We Went To Duluth To Eat Up Easter

The puzzle queen got in a few more rounds of puzzles before we headed up to Duluth.

She's a freaking puzzle...master.

Now that I work on Monday's I had decided that going to Wisconsin for Easter wasn't really worth it. We had also seen my parents just a few weeks back so we really didn't need to go again. With Blake's new land purchase we headed north to Duluth.

I can't say no to Duluth.

Blake was still at work when we arrived. He had made a few changes in his home.

We thought someone had moved in. It turns out that he's getting ready for his summer on the marsh.

Meadow's hungry. How about some chicken peanut stew?

I treated everyone to Cadbury Cream Eggs. 

It wouldn't be Easter without these strange delights.

After a short detour to Savers up on the hill we drove over to Blake's land. We had to go thrifting to get me some rain boots.

Blake took us on a tour through the adler trees.

This spot is where he plans to put his borrowed yurt this summer and I guess where we will be pitching our tent.

I hope it's big enough for all of us, but I guess we could do a tent.

The woods are nice, but the creekside marsh is just magical.

This creek is going to be awesome for swimming in this summer. I hope Meadow is braver this year.

I just love the snow draped grass. Soon the grass will be calf high.

Lazy river anyone?

Walking back to the car my foot fell in a sinky spot. My boot quickly filled up with icy water.

Poor Brooke. We all thought this would be me. I'm usually the clumsy one.

Back in West Duluth.

Before heading to Blake's land we stopped at Saver's to find rain boots for Scott. We also scored lots of new puzzles for Meadow. 

I put together bahn mi's and spring rolls for dinner. I always make the best meals at Blake's.

The next morning Meadow wanted to play in Blake's room all day, but we had big plans.

We decided to skip breakfast at Blake's and have my dream breakfast: brunch buffet at a casino.

Black Bear Casino. Where else can you get an epic $9 brunch buffet?

This was way better than we thought it would be.

Let's just say we ate our weight in breakfast delights. Even Meadow ate the entire time we were there.

I was the only one brave enough to finish my meal with a caramel roll. Brooke and Blake chose to finish brunch off with some soft serve.

The weather was wet and snowy. I didn't plan accordingly by bringing my snow boots. After breakfast I asked Blake if there were any places to take us that we hadn't been to yet. He suggested Cloquet: home to the Frank Lloyd Wright gas station.

Brooke had to get her portrait.

Then we stumbled on another thrift store. This time I found a toaster for Meadow's kitchen, yellow yarn and Christmas cups to match our plates and napkins.

Then we drove around Cloquet. I'd love to live in a city like this with an outsized downtown and lots of old homes.

There were even some big homes for Brooke and Blake.

The drive back to Blake's was so pretty. I can't believe I didn't bring my boots.

Duluth's always looking down on Superior. Get it?

Meadow fell asleep on the drive home. I found that carrying her this way she actually stays asleep.

I put her in Blake's bed, but 2 minutes later we heard her singing. She then insisted we do ballet with her.

Meadow loves ballet recently. She constantly asks to watch videos and turn on classical music.

This kid is going to be a smarty pants.

Blake needed to pick up some ingredients for Easter. We went with him to the new Whole Foods Co-op. Not to be confused with the Whole Foods chain.

Brooke and I went to pick up some batteries next door at CVS. This walk was so West Duluth.

For dinner we had some chile rellenos stuffed with queso blanco and some classic pintos.

Meadow has gotten used to sleeping at Blake's. She knows we need to move his coffee table to set up our bed.

Blake serenaded us to bed. He's a good uncle.

I was the first to wake up on this Easter morning.

Meadow was so ready for Easter morning.

Once she got dressed we let her know the Easter Bunny had visited.

She wasn't very good at looking for the basket.

She didn't quite understand having to look under and behind things.

I helped her out a little by moving one of the chairs.

What do we got here?

This year she got a smoothie pack, fruit strips, bobbers, a Madeline puzzle.

And her own fishing pole. We couldn't wait until her birthday.

She's been pretending to fish ever since last summer. We knew she'd love this.

"Look what Blake's eating."

Blake was too good for our 21st century food. He decided to have his future food.

He was actually just sick.

Blake went to "shovel" the snow. Then we brought Meadow out for her first egg hunt.

I was totally confused. I guess he was putting out the eggs.

She also didn't quite get that there were eggs hidden. I had to point out what I saw and say, "Do you see a green egg?"

Meadow and Brooke looked so cute with their Easter hats.

She started to catch on to things eventually.

After a few more eggs she was able to find them on her own.

Blake had secretly got chocolate candies and banana chips at the co-op yesterday to fill her Easter eggs.

While she snacked I tied a stuffed animal onto the fishing line.

This way she could practice casting.

We had some time before Justin was arriving for our Easter lunch. We went for a walk in the neighborhood.

Meadow used to be so great at walks. Now she gets too distracted by everything.

Since she was straggling I got to take some pics of the very-West Duluth homes.

Vinyl siding seems to have taken over every working class neighborhood in America.

"I'm making a snowman."

I kind of love this strange neighborhood.

"I want to look out the window."

Blake made us an awesome Easter feast. Broiled and smoked whitefish, wild rice, asparagus salad, toasted baguette with goat cheese, spring green salad. We also threw in some leftovers from the weekend: spring rolls and gauc and chips.

We drank glass after glass of port wine. Then Blake told me that it was wine mixed with brandy. No wonder I was tipsy.

Justin was in charge of dessert; he made parfaits for everyone. I know Scott wasn't, but I was glad to see a dessert like this. I'm kind of over sugary sweets lately.

I think I had enough sweets at the casino. So, no, I wasn't disappointed.

Meadow asked for a hug from Blake and Justin before we left. She was going to miss her Duluth buddies.