Wednesday, August 31, 2011

MN 2011 - Part 4

There is no way you can visit the North Shore without actually visiting THE Shore!


The girls had to get a little rock skipping in....
Papa showed Megan the new boat dock they just built...
Megan thought the water looked very inviting....
Nicole thought she'd do whatever her big sister did....
Make no mistake - that water was freezing cold!!!! But when you are having fun, you tend to overlook these things.



Nicole was the first one to say - no way, this is too cold!
We had a great time and have memories to last us a lifetime.
But rest assured..... this was just the first part of our trip - now we head to the twin cities!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

MN 2011 - part 3

One of our favorite things to do in MN is visit the train station. It's a working station and a museum all tied into one.



From there, we walked to the docks on Lake Superior. There were 2 boats loading up with Ore from the iron ranges.

We headed down to the Edna G. - one of the tugboats that used to service the boats on Lake Superior.
The walk was lined with wildflowers... which was a treat for my girls.



And then.... a stop to see THE Moose!


It took awhile for Nicole to warm up to ole Moosey... but once she did - she didn't want to leave him!

Minnesota 2011 - part 2

We had a great time in Two Harbors hanging out with Grandma and Papa and Uncle Dan. The girls loved all their time outside.
They got to help Papa with his watering....


Pick some flowers that Papa left growing for them...


Megan made sure Papa knew that his bird feeder needed to be refilled....
And of course, Papa let his little granddaughters help fill it back up....
Then he got a little dirty with some sidewalk chalk...
Lots more trips to the park.....


We stopped in to visit with Auntie Hazel. This is the girls great great aunt.
And family is the reason our trips up are so special! We love you Uncle Dan!
The "original" family... the boys and their parents.
Our Ga Blaisdell family with our MN grandparents...
Don't think we are done with MN....ooooh no!

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Minnesota 2011 - part 1

We are home and starting to settle in from our 2 week trip to Minnesota. We had a great time road tripping up to the North Shore and hanging out with Grandma, Papa and Uncle Dan in Two Harbors.

The girls did great with the 20 hour drive up - we had 2 nights in hotels and they both thought that was awesome! Once we got there - they spent no time being shy. Oh no, not these girls - they immediately took the spotlight! Literally....

Megan and her tinker toy mic had a captive audience with Grandma and Papa!
Nicole felt that it should be open mic night and wanted in on the action...
We had a great time visiting the local playground - we were there a lot!


My littlest viking just adored her Uncle Dan (like her big sister does)...



Nicole even jumped into Uncle Dan's arms for bedtime books.
Megan settled for dear ole Dad as the evening storyteller...
I love that picture! You can tell they are brothers, and you can tell they are sisters.
Grandma's organ got lots of workouts...
Auntie Mary and Uncle David came to visit and the girls had a hayday with the sidewalk chalk they brought - as well as several other fun gifts.

Oh yes, the wood swing at the Two Harbors Dairy Queen!!!!!
Grandma was quite the book reader for the girls as well....




There will be lots more to come - but at least it's a start!
Speaking of starts.... Megan starts her first day of pre-k tomorrow! Oh my goodness - how is that possible???????