MN Landscape Arboretum

Today we decided to go to the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum with Grandma Judy and Dave. They have so much to see and do!
It's definitely fall - you can tell by all of the pumpkins and gourds :-) They had a building with crafts and a green house and a cool play area outside where everything was made from the surrounding trees... stick tunnels and even a pine cone house! The it was off to the Japanese garden and the beautiful rose gardens... They also had a reflection globe garden - Madeline couldn't figure out why she couldn't move the shiny balls! All of the gardens were so pretty with all kinds of plants, fountains, buildings, insects and streams :-) What a great place to get outside and wear off some energy!!!

Work-Out time?

We recently went down to Grandma Judy's and brought our exercise bike back to the apartment. With the cold of winter coming mommy and daddy need something to keep them active! Madeline doesn't really need anything to keep her active - she runs everywhere, but she wanted to give it a try... We think it'll be a few more years before her feet touch :-)

Reading Books with Dad

Today we took it easy at home. Madeline had a great time playing with dad, reading books and just being goofy in general :-)

Labor Day Bike Ride

Another beautiful day so we decided to spend it outside! Grandma Judy brought her bike up to our place and we hit the trails. First we biked to Lake Calhoun and stopped for a hot dog for lunch. Then we continued on our way.. stopping at a few parks along the way. We went 8+ miles so it was a great way to get out and be active!

Canterbury Park

Just like last year, we headed to Canterbury Park for the Sunday before Labor Day. The weather was gorgeous, so watching the horse races outside was perfect! Madeline loved watching the horses go around and around :-)

State Fair Time!

Today Aunt Melanie drove up and we went to the MN State Fair! First we went to the baby animal barns - always a hit with Madeline :-) Then we walked all over finding everything we could to eat that came On-A-Stick :-) We had all of the following on a stick: Big Fat Bacon, Shrimp, Reuben, Mac 'N Cheese, Homemade Tator Tots, and Porcupine Balls (actually made of wild rice and ground pork) and Pizza! It's great to have a few people sharing so we can taste a lot of different things!!!
Aunt Melanie took Madeline on the carousel again this year....
This year's picture: Last year's picture: Then we finished off the day by getting Fried Cheese Curds - absolutely the best reason to go to the fair! You can bet we'll be back next year :-)

Thing 1 and Thing 2

Uncle Keith sent Madeline a new shirt and today Mommy and Madeline decided to dress up as twins when we went to swimming lessons! Madeline thought it was so fun!
Then it was off to swimming - it was Daddy's turn to take her in the pool: She's getting so good at kicking her feet! Miss Natalie was so proud :-) She can even swim all by herself with the swim noodle!!! She just LOVES swimming :-)

One Last Day...

Today we got up, ate breakfast and started to pack everything up. Madeline kept busy by driving her cars up and down the Bike Trailer Hitch... so creative and it kept her busy for a long time! Once we got everything packed up we decided to hit the trail one more time. This time we walked a mile or 2 in the opposite direction and explored yet another lake - what a great trip!

20+ Miles - A Beautiful Ride!

Today we packed a lunch and headed out on the trail back towards Waseca. The trail was sooo nice! Completely paved and shaded with very few hills (we're sure that's because it used to be a railroad track) making it a very easy and enjoyable ride :-) First we stopped in Waseca and let Madeline play at the park - needless to say she had a great time. Then we biked about 8.5 miles from Waseca to the next town over - Elysian. Here we stopped for lunch at the Bear's Den. There are lakes ALL over Minnesota so of course Elysian has a public beach. Madeline and Daddy had an absolutely wonderful time playing in the water... and Mommy helped build sand castles on the beach! It was hard to convince her to leave , but we had to make it back to the campground to meet aunt Melanie and cook some dinner!

Camping in MN

Our last camping tip was so fun we decided that it was definitely something we wanted to again! This time we decided to stay closer to home and only drove about an hour and a half south to Waseca and the Sakatah State Park. We chose this park because of the Sakatah-Singing Hills State Trail, a 10-foot wide, 39 mile paved trail set up on an old railroad way. Since getting the new bike trailer for Madeline we've really enjoyed biking on all the great trails all over Minnesota and thought this would be great for our second camping trip! We left when Matt got home from work so we didn't get there until later in the day, but we started up the camp fire and cooked some dinner. We can't wait for our big bile ride tomorrow!