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Sever’s Holiday Lights in Shakopee are Magical and Fun

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Sever's Holiday Lights

On Sunday my kids, mom and I all went to Sever’s Holiday Lights Drive-Thru Event in Shakopee, and we all agreed – it was magical and fun!

We have attended the Sever’s Fall Festival in previous years, and even went to their Stories, Riddles & Rhymes drive-thru event this year which was cute and whimsical. But with this COVID-quarantining at home going on month after month, we knew we had to go back for their Holiday Lights event for some more COVID-safe cheer! 

I had previously written about Sever’s Holiday Lights in my guide, Holiday Lights Drive-Thru Events in Minnesota 2020. Sever’s Holiday Lights is a “magical drive-through display of 1,200,000+ lights synchronized to festive music in Shakopee.” This was one we definitely wanted to visit as it’s privately owned, AND you it’s the only one where you get a free goodie bag when you enter!

Plus – you can go back through again and again if you want!

Sever’s Holiday Lights runs from November 26th, 2020 to January 3rd, 2021. I had heard families have been saying positive things about it and it moves along quickly. Sever’s had some busy nights including this past Saturday, but I learned that was due to another nearby lights show losing power, so they had more people than they typically would have. I should note that when we went you could buy a ticket when you enter, but they changed that since this weekend so now you MUST buy a ticket in advance online.

Pricing is:

$25 per car (for 1-7 people)
$40 per 8+ vehicles

This does not include sales tax.

Note that it’s the same price as Christmas in Color at Valleyfair which is nearby.

Our Experience

We got our ticket online in advance for the 5:00 – 6:30pm timeslot. We arrived right at 5:00pm, and there was a short line ahead of us, but it moved continuously. 

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Christmas in Color at Valleyfair is a DeLIGHTful Drive-Thru Experience (Review & Discount)

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Christmas in Color - Valleyfair

We went to Christmas in Color at Valleyfair on opening night, and had a great time!
 
We were there 30 minutes total. Our ticket time was for 5:30pm – 6:00pm but we arrived around 5:15pm. There was already a line of cars but they were already going in so we didn’t have much of a wait and the line kept moving.

Here’s the view from entering the parking lot:

Christmas in Color - Valleyfair
 
The entrance had a huge lighted “wall” that cars drove through.
 

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GLOW Holiday Festival Drive-Thru Light Experience Lit Up Our Season

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Glow Holiday Festival review

After hearing that Governor Walz has announced new COVID restrictions for the next month, we weren’t surprised, but certainly could use a bit of cheering up. It’s been a tough year for everyone.

But not everything is closed! There are many drive-thru holiday lights events this season, and we got a sneak peek at the all-new GLOW Holiday Festival which is at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds from November 19th, 2020 to January 3rd, 2021!

It definitely cheered us all up, and we got to enjoy it from the warm comfort of our car!

GLOW logo

As I posted last month, GLOW is a one-mile drive-thru that has a dozen seasonal scenes. There are over a million holiday lights, a 100-foot illuminated tree, icicle and art installations, a festive gingerbread house, and other attractions.

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Relax at Cobblestone Hotel & Suites in Austin, Minnesota

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Cobblestone Suites relax

We recently headed to Austin, Minnesota for a much-needed weekend getaway, and oh my gosh, we had such a fun, relaxing visit! (Watch for my full review soon!)

Have you ever been to Austin, Minnesota? It’s about 90 minutes south of the Twin Cities, and it is home of Hormel Foods and the SPAM Museum. We enjoyed so many attractions here, but we also enjoyed a comfortable stay at a brand new hotel, the Cobblestone Suites & Hotel!

The Cobblestone Hotel & Suites just opened up this summer of 2020, and has many amenities for an affordable price, so we were excited to try out this new hotel for our stay.

Cobblestone Hotel & Suites is located right near both interstate 90 and highway 218, and is just a few minutes from downtown, so it’s super convenient. 

Cobblestone Suites Austin

Cobblestone has a beautiful. elegant lobby with Seattle’s Best coffee available 24/7 (of course I had some :).

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Scheels in Eden Prairie is a Shopping & Entertainment Wonderland for Families

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Scheels Eden Prairie

Have you heard about Scheels?

Scheels in Eden Prairie originally opened in 2006 as a 20,000 square-foot retail store specializing in sports products, fashion and footwear.

This summer, they moved to a newly built 250,000 square-foot location in the Eden Prairie Center. It’s more than a shopping experience now, and has everything from a 65-foot ferris wheel, a 16,000-gallon aquarium, a cafe, a candy shop, a toy shop, plus many interactive games and activities for the whole family.     

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Sever’s Stories, Riddles, & Rhymes is Silly Fun for Families (Review)

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Sever's Riddles

This past month I shared that Sever’s in Shakopee is offering a safe, unique drive-thru event this fall! It’s called Sever’s Stories, Riddles, & Rhymes, and it’s a safe storytime adventure with magic, humor and visuals.

This unique adventure includes a 3/4 mile magical trail where families will be able to enjoy humorous rhymes, riddles and large scale illustrations that give readers of all ages a whole new take on storytime. There will be a huge treasure hunt, a larger than life chicken samurai, a zany squirrel named Hayley with her adorable pumpkin pet, and a lot more!

It takes place Thursdays to Sundays now through November 1st, and the cost is $7 per person or $25 per car maximum.

It sounded like a good option for families during this time, so we decided to go check it out and share our experience with you. We went recently and thought it was cute, silly and sweet!

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Girls’ Day Out! Driving Bulldozers at Extreme Sandbox in Hastings, Minnesota

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Extreme Sandbox Hastings

Two moms driving bulldozers together. Driving over dirt piles, pushing vans, flipping tires.

Sounds like a perfect Saturday afternoon, right?

Well, it is – my friend and I did this, and it was awesome!

Until this year I had no idea a place existed where a girls’ day out – or any other day out – could involve driving heavy construction equipment together, and having fun doing so!

Then I learned about Extreme Sandbox in Hastings which offers anyone age 14 and up to drive heavy construction equipment just for fun. (Thus the appropriate name “Extreme Sandbox” – it really is a giant sandbox for adults and big kids!)

Heavy Metal Drive Thru

And since March, when they had to temporarily suspend their regular business, they offered “Heavy Metal Drive-Thru” shows that you could watch safely from your car, for FREE!

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Dinosaur Adventure Drive Thru Review (& 25 Things to Do in Your Car While in Line 2 Hours)

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Dinosaur Adventure Drive Thru

Dinosaurs have arrived at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds! And you can see them in a safe drive-thru adventure called “Dinosaur Adventure Drive Thru.” It’s happening the weekends of July 31 – August 2 and August 7-9.

Tickets are $40 for a regular car, truck or minivan that seats up to 7 people. We bought a ticket for opening day for the 6-8pm timeslot. 

This is what our confirmation email said:

Dinosaur Drive Thru email

So we arrived at 6:20pm and the line was starting to go out past the main entrance off Snelling Avenue to the street. I figured it wouldn’t be long once we got in. 

Minnesota State Fairgrounds Dinosaur Drive Thru

However, the line of cars actually wound around the fairgrounds and the attraction was on the other side, so we literally sat in our car until 8:20pm – for 2 hours! – before we got to the entrance of the Dinosaur Adventure Drive Thru!

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Our Visit to Wild Mountain Winery in Taylors Falls (& Wine & Cheese Plate Deal!)

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Our Visit to Wild Mountain Winery in Taylors Falls (& Wine & Cheese Plate Deal!)

My friend and I got together this past weekend to just have fun around the Twin Cities, and one of the places we had been wanting to go is a winery.

I had checked out Groupon for deals and found a great one for Wild Mountain Winery which is in Taylors Falls. It’s not far from Wild Mountain Adventure Park, too. Both are open right now during COVID but with social distancing requirements, of course.

The deal was for two glasses of wine, a cheese & meat plate, and a bottle of wine to take home, for only $24! Regularly it’s $38. There’s also a deal for double that (four glasses of wine, etc.) for $48. That’s more ideal for two couples to share, so my friend and I just got the first deal.

Check out the Groupon deals here!

Our Experience

We went on Saturday afternoon and arrived just in time for live music, which we didn’t even expect! Many people were seated at the patio tables enjoying the beautiful day.

Wild Mountain Winery

We traded in our Groupon voucher for our wine and cheese plate. We got to actually choose our wine from a list, and sample up to 3 if we weren’t sure what we wanted. They had about 16 to choose from, listed from dry to sweet. I chose a Mountain Sweet Red wine, which is fairly sweet. It was delicious!

Wild Mountain Winery

My friend and I enjoyed our wine and cheese plate at a table as we listened to the live music. They have a list of their live music on their website.

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Our Front Row Experience at Extreme Sandbox’s “Heavy Metal Drive-Thru” in Hastings

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Heavy Metal Drive-Thru

In April I posted about a unique and FREE event for families in the Twin Cities area. It’s at a place called Extreme Sandbox in Hastings, MN, where you can operate real construction equipment. It’s family-owned and they even were on the popular show, Shark Tank! (Check it out – it turned out well!)

Unfortunately, Extreme Sandbox had to close this spring to regular visits due to COVID-19, but they came up with an alternative – Heavy Metal Drive-Thru, a FREE drive-thru show where you can park your car in their lot and watch their heavy construction equipment at work!

Heavy Metal Drive Thru

Then the show became so popular they added more shows, now through the end of June!

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