Skip to main content

Summers Here: It's Cottage Time... (Grumbling Stomach Noise)

Meadow had an event at her school on Thursday night so we took Meadow out of school and left Friday morning. We took our old route to the cottage through Taylors Falls. We always drive by this place that sells bread. 

Balsam Lake Oven Breads.

We decided to finally try it out. Unfortunately the breadshop wasn't open but they also had this garden store full of hostas. 

When we say full, we mean dozens of varieties. We had to get some for our work-in-progress gardens.

There was even a swingset for the kids to play on while we shopped. 
 
We made another stop to do a potty break/driver swap/playground time in Bruce. 

Sometimes we stop here and don't let the kids play. They were much happier that we let them have a good time.
 
This also gave Scott and I time to start booking our hotels for a trip we're taking in August. 


We changed Theo's seatbelt from the 5 point harness to a normal seat belt. He was pretty excited. 

Our loot from the garden store. I think we'll stop there every Memorial weekend until our yard is covered in hostas. 

Just wished we had more shade, but we'll get there.

We arrived just in time for dinner, dad was frying up some fish that he had caught. 

We haven't had a good grandpa fish fry in long while.

I gave mom her belated Mother's Day gift. 

All is calm. For now.

I decided to get a fishing license this year. Brooke wanted me to remember that.
 
Last weekend was the guys weekend at the cottage where my dad, his brothers and some friends, come up to go fishing. My uncle had accidentally thrown his fishing pole when casting. My dad was determined to go find it. I went along to help but the mosquitos were horrendous. 


We looked for awhile but the water was too murkey and it was getting dark. 

I got some fishing in while they searched. Only caught a few pictures.



He's so sweet when he's sleeping.

He's also so sweet when he's playing in the water.

After doing swim lessons this spring he's more confident in the water.

Jumping right off the dock, like a big boy.

My dad and I went hunting again to find the fishing pole. We were hoping that the water would have settled overnight and it would have been easier to see in the sunlight, but still no luck.

Then we did some rummage saleing in town. One of the churches had a big sale with clothing for only .50.

The Three Lakes Chamber of Commerce bought a bunch of my photos for the annual tourism guide. I was hoping to pick one up, but, alas, they hadn't went to print quite yet.

Then of course we went to our favorite store, The Little Dipper. 

I love that she has old copies of Sam Campbell's books. 

Those copies have great covers.


We did take home some brass shelves for our house.

We stopped by a few more garage sales before heading back to the cottage. Right wingers, always projecting.

Then it was back to lake time.

Harvey and Theo have been playing together a lot more recently.

Meadow sticks to the top of the water on her pink kayak.


Memorial weekend is also deep clean the car weekend. So, much, winter dirt.

Chelsea did the same with her SUV.
 
After this I got really fatigued and suddenly became really cold. I had to wear a winter coat and two pairs of socks at dinner. I had a fever and Meadow threw up. I guess we get sick whenever we come to the cottage now.

Meanwhile the kids and I played down by the lake.

 
We took a boat ride before heading home.

Poor boathouse.

I spy our boat.
 
As it's Memeorial Day, no restaurants are open except Subway. We picked up some subs and ate at Memorial Park in Ladysmith. The best playground on US 8. 


I spun these kids around and round.

Until next time, Northwoods.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Hike Trip with the Kids to Nerstrand State Park

Meadow and I had so much fun hiking and geocaching last weekend, we decided to do it again. I was busy photographing for a project in Lake City. Our state park pass expires at the end of the month so we decided on Nerstrand State Park. A short drive from Minneapolis I'd always wanted to go.  I love that they had this natural playground. First we wanted to see the waterfall. Little hiker. The waterfall was a lot smaller than I expected but it was open for free play. I let the kids play for awhile. Then we found another area to play. Mr Independent had to hike back himself. That's my stubborn little guy. We took a lunch break before geocaching.  Meadow didn't believe me she had smoothie on her face. Theo either. We finished our day by hiking almost the whole park to find the cache. Too bad Scott couldn't have joined us. 

Chelsea and the Boys Visit Minneapolis

  I told Chelsea earlier this year she was the only one who hasn't seen our house yet. She said she would visit this summer. She texted me earlier this week asking when she could come. Looking at our calendar I said, this weekend or the weekend after Labor Day.  When they arrived Theo gave her a tour of our house.  I told her we had plans to go blueberry picking and she agreed to go along too. They had never gone before.  Hoo, boy. Was I glad that I got out of blueberry picking this year. I spent the day painting back at home. I don't know why, but I do enjoy berry picking.  Afterwards we picked up food from the co-op and had lunch in Stillwater.  Then we went swimming at the St Croix River Boom Site.  We parked our towels right next to the natural spring that flows into the river.  Blake... The sunny skies soon turned to clouds and then it started raining. The kids just kept on playing.  I couldn't believe they were still out in Stillwater. Then we went over to Teddy Bear

A Twin Cities Mississippi River Summer Weekend

Two summer weekends in Minneapolis? Yeah, it's true. We followed Scott again on one of his jobs, which brought us to Maplewood Mall. I had heard there was a double decker carousel there and had always wanted to check it out.  There is a weight limit on the horses so Scott and I had to sit on the swinging bench.  Brooke and I must've had empty stomaches. We were both so dizzy after getting off the carousel. Or we're getting old. Scott always complains we never do things in our own city. Since we were going to be near St Paul, I had been wanting to take the kids to the Mississippi River National Recreation Area Visitor Center to get a junior ranger badge.  St. Paul is one of Twin Cities, so it's OK to have fun just across the border. It's those suburbs I loathe (though honestly sometimes enjoy). Downtown St. Paul maybe sleepy, but it's very charming. The Mississippi River National Recreation Area Visitor Center is in the Science Museum lobby. Somehow we had never