Timpanoga Caves

I got this bright idea that Gavin needed to see Timpanoga Caves. I had this same bright idea 25 yrs ago when we took Clay & Chels and Tom had to carry Chel most of the way up. When I called to make reservations, the gal on the phone (very friendly and in her early twenties I'm guessing)  told me we may want to come early and allow extra time since I told her we were grandparents taking our 5 yr old grandson. She had me scared by the time we arrived. We took our time, took lots of water & snacks, and it was great.

I'm hoping in another 25 or 30 yrs Boo will hike up with his kids and tell them about the time he hiked it with his "old" Mimi and Papa. Tom said he thinks this will be the last time he hikes it. Unless Killian wants to go....

3/4 of the way.



Made it to the top. Yah!



Beautiful inside.

The "heart" of Timpanoga's.

Boo Bits

Boo:  "How far is it to Killians?"
Me: "Six Hundred Miles or 9 or 10 hours"
Boo: "Is there a shortcut?"  
(Tom told him yes, it is called an airplane.)

While watching TV a cute girl comes on and Boo and I started talking about what kind of girls he thinks are pretty. He thinks his mommy is pretty. After naming several I asked him if he thought Lacey was Hot.
He said "Hot, like sweating"?

We spent Sunday cruising the St Croix River.

Captain Dave & YvonneAn interesting boat~you can also drive it on land.

It's called an Amphicar.

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The oldest lift bridge still working in the U.S. It raises almost every hour and causes quite a traffic jam for the cars waiting to cross the bridge.  I walked across the bridge on Sat because the WI state line was on the other side and I wanted to say I'd been in Wisconsin.

The water has this brown tint to it but is one of the cleanest bodies of water around.

Hot ladies on the bough of the boat.

Dave & Yvonne's House

The front porch.

We had fresh flowers in our rooms. They made us feel so welcome.

Brandy, the cutest puppy dog eyes ever.

LaVyrle Spencers Moving Sale

LaVyrle Spencer (a famous author who writes romance novels) lives near Dave & Yvonne and was having a moving sale. We drove by and we really wanted to stop but the boys were waiting on the boat for us. I loved her house.

Jason & Jans House in Chanhassen, MN

We found out my cousin Jason's House was only 1/2 hour from our hotel on Mon night so we went to see them. They bought this old farmhouse several years ago and have raised the roof, dug a basement, built on,  and remodeled most of it. Wow, lots of work and its very nice. As a bonus my Aunt Helen & Uncle Lloyd were there from Nebraska along with two of their grandsons. So fun to see family when you're far away from home.

Stillwater, MN ~ A lumbering town in the late 1800's. Now a tourist town with antique shops, stores & restaurants on the St. Croix River.

The Freight House Restaurant. We had dinner here Sun night and it was so good we ate lunch on Mon also. They served a good Willy Sandwich. It was chicken salad sandwich on cinnamon raisin bread, cheese and a pineapple slice on top

Had to put the guys in Day Care so we could go shopping for a bit.




 

A mural of what the river looked like in the late 1800's.



We climbed 156 steps to get this view of the St. Croix river. The next day the tour trolley drove us up here.

Many of the lumber barons beautiful old homes are now bed and breakfast inns . They were beautiful.



Bucket List

Just got home from MN. Killians Great Aunt and Great Uncle invited us and his Papa Wendell & Nana to their house in Stillwater, MN. It was a wonderful couple days. The bonus was I got to  go to The Mall of America also today. This is one of the places on my bucket list. I felt like I was going to Disneyland this morning. It wasn't that good, but it was fun.

A few pictures inside the mall~we were wishing Gavin & Killian were with us.

All made out of Lego's.

We started at the aquarium, went shopping, then went back to the aquarium before flying home. They had really nice displays.

Tara told Killian "Ethan is coming tonight". 

K said "Ethan and Chloe?" ( his cousins)?

Tara said "No the OTHER Ethan (Clays friends son)

K: "and the OTHER Chloe?""

Running as fast as mine can.

I was talking on the phone to Clay & K last night when Tara got home.
Clay: "Killian, Mama's home, go look out the window."
K is so excited and takes off.
Killian: "Hi Mama, I running as fast as mine can."

Mimi Day 072011 First crappie of the summer

We hung out at our house most of the day, played basketkball at a court down the street that Boo's been wanting to go to, then in the evening went for a drive up the canyon to hunt for bugs, snakes and tarantulas. Luckily we only found ants and a spider. Boo and Papa fished in the evening and caught this nice crappie after some powerful Mimi kisses. 

My new KIA

My husband decided I needed a new car. My Explorer only has 111,000 miles on it, so I'm not sure why I need a new one. I have had 3 Explorers in the past 17 years & was kicking & screaming everytime I had to get a new one.  I  like the GPS, Bluetooth, and Sirius Radio in this KIA so I'll get used to it & will be screaming in 5 yrs when he trades it in. Thank you Tom for taking care of me. I hate buying new cars, and that is why he goes without me and surprises me with them. And I'm very happy about it... so he doesn't trade me in. 

Tom told his friend Charles he bought me a Kia. His friend said "Ikea? You bought your wife a store?" 

Yep that's how much he loves me. ha 

Camping at Echo Lake

We camped at Echo Lake with Wendell, Carole, Rennie, Karen, Chuck & Amalee.

Chelsea, Carrie, Gavin, Emryee, & Avery stayed at the Best Western a couple miles away. It was a great week-end and so nice to get out of town.  We ate lots, roasted marshmallows and Alex & Marianne came to our campfire Sat night and Alex played the guitar.  Gavin LOVED throwing rocks in the lake as he's not supposed to do this at our house. This brought on a whole new set of questions. Who buys the rocks here? Where do rocks come from? How do you know if the rocks are meteorites?

Boo just enjoying being out of Tooele County.

Setting a new trend with the stylish camping hat.

Carrie found a Dolly Pardon balloon.

Papa swimming in the lake with the kids.

They didn't have much luck fishing, but they tried.

The lake is really high right now.

Getting ready to get in the lake with all the floating devices.

Swimming in the pool at the Best Western.

Rennie windsurfing.

Chelsea;  the camp art director.

Our camping neighbors

Looking up from the lake at our campground.