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Crossing State Lines

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The end of June brought several days of PTO, and adventures across state lines. On Monday, June 23, Ava and I headed to River Falls to take a college tour of UWRF. She loves it and sees her future there! We also met up with my friend, Lisa, who I hadn't seen in over 10 years. We had a wonderful time catching up over lunch, and learning more about UWRF.


When we got back from WI, G was feeling a little neglected so I took him to our neighborhood pool for an hour. He had fun!


And then back to home to pick up Ava, and head to a local brewery/winery, where we made two pressed flower crafts each. They were fun to assemble, and something new that we had done together! We then stayed for a pizza dinner. But, by the end of the night, I think we were both really tired. Or, maybe that was just me?


Dee's - heart and ummm, flowers?


Ava's - jellyfish and fish


We had two "normal" days, and then on Thursday we left for Lake Okoboji in Iowa. G was the only one who was truly excited and open to the adventure, but by the end of the trip even Scott and Ava agreed that it was fun, and not very Iowa-like. :)

Thursday, June 26

On our way!



Stopping for a late lunch in Blue Earth


Arrived!


We played a fun round of mini-golf, pirate themed!





Friday, June 27

Breakfast at an iconic restaurant: O'Farrell Sisters




Perfect room setup - the kids had their own room; full size bed on top for G, queen size on the lower for A. Scott and I were in a different room with a king...lovely!


After breakfast, we checked out the Iowa Rock 'N' Roll Hall of Fame museum, as well as the Iowa Great Lakes Maritime Museum. Both were very interesting!



G really enjoyed playing these instruments in a "park"


We went to Arnolds Park Amusement Park - G rode a ton of rides and had a blast, with us cheering him on from the ground!





We enjoyed frozen yogurt, lakeside, for lunch



Walked a bit to enjoy the lake views


And then we loaded up for a "siesta cruise" on both East and West Lake Okoboji






It was a very warm and lovely evening to be on the water. After this we enjoyed a dinner by the marina and then headed back to relax at the resort for the evening.

Saturday, June 28

We had such busy days on Thursday and Friday that we decided to stay at the resort for the last full day. With Ava's piercings, she couldn't get in the water, but hung out in the indoor area for a bit. Scott and I floated down the lazy river, while G explored all areas of the water park. We went to the outside pool once and G attempted the very steep water slide. He didn't like it and went back to the indoor waterpark.

Scott and I opted to send the kids back to the hotel room (after we got them lunch) and then we spent several hours at the pool bar, relaxing in the sun, chatting about trying to find a place on the lake where we could head to each weekend. It was a lovely way to end the family vacation!



We stayed on property and had dinner at the beach restaurant. We tried to stay under the umbrella since it was so steamy out!



To wrap things up, we spent some time in the arcade onsite...both kids had fun winning tickets, and then spending those tickets for prizes.


Watching Saved by the Bell (each night before bed)


Lovely nighttime view of the lake from our balcony. We thought this cloud looked like a monster eating a smaller cloud. We were hoping we could see the weekly fireworks over the lake, but there was a building in the way. Boo!


Readjusting to work was a bit strange on Monday. I felt like I had no idea what had been going on there, since I was gone for three days the prior week. And then this week, we had a short week with July 4th.

My new rose bushes bloomed and that made me very happy!


This has been a great weekend so far. On Friday, I read outside on the deck (in the shade) and then took a nap on the couch while G was watching tv. Ava hung out with friends, and Scott worked on a few things in the garage. Saturday was slightly more productive, but still a very relaxing weekend day. We're all looking forward to one more day of the weekend!

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