This year’s #CheeriosChallenge returned with a fantastic twist to it. Not only were we encouraging dads around the world to share pictures of their stacking skills with us, but we were rewarding three families with a trip to Mall of America, provided by the awesome people at Cheerios and General Mills!

Well, the sweepstakes portion of the challenge has ended and three winners have been selected.

They and their families are going to spend Father’s Day weekend with Life of Dad, and probably about a bajillion other shoppers, roller coaster enthusiasts, aquarium visitors…….. (seriously, that place is huuuuuge!!!!)

Our first winner from Eagle, Idaho is Aldo.

He’s a dad of two teenaged girls and a 7-year old son who “never truly knew what love was until I had my first child.” He’s going to tackle Mall of America solo with his kids (like a champion dad would), giving his wife of 21 years a nice weekend of kayaking with her parents.

We asked him what it means to be able to take his kids on this trip and this is his response:

“Winning this trip has been a genuine gift. My girls said this has completely brightened up their summer. My little boy was jumping for joy when he found out that we won. He can’t hardly wait, he’s counting down the days until we get there and my wife is so happy that I am getting to have a pure dad’s weekend with the kids.”

We’re glad that he’ll be getting the chance to spend some solid quality time with his son hunting Pokemon as his daughters shop til’ they drop!

Our second winner, Mark, joined the ranks of Fatherhood worrying that he’d be a liability in the delivery room, since he was squeamish and worried about passing out…but in his own words…

“I have to say, the birth of our daughter was the most amazing experience of my life! It was almost surreal in the sense that I just couldn’t believe the deep and powerful love I felt for my baby girl the INSTANT she was born.”

So…OBVIOUSLY he was ready to start stacking some Cheerios (see photo above) for his win to Mall of America!

We wanted to know what he thought was the most challenging aspects of raising his kids and what he does to navigate the difficulties.

“As a dad, it’s super difficult to watch your child experience heartache and disappointment. I want them to be happy and to breeze through life’s challenges – yet that’s not very realistic. And sometimes my kids don’t see the solution to a problem the same way that I do – and even though I know their way isn’t going to quickly solve the problem, sometimes you just have to sit back and let them learn and work through it. I’ve learned that I can’t just fix everything or prevent my kids from falling down or making mistakes sometimes.”

We’re super excited that Mark and his family will be able to enjoy this fun trip this Father’s Day weekend. After all, he says “I don’t know if my three daughters are more excited about spending the weekend with me or going to the Mall of America – but either way, I know this trip is something we’ll always remember!”

Our final winner is Baldemar whose life changed since becoming a father, pushing him to be a better man every day.

The win was especially nice for Baldemar and his family due to a recent loss.

“In the fall of 2015 I lost my own father shortly after in the summer of 2016. My dad was an amazing father and a big inspiration on the father I want to be to my son. I miss him every day and it’s funny to me winning this because I’ve to Mall of America once as a child with him and my brother before. So when we won this Sweepstakes, I knew it was a blessing from my dad and I couldn’t be more thankful. This trip is very exciting for my fiancé, son, and I because we’ve never been on plane before and this is our official first family trip!”

He has some advice for future Cherrios Challenge competitors.

“If I could give advice to future #CheeriosChallange competitors I would say to make sure your child doesn’t take a nap all day and make sure they are fully asleep!”

So congratulations to all the winners of this year’s #CheeriosChallenge #StackingSweepstakes. We can’t wait to celebrate with you and are looking forward to meeting other families at Mall of America this Father’s Day weekend!

EDITOR’S NOTE: This was a sponsored post on behalf of Cheerios and their #CheeriosChallenge campaign, however, all of the stacking is ours! For more information, check them out on their website, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.