Vacation Week: Final Hurrah

We had our final vacation hurrah on Sunday.  Jimmy's parents took the kids for the afternoon so we could go to the Twins game with our friends, Eric and Aubrey.  The Twins are having a historic year in a lot of ways, so we've been trying to go more than we usually do.

 It was a slow start, but that gave us a good chance to chat and catch up.  The Twins were up 7-2 going in to the ninth.  Detroit had the start of a rally going, but we were able to finish them off 7-4.  Could be a fun fall at Target Field.

 Lastly, I hosted my church fantasy football draft in the evening.  Man, we really crammed it in last week.  Bring on fall!

Vacation Week: Minnesota State Fair

One of my favorite days of the year, Minnesota State Fair day!  We arrive there kid-free about 7:30.  It was crisp and cool, but not expected to get too hot.  We pretty much stuck to our normal routine, check out all the merchandise, eat lots of food, scope out cars and animals.

We stayed long enough to catch the parade, which we aren't usually around long enough for.  Our school district's marching band performed and I got to see one of my youth group kids.

As always, the food was the biggest highlight.  This year's menu was: cheese curds, mini donut latte, root beer float Jonny Pop, pronto pup, lefse, chocolate Minneapple pie, Sweet Martha's cookies, chili dog, beef stick, Australian battered potatoes, french fries, and Diet Pepsi.

Until next year!!

Vacation Week: Park Hopping

We did a good amount of park hopping during vacation week and Esme was already feeling the burn from the other fun we were having.

We grabbed a pizza and played at Elm Creek Park on Thursday night before dropping the kids off at my parents (again, I know!) Parker tried a glider board thing for the first time and climbed on a rope structure with another boy while Esme enjoyed the ladybug rocker.

We went to a more local park on Saturday morning.  Parker rode the zipline and tire swing most of time and Esme tried the zipline for the first time.

Esme didn't really take an afternoon nap and ended up falling asleep on the couch just before dinner.  Talk about an exhausting week!

Vacation Week: Bubbles and Bears

On Wednesday, we hung out at home in the morning.  The kids got a new bubble gun and Esme was having the most fun with it!

We took a drive out to Stillwater in the late afternoon to check out some shops and play at the park.  Tremblay's is our favorite candy shop from our trips to Hayward, WI on the way to the Bayfield Apple Fest.

We stumbled on a classic car show that was fun to walk through.

There was a hot dog stand (River Dogs), so I grabbed a chili dog topped with french fried onions.

A family photo with the Stillwater Lift Bridge, then a twist cone from MN Nice Cream.

Our final stop was up a big hill, Teddy Bear Park.  They have a play structure that mimics the lift bridge, rock walls, a train toddler structure, sandbox, and it's namesake teddy bear statues.

A fun little respite for the kids and mom and dad.