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G.G. & Grandpa Visit. Fun ensues.

A collection of super-sweet cereals....must mean that the G.G. and Grandpa are here.

They arrived early enough to surprise Meadow at school.

More cereal.

Meadow is wearing a dress that she picked out at Tandem Vintage.



Meadow had to mark all her favorites while we waited for Brooke.

Our little garden has been very plentiful this year.

I went down to the garden to get some fresh peppers. I made stuffed peppers for everyone and then watched the Packers game with Mr. Mike.

 After dropping Meadow off at school I took my parents to their new favorite store, The Container Store.

With our new bed we needed new under-bed baskets.

 After having lunch at Tap Society we went across the street to Patisserie 46 for dessert.



At night we brought Brooke's parents to Utepils.

Check out their ski flight.

Of course Meadow got her root beer.  

She loves breweries because she gets root beer.

Theo kept himself entertained.

This is one of my favorite taprooms. Solid beers and a sweet space.

Brooke brought along Theo's favorite toy.

Kid loves his play kitchen.

He got bored with cutting bread and moved onto Grandpa's watch.


Looks like Joey Mac drank too much.



On Saturday morning I made egg sandwiches for everyone.

Theo was ready for apple picking time.

I thought with my parents here we could go apple picking. My parents were not impressed with the crowds.


This year we went to Luce Line Orchard due west of the cities. 

I picked this place because there was a winery nearby that we wanted to check out. It was a little too much for our liking. We like to stick to the low key orchards.

Theo, Meadow and I shared a caramel apple.


This is early for us to go picking, but we got to pick all the good apples like Honey Crisp and Snow Sweet.



Gail remembered having to go way up on a ladder to pick apples when Brooke was young. No more.

She was like, this isn't an apple orchard, this is a fall festival. 


You knew Theo was going to munch, munch, crunch through the orchard.

Wait, where am I?

Who knew haystacks were so much fun.



My mom insisted we take our photo by this sign.




Meadow was loving this ring the hook game. 




We were getting hungry and decided upon Mexican food in a neighboring town before cider.

If you want a massive serving of Mexiacn grub, Agave Mexican Restaurant in Mayer will work.

Scott and I shared a dinner for two, but it could have fed four.


Our next stop was at the Painter Creek Winery and Cidery where we ran into a huge crowd.

I had no idea when I looked this place up that it was right next to Minnetonka Orchards. The busiest orchard in the state. The line for wine was super long.

We all agreed that we like wine and beer better than hard cider.

I purposely picked this place because it was a winery and cidery. We're not big wine fines so having the extra option was nice. 

I think I like wine better than cider after trying a few cideries out.

The ciderita was the one cider drink that hit the spot. I'd go back just for that.


I suggested we stop by Excelsior Brewing on the way home.

To make up for our not so exciting wine stop.

We played a round of Sorry while sipping our beers.


You have to try the Rip Rap Peanut Butter Cup Porter.

It tasted just like a peanut butter cup. So good. 

A band was playing soon, so we went home.

We didn't have plans for dinner since our lunch was so big and late. We gathered all our snacks and had a feast. Meadow said this was the best dinner ever.

It'll do pig.

My mom and I shared a Frenchie Cocktail by Vikre Distillery in Duluth.

My dad brought me this shelf from Grandma's house. The kids liked using it as a bunk bed.

What are we going to do on a rainy Sunday?

Go to the Bell Museum. Theo lasted all of 12 seconds in the stroller.


"Don't take a dumb picture of me."

They have birthday parties here. We may have to come here for one of Meadow's birthdays.

The Bell Museum is pretty dang cool.

 I had never heard of the Agassiz Dunes before.

The diorama made it look like a cool place to see.

We weren't too far on our way up to Roseau.


The kids didn't want to leave, but we had to take Meadow to a birthday party.

Theo finally got a nap in.

We dropped Meadow off at a birthday party at Izzy's.

We stopped by the Naughty Greek and it was packed.

My mom did spot this uber cute alleyway.

So we went to the Whole Foods' bar instead.

Meadow was finishing her ice cream as we came back to pick her up.

Another cool spot for a birthday party.

We ended the weekend with a stop at Surly Brewing for beer and pizza.

I figured since we were in the area. Also I haven't been yet.


Surly may have gotten rid of my favorite beers, but their pizza is dang good.

I can't believe we haven't been here as a family before.

Blake was in town for the night to catch a plane out of MSP. His hotel was conveniently a few blocks away so he met us for dinner.


My parents wanted to check out his hotel room.


Bye Blake. Bye G.G. and Grandpa.

Come again soon.

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