Today's adventure would take us to the Kolacky Capital of the World for apple picking and pastries. Now Theo's a pro at making his own breakfast. They watch too many cooking shows. But tbh I'm more likely to leave a pan on the stove than the kids. On our way to Montgomery the kids drew together. It's just so sweet when they get along.  While in Montgomery we had to stop at Franke's Bakery for kolackies. We both got these confused with Paczki. Not at all the same. Kolackies are Czech not Polish.  These were kind of like a stuffed hot cross bun and pretty small. So, we got a day old pack of donuts too.

Every morning must start with Nintendo Switch time.  Every morning must always start with porch breakfast.  Theo told me he wants to start learning how to cook and bake. We started our first lesson with making scrambled eggs.  Also Theo decided earlier this week he wanted his haircut. He was sick of his hair blowing in his eyes and touching his neck. He also mentioned that a couple kids at school asked if he was a boy or girl. 

My new favorite client sent me out to Burlington, Vermont for a shoot at Champlain College. With no rental cars anywhere nearby, I spent a few days walking around Burlington when I was shooting 360s. We tried to figure out a way for all of us to go, but for the short amount of time we'd be there it didn't seem worth it for how much it was going to cost.  I'm not sure if you were aware, but as the largest city in Vermont, Burlington only has 44,000 residents. That's nuts. A small suburb in the Twin Cities. First meal at El Cortijo. Modern tex-mex in an old dinning car. The whole city is centered on Church Street, which was full of somewhat bougie stores and restaurants. At the end of the church street is the Unitarian Meeting House which the street is named for. I meandered my way down to the Lake Champlain waterfront. In the distance is New York State and the Adirondack Mountains. It's not a Great Lake by any means, but it's big. Twice the size of Mille Lacs in ...

After my parents came to visit the kids discovered a new cartoon channel on tv, MeTV Toons. It's like the early days of Cartoon Network. Classic cartoons 24/7. Sad to think that our porch mornings are coming to an end for the year.  But not yet, it's still been pretty hot this month. On this summery fall day we went to Nicollet Open Streets.  Well, Theo was being crabby while biking and Brooke was pointing out that we should've walked. It's Open Streets, you gotta bring a bike! There was a Ninja Warrior course outside of Ace Hardware. Theo did this inflatable course over and over.  This finally fixed everyones sour mood. Meadow enjoyed the more challenging course.  He loved this so much. We checked out Tower Games for the first time. Cool place. Maybe we need to get into a family D&D game this winter. We made it all the way down to 46th and Nicollet and then made our way back. Theo had been crabby all day. We dropped the kids off at home and walked over to Pat'...

My parents came to visit this weekend. It's been over a year since they were here last. Naturally we took them to our favorite buffet Q. Cumbers. Then we walked around Centennial Lakes.  We are a bit obsessed with Q. Cumbers. An endless salad buffet and epic ice cream bar. What's not to like? My dad watched a YouTube video about the Coon Rapids Dam and wanted to see it in person. I had never been here before.  I'd biked up here a few times when we lived on the Northside of Minneapolis and then shot the dam for a client years back. The water was low enough it looked like you could walk to the island, but then it got deep fast.  Not quite, Brookie. If only my parents had e-bikes we could have went on a bike ride.  After the kids got out of school we debated on what to eat for dinner. Bryant Lake Bowl had been on my dad's bucket list for awhile.  We've eaten here but hadn't bowled yet.  This 1930's bowling alley stays true to it's original days. Meaning yo...

Hey our living room is clean. It certainly isn't anymore as I type. We had plans to go to Duluth this weekend for the Duluth Preservation Alliance Tour. I just so happened to sit next to one of our tires and thank God I did.  This sucked on two levels. We couldn't have a Duluth weekend with Blake and Daniel and we had to replace our tires just as we were set to sell our Honda Insight. Somehow Theo talked us into getting donuts at Bogarts.  It really isn't too hard to do that. True.  Lucky Theo got one of the last s'mores donuts.  I don't think I've ever seen this intersection this busy.  I think its the new protected bikeway on Bryant. It's kind of a big deal. Pecan was sleeping in Theo's bed so Theo tucked her in.  Meadow went to a friends house so Theo and I played Candy Land.