Flash, Echo, and other Beanie Babies had a wonderful time in Minnesota. They were overwhelmed with The Mall of America. We all stopped by a friend who owns a darling gift store called Forever Green. The Beanies wanted to go shopping and socializing and did not want to stay in the hotel. Furthermore, they were anxious to visit Minnesota Beanies. Forever Green had many Beanies and darling accessories. Absolutely amazing -- what a MALL? Being from a large city (Chicago) it is pretty hard to be impressed by a shopping center WOW!!! It just left all of us speechless. The Airport, Zoo and Mall of America are only 10 minutes away.

The Beanies were very excited about visiting all the animals at the zoo. I had told Echo and Flash the Minnesota Zoo had a wonderful Dolphin Show in an indoor amphitheater called Discovery Bay. They were so excited to see their living friends performance. Waves the Whale was jealous. He was very argumentative with Echo because he originally was released from Ty wearing Echo's tags. I explained to Waves he is slightly larger than Dolphins and are all members of the group of mammals called cetaceans. Flash is a little older and was so annoyed with his younger Beanie friends. They all laughed and enjoyed the complicated whistles and chirps and understood the dolphin talk!!! Flipper was the Beanies' Hero of the Day!!

Sunday was the Beanie Day at the Zoo! What a wonderful way to spend a Sunday. The Minnesota Zoo has a darling gift gift store with many Beanies and Ty Plush. Sharon Foster works for the zoo and had our table all ready for the Beanie Swap Meet! We brought several rare and retired Beanies and gave seminars in their auditorium. We had so much fun and enjoyed meeting many Minnesotans. Several people were luck enough to win retired Beanies!

The Minnesota Zoo is open year round and is set up for many inside activities. It is located on 500 acres of beautiful rolling hills, woods and wetlands. The indoor tropical forest is a true delight. Kiwi and Bongo laughed at the sounds of the animals and birds. We particularly enjoyed the Saturn Monorail. Bubbles, Coral and Goldie loved the Coral Reef. We were all thrilled watching the diver feed the fish. This Zoo is unique because you don't have to do an enormous amount of walking to see and do everything. Quite impressive! The animals are very happy at this zoo!!

A sincere thank you to Sharon Foster and the wonderful people at the Minnesota Zoo for inviting us to a fun event for children of all ages!! Beanie Babies and Zoos are tremendous educational tools for children. What a lovely place for a family to enjoy each other and the natural environment.

A word of wisdom for Beanie Collectors! I obtained many hard to find Beanies from Zoo's Gift Shops across the country. Zoos need a tremendous amount of money to exist! The gift stores and zoos may be a little expensive but an easy place to take the whole family to hunt and enjoy all creations including Ty Warner's Beanie Babies and his line of Ty plush. Check out the zoo's gift shops for these new retirements and releases:

The newly retired: Ally-alligator, style #4032, Bessie-brown cow, style #4009, Flip-white cat, style #4012, Hoot-owl, style #4073, Legs-frog, style #4020, Seymour-seal, style #4029, Spot-white dog, style #4000, Tank-armadillo, style #4031, Teddy-brown, style #4050, and Velvet-black panther, style #4064.

Happy Hunting and Enjoy America's Zoos!!!!

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