State Parks Day

We visited Wild River State Park near Taylors Falls today for visit your State Parks Day. The park was about 50 minutes from our house. We were surprised we had never been to it before. We walked the loop next to the St. Croix River. There was a good breeze when we were up on upper trail. We were thankful to have some time without the horseflies there to pester. We are hoping to not see any horseflies in Canada while we hike. Dan ended up with a tick on himself at this site so hikers beware of the grassy trails. Thank goodness it was just crawling and we spotted it easily.

Beach Time at Bellaire

This year we will be gone for the annual sand castle building competition, however, Emma still made a plan to make it to the beach with friends.

She invited Lily, Nevaeh, Tabi, Grace and Lilynn to the beach for some paddle boarding and kayaking. Unfortunately the waves were high so they went in the water a bit but mainly played board games and hung out.

Analise, Tessa and Mom also joined the crew by biking to Bellaire beach from Tessa's house. The girls played badminton in the shade as well as took some trips out into the water.

We also visited the library on our bikes to pick up the summer reading program forms. It was quite a bit of work to get this all organized. At least the weather was nice and the girls had a great time.

Ancestor Look Up at the Library

Erin has become fascinated with knowing her ancestor's history and seeing if she can apply for Canadian citizenship status. Aunt Joan, Emma, Analise and Erin went to the Minnesota Historical Society library to try to find birth and death certificates as well as marriage and names change documents.

We learned that one of Erin's great-great grandmothers ran a boarding house in Montreal, Canada. Her name was Catherine O' Burrell (where grandma Burrell got her first name from...She never liked that name and wished she was called something else). It was interesting to use the Microfilm and Ancestory.com sites at the library. We will definitely be back for some more digging in the future.

This last image has us look for obits in the Duluth 1904 newspaper. We got some good laughs at the articles they published about health at that time and read some interesting things about the rumblings of war. We will definitely have to go back at look at old newspapers just for the fun of it.

Little Women at the Guthrie

Today we decided to try the rush line at the Guthrie. Typically the Guthrie's shows are a bit out of our price range but we heard that "Little Women" was the show to see from so many people. We decided to try for it. We went an hour early to the show picked up our tickets and then headed to the Mill City Ruins and Stone Arch Bridge to check out the Minneapolis sites.

There was definitely a younger person vibe in this part of the downtown. Lots of people out for runs, bike rides or dog walks. We all ended up really liking the "Little Women" play and we had amazing seats. Our favorite characters were Laurie and Amy who provided the comedy relief when things got tense. We would definitely go back and do the rush line again-maybe for the Christmas Carol in November.

To Grandma and Grandpa's House We Go

The girls spent time with the Walczynskis this week on Wednesday and Friday. They hung out at the park and walked the trails, went to Cucumbers buffet and did their first few pool runs of the summer at the neighbor's heated pool. Lots of card games were played and some serious math work was completed. This week we also found out that Analise was accepted at St. Croix Prep Academy. Lots of big changes coming our way soon.

On the second grandparents day, the girls walked around Lake Vadnais and Sucker Creek.

The girls also helped out at Feed My Starving Children with Erin's student council group. They joined our field trip and provided support for our teams of students.

Everyone swapped jobs frequently. Both Emma and Analise got to scoop and weigh food. By the end of the shift we packed 151 boxes for Hondurus. They also helped read and play math games with first graders for the remainder of the day.

Old Friends Back Together Again

Patience, Mike, Violet, Oscar and Simon came back to Minnesota for a visit at the end of May. The crew came over to our house. We started off playing a drawing game called "Picto-phone" where you draw something pass the paper then next person writes words for what they see. Then they cover up the picture and the next person sees only the words and has to draw what they see. It was a hilarious activity to get us all talking and smiling. Then Emma set to finishing her drawing for the library card contest.

Violet and Patience gave suggestions to help her make finishing touches and we dropped it off at the library right before the closing time. While adults talked, the kids played Apples to Apples and Cornhole.

Here is a picture of Emma and Violet at one of our first get togethers (they are both in orange). They were both toddler/preschool age at that point. It is hard to believe that Charlotte (the one in the front) is moving onto college at Northwestern next year. Analise had just been born when we took the initial photo and the boys would come a few years later.

Once again lots of laughter was heard and the group got along really well. It was great to catch up and see where life is taking others. Mike just got his license to drive truck and Patience switched to a new position at the hospital. Violet has started driving a bit and the boys are growing up so fast. It is hard to believe that all of the group will be in middle school as of next year.

End of Year Party and Summer Plans

Emma and Analise wrapped up their school events with the end of the year party. Emma hung out with Tabi, Cassidy and Lily. After the beach party, the 8th grade headed to Ava Carr's house for another evening gathering. A variety of sports were played and people hung out for one last time.

Cece, Lily, Hannah, Emma, Nevaeh, Lilynn, Gracie, Emma H.

Analise hung out with Tessa, Ella and Ellie. Then Analise went over to Tessa's house for more hours of fun. She came home exhausted.

Emma and Analise both are going different directions with their interests this summer. Emma is taking a biochemistry class online and Analise is taking a weather class. They both want to explore art a bit more as well. Analise will be focusing on her gymnastics an additional day of the week over the summer while Emma starts to tutor an elementary student in math.

Here are some current photos of the girls as Analise moves onto 7th grade and Emma moves onto 9th. High school here we come!