Skip to main content

Blueberries Aren't That Fun to Pick, But They Sure Are Yummy

Brooke had us up bright and early to go blueberry picking: my favorite and least favorite berry to pick. We were all hungry so the kids and I got some donuts from KwikTrip. Plus an egg and sausage biscuit for me. We're such Wisconsinites at heart.

The blueberry farm is only open until 12. If we left at our normal pace it would have been closed by the time we got there.

She is right.

The kids and I tried to go blueberry picking last week during Scott's surgery but they were closed due to short staffing. 

Blueberry picking is so much work. And it was hot.

I will never complain that it's hot again after camping in Texas in July while pregnant. Nothing can compare to how miserable that was. 


Unlike last year, where we got so many blueberries on one bush, this year was more of a hunt. 

At least Meadow is as into as I am. 


I was hoping to get a whole bucket, but this amount would do. 

Usually we save swimming for the end of the day but decided to do it right after. 

Apparently this lake at Square Lake Park is extra clear, but also you might get swimmer's itch.

With Scott's recent surgery and my recent mole biopsy, only the kids got to swim. I was jealous. I wanted to try the clear water. 

Brooke and I took turns sitting in the sun.

Even though neither of us could go swimming, we played in the sand with the kiddos.

Then for some reason we drove over to Osceola.

We thought about having lunch in Taylor's Falls. I said we should see if the Creamery in Osceola had reopened. 

Sadly the creamery was still closed for foundation repairs. 

We ended up at some dive bar along their main drag. P Y's Bar to be exact.


I thought the giant fried food basket wouldn't have many fries, but it did. Then when my burger came out I had even larger serving of fries. Whoops.

Near P Y's was the waterfall we tried to see last spring. The staircase was still closed. We decided to take on the challenge again and find the falls via the Eagle Bluff Trail. 

This time we'd make it to the waterfall. After going the wrong way again, we figured out that the path to the waterfall was under the bridge that crosses the St. Croix.

The map and the trail made it look like you cross the highway. Once we figured it out we were like, duh. 

Even in a drought the Cascade Falls were still flowing.

Maybe it was a good thing we didn't make it last spring. This time we could play in the water. 





After the hike to the falls we drove up along the St. Croix to Taylors Falls for an ice cream treat. Brooke really wanted the world's smallest sundae at the Drive-In. I got a very cherry sierra mist float.

We were both still pretty full from lunch and regretted our decisions. 

Then we surprised the kids with a visit to the Franconia Sculpture Park.

Scott used to take the kids here all the time, I hadn't been in years. 






We hadn't been here since Meadow was entering kindergarten. She'll soon be in 4th grade. Much of the art had weathered since their major expansion.



The heat was starting to get to us so we went through the last few quickly and headed home. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The 8th Installment of a Thing We Call Northwoods New Year's Eve

Thursday I took a half day at work so we could make it up north before it got super late. When we arrived we brought in our stuff, turned on the heat and headed back into town to get groceries. We had hoped to get another rotisserie chicken, but they were out. I chose a pastie for my meal. Meadow and I went for the classic, off-brand, box mac and cheese. We made too much and shared it with Brooke. I went right to work making my ice molds. She's always making luminaries if it's freezing outside and we're at the cottage.

A Smoky Weekend at the Cottage and a Stop at Ladysmith's Northland Mardi Gras

This summer we decided to go to the cottage any weekend we had nothing else going on. This week, due to fires in the Boundary Waters and Canada, the air quality was pretty terrible. We debated if we should still go, but it looked like it would clear up by Saturday. So we took the chance. And by terrible, we mean the worst air quality we'd ever seen. Along the way we decided to stop at John and Heidi's Happy Daze . We've passed this place probably 100 times. It was about time to stop by. I ordered the prime rib sandwich special.  Yummy. The sandwich that is. Everybody's food was really good, but Brooke's was the star of the show.  I want to get back here asap. Now if only this pesky smoke would go away.

To Chippewa Falls for the Northern Wisconsin State Fair

I saw that the Northern Wisconsin State Fair was happening and we didn't have anything else planned. We booked a campsite at Lake Wissota State Park and we were on our way.  We hadn't been to a county fair yet and this seemed like it might be even better. We set up camp first in case we would be back late. This was a good excuse for a quick camping trip. Plus we'd never been to Lake Wissota State Park before or Chippewa Falls, really. Since 1897 Chippewa Falls has been hosting the Northern Wisconsin State Fair. More of a super-regional county fair, Wisconsin’s other state fair started as a way for folks up north to avoid the grueling, long haul down to Milwaukee County. Our first stop was to fill up our big jug of lemonade. I think this is the 4th year of this big jug. Brooke brings a couple of our old lemonade jugs with just in case. Then you get the refill price.