We decided to take advantage of the extra days off Brad got for the Independence Day holiday and sped off to Minneapolis with the intention of visiting
Como Zoo and possibly the
Children's Museum if time allowed. We left early Thursday morning on a leisurely drive down I-94 stopping when we needed to and taking lots of time to stretch our legs and play. When we got to Alexandria we decided to venture off the beaten path and search out the viking statue that I remembered from visits as a child. He wasn't too hard to find.
Will was thoroughly impressed by this big man, fittingly named
Big Ole, snapping pictures with his fake Mickey Mouse camera (he refused to use our old digital that still works)
and comparing shoe sizes.
It was hard to drag him away long enough to eat some lunch and go for a little walk to the lake.
Emerson was none too impressed with the statue or the lake. She was actually pretty scared of Ole and almost crawled over my head to get away from him.
When it was time to get back in the van we literally had to carry him off promising that we would stop and see Big Ole again some day soon.
This trip was a great reminder of how wonderful it is to stop and smell the roses.
Or Big Ole's feet. Whatever the case may be.
ps
The fun of the trip pretty much ended there. The kids refused to sleep the rest of the way to the Cities and were pretty crabby, Will tried to go skinny dipping at Lake Nikomis and was upset when we would only let him wade up to his knees, Emmy developed a fever Thursday night so Friday morning we packed everything up, went to the zoo with the 50,000 other people who thought Como would be a great idea on a holiday weekend and left before seeing about half of the animals because Will wouldn't stop screaming about going into the amusement park. On a good note they both slept part of the way home. Will and I spent Saturday at the Ganyo lake home and Em and Daddy spent the day napping and recouping. Sigh. The adventure never ends.
Sweet William?
Rangoon rhododendron?
Teeny little hostas
coneflower?
Some Snowballs in July.
Ooops, I know the last one - these are the Stargazer lilies that are growing in my garden. 
He never ceases to amaze me. I am a lucky lucky girl.
Auntie Lisa and Gramma Lorraine came over Saturday to hang with us. Will had lots of fun playing with Lisa in the hammock. He had to take a rest for a while after swinging Lisa over and over and falling down under the net a few times.
Yes, this was taken in July. Em is chilling with Gramma Lorraine. This was one of the very few times she wasn't scooting or cruising around anything that didn't move. It makes Gramma happy when she will sit with her. We were lucky enough to get to celebrate Lorraine's 76th birthday while we were out here. Looking good, Gramma!
Snoozing with Gram on the beach after lots of playing. This was Sunday when the sun actually showed itself. It was a beautiful day and very warm and relaxing in the sun. Mom and Dad were busily packing the van at this point. We so love having Gram around.
The one thing we found for Gram to do while we were there besides volunteering to watch the kids. This is Anderson Gardens - a community maintained arboretum in Litchfield. Both Mom and I were impressed with the beautiful flowers, trees and shrubs. We will be making a return trip, hopefully in the fall.
Will was thoroughly impressed by this big man, fittingly named Big Ole, snapping pictures with his fake Mickey Mouse camera (he refused to use our old digital that still works)
and comparing shoe sizes. 
It was hard to drag him away long enough to eat some lunch and go for a little walk to the lake.
Emerson was none too impressed with the statue or the lake. She was actually pretty scared of Ole and almost crawled over my head to get away from him.
When it was time to get back in the van we literally had to carry him off promising that we would stop and see Big Ole again some day soon.
This trip was a great reminder of how wonderful it is to stop and smell the roses. 
Quaking Aspen