Memorial Day Weekend - Flandrau State Park

On Memorial Day Weekend, we were supposed to meet Uncle Don camping. However, plans changed at the last minute and he couldn't make it. On a fly, we started calling nearby state parks for potential availability. We landed at Flandau State Park, in New Ulm, about 1 1/2 hours from the Twin Cities. We had a great weekend. At our campsite, the kids enjoyed playing games and making smores and exploring. And on the first night, Presley lost a tooth. On the second night, she got a surprise visit from the tooth fairy who came and brought her a dollar coin for her tooth. This was also an exciting weekend because the kids got to try out their new fishing poles (even if we didn't catch anything). And the kids impressed Mom and Dad by hiking a 3 mile river trail (without much complaining). On our last day, we stopped by the Schell brewery, a quaint local brewery with beautiful gardens and live peacocks. This was Mom's 3rd brewery in less than a week :).

Mom's Girl's Trip to Colorado

The weekend of May 15th, Mom ventured to Denver with her high school girlfriends for a girls' weekend getaway. The weekend was a blast with hikes through Red Rocks, girls' night out on the town, Coors Brewery and Golden City brewery tours (and a hug with Brian and Sarah Narajowski), scalping (or not) for Red Rock concert tickets, and shopping like we used to do when we were younger. The good thing of us living in different cities is that we can buy the same clothes :). It was a great weekend.

Mother's Day and Gymnastics

On Mother's Day, we woke up and the kids asked me what I wanted to do that day for my special day. I told them that I wanted to go the farmer's market and buy flowers. Canyon told me that was the worst idea in the world and started crying. Dad stuck up for me and we ventured into St. Paul to the farmer's market. The kids ended up having a blast, having egg sandwiches, brats and picking out the flowers for flower boxes. My highlight was at the end of the day when Canyon said, "My high today was going to the farmer's market".


Presley is really enjoying gymnastics this season. She's so excited that she asked if she could do the "meet" at the end of the season. I think she really just wants the trophies and the ribbons but she is so excited that she's even willing to wear the required leotard for the event, a huge deal for my little tomboy. Here are some pictures on the balance beam and with her class.

New Orleans Jazz Fest

Ron and I first attended Jazz Fest in 1996. This year we returned on a kid free weekend with some current and past General Mills friends and our original Jazz Fest friends. Grammie flew in from Chicago to spend time with the kids and make the weekend a reality for us. What an amazing weekend. We saw some of our favorite bands like Dave Matthews Band and Wilco, along with some new favorites like Spoon, Kinky, and the Rebirth Brass Band. We enjoyed crawfish and beignets in true New Orleans fashion. We enjoyed new hats to keep the sun out of our face and we enjoyed time as a couple! Additionally, Ron was excited to run into Terri Hemmeret from WXRT in Chicago and Alon from HP israel, some random connections. Grammie was busy with the kids, including a special concert for Canyon at the Eden Priarie High School.