Up near Lake Mille Lacs

A few photos from near the Lake Mille Lacs area. I love the photo I took of the tower before I climbed it. Neat perspective. Was a 175 stair climb to the top. Was worth the climb. Was so neat to be above the trees and see the area...the trees that span out to the lake ...Got some neat shots of the graffiti etched into the stairs and the walls of the look-out. My fav: "Don't give up! It's worth it...once you get there!"

Toys 4 Tots Ride

Did our annual Toys 4 Tots ride in Mid-July. Always good to see the friends and spend the day on the bike. Only..this year was BRUTAL. It was overcast and the wind blew a solid 30mph most of the day. We were SO wind burnt...tired..ugh! If it weren't for such a good cause...I'd have given that up!

Girls' Night Out

Of course.. GNO(Girls' Night Out) is always a welcome event! I think we started out doing this like once a month. Now...it's sometimes more than that and we also incorporate "Thirsty Thursday" on a regular basis. This group is awesome! And we do allow the hubbies along...and have a few single pals that are dubbed the 'token males'.

I'm not really sure how many are actually on the 'list' of people contacted...I'm sure it must be over 30. We have several regulars...the main 15 I would guess.. that show up to most events.

Just got done attending Belgian American Days the first weekend of August over in Ghent. We love Dueling Pianos ;)

It's good to have an outlet...a place to go...people to hang with.

Summer...ahhhh summer...

Summer is nearly over. Odd. We still have 3 weeks until the lil' yellow buses begin making their pick-ups. But ...we are all ready! 14 weeks is TOO LONG of a break.

Been a good summer. The kids have had many fun activities. Michaela has just recently returned from her annual dino dig volunteer gig in ND. She and Ray had a great time! Then she got SEVERLY burnt at the beach in SC. SIGH! Apparently she was quite distracted by some clams and forgot to REAPPLY the sunscreen!

The Smalls just returned a couple days ago from Spokane. They had a great week with their dad and visiting friends. And a nice visit with our favs the Shawleys.

We've had friends over...lots of play dates...late nights..

Michaela had her wisdom teeth out last week. She's doing well thought still a bit swollen. But she did awesome! Next week she turns 16. ZOINKS! And we're looking at the calendar and seeing when we can fit her driver's exam in....hard to believe!

Went to the HS today and picked up her school schedule for the year and get the audition info for the fall play: Seussical the Musical.

Rebecca is getting excited to start band practice. She's chosen the flute.

Still need to tackle those daunting school supply lists. This year's boggler: Why does a 5th grader need 48 pencils?? Really??

Sherburne Nature Preserve

While spending a lot of time in the Cities over the past few months doing some hygiene subbing, I've been partaking of the many parks etc around the Twin Cities areas.

These are a few shots from Sherburne Nature Preserve at the north end of the Cities near Elk River.

I never did this when I lived there. I dunno why. There are HEAPS and they are fantastic. I love getting out, hiking, taking in the peace and just...being..alone. Alone with my thoughts, feelings and well...me.

Just last week I was offered a permanent position with an office in Apple Valley. It's very PT, but at least it allows me to scrape teeth! And will keep me afloat while I keep searching for a permanent FT position.

Kitchen Experiments

The cool weather the past few days makes me wanna bake. Mmmmmmmmmm! So we whipped up a batch of one of my childhood favs: Waffle Cookies. They are the sole reason I own a waffle iron.

Then in this month's issue of Family Fun Magazine, they had a recipe for PB cookies you shape into Guinnea Pigs in honor of the new movie G-Force. They are cute, but the dough needs a bit of tweaking.. Tasty nonetheless!

How does your garden grow?

I took a few snap shots of some of my favorite garden lovlies this year. Unfortunately, for some of my plants, it's not been a hot summer here. Particularly so for the tropical trees which have yet to sprout a bud much less bloom. SIGH! I personally do not mind the lack of humidity, but this weekend's temps were in the 60s and that was excessively cool!

I was in Elk River on Thursday to see the Tim Mahoney Band perform at an outdoor venue. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!! OMG! But so worth it! I hadn't seen the band (one of my MN favs) in over two yrs. Good times! They still rock!