Labor Day Weekend!!

Dear, dear daughter's!!

Sign says: 'Swimsuits optional beyond this point'!!

Nicest dock on Norway Lake!

Autumn beauty in Minnesota!

(Sunset cruise on the pontoon!)

Beach Baby!!

Birthday Bras! (9.1.09)

Happy Birthday Dear Sister!
(The bras showed up again for Labor Day weekend!)

Grandma's joy!

Boy at play!

'Gpa, I don't like my hood up!'

'GPA.......

.......get me outta' here!'

Four Generations!

Labor Day weekend we spent the days out at my sister Julie's cabin on Norway Lake!(Only 15 minutes from our house!) Randi and Eli came home (Nick had a softball tournament in Rochester) for a couple of days!

What fun, family time we had!

VACATION!!

For this summers vacation we were undecided on where we wanted to go! One idea was to go back to Sturgis for the 10th time. It's been 4 years since we had been there and a last minute conversation with friends helped us decide. Susan and Scott wanted to celebrate their 15th anniversary doing something they had never done before! So why not the historic Sturgis Motorcycle Rally? They borrowed a bike and got things ready in just a few days!

For Tim and I, our list consisted of:

Camping gear UPS'd out to Hans and Paula's! Check!

Maintenance on Road King! Check!

Clothes packed! Check!

Someone to water plants! Check!

Bills all paid! Check!

Ready to go! Check!

Here's a few of our highlights!

Bridal Veil Falls, Spearfish Canyon, South Dakota!

One Eyed Jack's balcony, Sturgis, South Dakota!

Our host and hostess, Hans and Paula at Bullwacker's in Whitewood, SD!





One day we headed to Wyoming......a few stops were the Stone House, Aladdin and Sundance!!

With fewer days and some threatening weather this trip, we only put on 1357 miles. All safe and enjoyable! And the scenery in the Black Hills is breathtaking!! The people watching always adds to the enjoyment! Amusing and sometimes shocking! And sometimes taking another groups picture you find out they know your North Dakota relatives! Small world!

Even though it's good to go on vacation, getting back home is even better!

LATE POST OF OUR FOURTH OF JULY FUN!!!

Since I have no energy or time to create I thought I would post pictures of the fun we had on the Fourth of July! After walking the parade in Spicer for the Legion Tim and I participated in the boat parade on our friends lake. New theme this year! Gilligan's Island! What Fun!!

(Click on the pictures to view larger!)

Gilligan, Ginger, Mary Ann, the Skipper and the Professor!

here's everyone,
including the Millionaire and his wife
....Lovie and Thurston!

..... the Zimmer's boat....all patriotic!!

The parade watchers.....

My dh soaking the floaters!!! Ha!

I think we counted 30+ people on this moving float!

What a blast!! We even played the Gilligan's Island theme song!(Now we are sick of it!)

Hope we have some more gorgeous summer weather this weekend....

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...how about you, you, you....you can come too, too, too....we're going to the zoo!

Do any of you know that song? It always sticks in my head when we talk about going to Como!!

And what a beautiful day we had....

yesterday we walked to Como Z00 from Randi and Nick's home!

The weather was perfect....warm with a breeze!

Como Park Z00 was started in the late 1800's and the first animals were 3 deer placed there in 1897! I've only been there a few times(my senior class went there for part of our senior class trip!) and we took the girls there a couple of times! Como is really a great family day trip! (They only ask for a free-will donation of $1-$2!) We plan to make many more trips to the park, we didn't even see half yesterday!

And Eli was such a trooper....he got to see 'Sparky' the seal preform!

He also saw the ape's (lower left in picture),

...the lions..
...the giraffe's.....
...and many other animals!


...and then after taking a nap on our walk back from Como he had a little lounging time in the back yard! What a great day!

On our way in and out of the park we checked out Como Town!!

Eli will be ready for a few rides next year.....good old fashioned fun!!!

Well, off to work......hope all of you have a great week!

WAHOO FOR SNOW!!

This is the view out my office window at 11:30!!

Yep, that's a school bus!

School got out early, most of my clients canceled!

And this is a view out my Pathfinders window!

It's a four-wheel drive day!

The snow is accumulating!!!

And it looks like enough for.....

SNOWMOBILING!!!!

I was hoping to be able to go once more

this year!!!

(I'll let you know if we do!)