or San Diego Zoo), it’s free and it was pretty empty. No crowds to get in front of you and the creatures so we were able to take a few good pictures. On the way home from the zoo we swung through campus and checked out the new football stadium. Now if we could only get a winning team…