Parental Guidance Suggested

After talking about it since January my parents finally agreed on a weekend that would work for them to come visit.

On the day they arrived we went over to Wirth Park and beach. They wanted to look at the building where we had our wedding reception.

It was closed so we had to peek in.

Then we walked over to the Eloise Butler Wildflower garden.

Gail wanted to read all the signs, but we just said let's go.

You can't tell but there were a couple of turkeys crossing our path. 

After walking through the woods we arrived at the prairie.

With so many flowers in bloom the prairie was awash with color.

The garden closes at dusk and the nerdsters (get it? nerdy hipsters) were waiting for us to leave so we had to leave early.

That's was my idea, don't try to steal it. Nerdster.

On the way back out of the forest I saw some ducks that were confounded by the green slime water.

A new boardwalk was completed after being stalled by the tornado. 

It allows you to walk all the way around Wirth Lake, which probably hasn't been possible since Olson Memorial Highway gutted what was once 6th Street North way back in 1936.

My mom in comparison to one of the trees from the tornado. 

It's really amazing that such a large tree went down.

Once we got back around the lake we watched a few minutes of volleyball.

My dad got a new camera for his birthday/father's day. He hadn't opened it yet because he didn't know how to use it. I brought it with us most of the weekend to test it out.

 We had beers out in our backyard. Wish we had a campfire.

Mr. Mike is always excited to drink Grain Belt when he's in Minnesota. So was I.

The next morning my dad and I were going to go golfing but it was raining. I got up early and couldn't go back to sleep, so I asked my mom if she wanted to go to the farmers market with me. I had always wanted to go to the Mill City Farmers Market but it's only on Saturdays while I'm at work. I took the day off to spend time with my parents so I was glad I finally got to go.

Meanwhile Scott and my dad installed a new back door.

As usual, Mr. Mike took the lead and I helped as best I could. I did figure out that he was putting screws into the wrong holes. The door closed much nicer at that point.

I tried out the panorama feature on my dad's camera. 

Not perfect, but functional.

And made pie dough for that strawberry rhubarb pie I've been trying to make all summer.

Baby kitty needed to be brushed badly. 

Every time we pet the little bugger fur would go everywhere.

After shopping for the other door we went out for dinner at Papa's.

My parents chose this weekend to come up because of the Aquatennial Fireworks. They came up for it a few years ago and loved it.

I played with long exposures on our camera. This photo was taken in darkness. I love that it looks like its still daylight out.

 

I also played with long exposure and perfected my fireworks technique. In this picture I was a bit shaky, but it turned out spectacular.

We were afraid that the trees in front of us would block our view.

It turned out that the southern tip of Nicollet Island is probably the best location to watch fireworks along the entire Mississippi riverfront.

 We decided to go out for drinks afterwards. Our favorite zombie bar closes at 11. What bar closes at 11? So we headed across the river to our favorite tiki bar: Pyscho Suzi's. 

Brooke really liked her drink, which made me jealous. I love a good Washington Island Wheat, but...

We all shared the volcano drink after our first drink. 

Now that's what I'm talking about. When Gail took her turn she had to stand up to drink it. I love the expression on Mr. Mike's face.

The next morning my parents left early to drive up to Duluth to see my brother, Blake. They gave me a bunch of stuff from home before they left. Like my wooden Dutch shoes. 

And 3 boxes of Christmas decorations. Makes me excited for Christmas already. 

I made blueberry oatmeal from the berries we picked last week.

When we got our new fridge we had to rip out some cabinets to make room for it. My dad took them with him to slim them down to fit. 

So we have to use temporary shelving and drawers for the time being. 

   We decided to do some cleaning today. Our back porch has become the "I'll deal with it later" area. Scott was sick of it and said "everything has to go!"

She insisted she'd put stuff up on Freecycle, but I knew better. It was a lot easier to jut bring them to the Salvation Army.

So everything got sent to the thrift store. Like our new door?

We're going to paint it red sometime soon.

 

I decided to cut the wood paneling in half to place it behind the makeshift cabinet.

Scott had borrowed Emma's printer so we went over to their house to bring it back.

 

They had some work done in their basement awhile back. Makes me jealous that they hang out in their basement. I never want to be in ours for more than 10 minutes.

That's because Brooke has extremely high standards for basements. It's a little musty, but nothing serious. Want to come over for some table tennis?

 Then we had to go grocery shopping. I haven't been biking much lately so I suggested we bike.

I've also been a tad sedentary since my last days at Geek Squad. Painting the house and replacing doors isn't quite the same as biking ten or so miles each day.

We took the 18th Ave NE bikeway. Part of it cuts through townhouses, which is funny for some reason.

Since we've got the CSA we don't need many groceries. Our bikes are perfect for these small trips.

 

We were so sweaty when we got back, but it was worth it. I want to get my groceries this way all the time.

Emma texted me saying she was feeling lazy and wanted to go out for dinner. We weren't too excited about making dinner either, so we agreed.

Actually Tyler texted me first. I said the 50s Grill sounded perfect.

Olive playing good cop, bad cop with Tyler.

I sneezed and she copied me.

I asked Olive what I should get and she picked out a burger. Good choice Olive.

The food and milkshakes were better than ever.

Emma had been craving sweets so she ordered a cake too. It was a pretty (what's the word?) moment.

I'm not sure, but I'd call it sweet.