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.

  Brittany and family came to visit for the first time in 5 years.  I finished up the temporary guest room just in time.  It'll do, pig.

My sister had been planning to come to visit. One of the main reasons she wanted to was to get some family photos taken. She decided on having them done in front of a mural. They picked the I Like You Store. I guess Marina wasn't feeling the camera in her face. This was how most of the pictures turned out. We did get a few with Marina facing the camera.

This seems to be the summer of camping.