Where have we been?

Since we took a big trip to Florida earlier this year, our summer vacation was on a smaller scale. We went to Itasca State Park for four days. Itasca is where the headwaters of the Mississippi River are located. It is a beautiful and interesting park with a variety of trees and plant life as well as lakes. You can walk across the Mississippi on rocks or wade across like I did. It was pretty busy on the rocks the day we were there.

On a hike we found a ladyslipper still in bloom. The ladyslipper is the Minnesota state flower. We learned that the flower is designed in such a way that once a bee goes into it there is only one way out. The design ensures that the flower gets pollinated.

Besides hiking and biking at the park, we visited the World of Christmas Store and Amusement Park. Playing mini-golf has become a summer vacation tradition for us. Some of us keep score and others don't. I think we all got a least one hole-in-one! It was chilly the day we were there so the crowds were pretty thin. Here is the youngest enjoying a go-cart ride:

In the evening at our cabin (one of six that was joined together), some of us were hooked on putting this 500 piece puzzle together. We did it with about a day to spare.

We visited a Pioneer Farmers' area that is right by the park. We saw a working sawmill and visited a one-room schoolhouse, log cabin, and old-time store. Our tourguide who was in at least his 70's played guitar and sang a song he wrote about a steam engine. It was amazing! Below is a picture of the back of the schoolroom with replicas of the lunch pails that would have hung there so they wouldn't freeze in the entryway. We would like to return to Itasca.

Little Details

Here are a couple of books that I've read recently. Both authors have written series. Diane Mott Davidson writes about Goldie, the caterer, who lives in Colorado with her policeman husband and teenage son. Leslie Meier writes about Lucy Stone, the mother of four who lives on the east coast and writes for the local paper, The Pennysaver. Both were enjoyable reads.

A new favorite at our house is brownie bites. One package of brownie mix baked in mini-muffin pans for about thirteen minutes disappears in a hurry.

I guess part of me wants to be a Girl Scout. I am interested in the merit badges found here: http://tiny.cc/ZeTSo
I am aware that being interested in something is not the same as doing it!

The Week in Review

This was a week of waiting. Waiting for the middle daughter to return from Chicago. Waiting for our new van to arrive at the dealer. Waiting to visit with a friend and her daughter who now live in Florida. Everything worked out, but having patience can be challenging.

Here is our new van. No, it did not come with the child in the front seat-lol! We hope to get many years of service from it as we did with our previous van. It is so fortunate that the timing was what it was. We would not have been able to take our upcoming short vacation with our car that just barely contains three squabbling siblings in the back seat.

The most fun new feature is the stow and go seats--that and that it works : )

The middle daughter had a great time in Chicago seeing lots of sights including the Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry and the new glass balconies at what will always be known to me as the Sears Tower.

The girls and I had fun visiting with friends and now the new week is beginning.

Art and the Fourth of July

This week the two youngest were at an art class. The museum has great ones for all youth. They were a little late the last day when our van gave out, but made it in time to finish projects for the reception at the end of class. The themes of the classes were superheroes and myths. To the right are a few of the youngest's projects. And above is a bear made by the middle child.

On the Fourth we went to our local festivities. A morning event is a parade for the kids.

Later we had lunch on the deck. We are enjoying the new deck furniture that we purchased earlier this summer. It is an improvement over the Little Tykes decor we used to have.



Here is another tradition--a flag cake made by the kids. (Please excuse the dog toy collection on display in the background!) The cake is pound cake and the "frosting" is Cool Whip. There are more berries in the cake. The youngest made sure there were 50 blueberries for the stars.









Some of us just flip for the Fourth!

After a dinner inside due to the rain, we went to listen to hubby/dad play his trombone with the community jazz band.

Sorry, no pictures of the fireworks! They were spectacular though. We sit on the beach and watched them get shot off across the lake. It is fun to visit with friends and neighbors while we wait for it to get dark. Time to enjoy the rest of the summer! I predict that Target will have its first back to school ad next weekend.

Happy Fourth of July!

Poster courtesy of allposters.com