Day 4 of Minnesota

After running around for a few days, the girls had rested up and were up bright and early. We decided (well, I did) to make a walk down by the lake after I got my daily dose of Caribou coffee.

The locals all told us how far the water levels in the lake dropped, but I had to see it with my own eyes. I could hardly believe it. There was grass growing in the middle of our lake! This was the sunrise. It was hazy because of a wildfire burning somewhere in Canada.

Not too many boats were tied out. The boat launches were very shallow and because of this, there wasn't much traffic on the lake. There were the die hard fishermen that dumped a few boats. the girls thought it was interesting to watch as a van backed up the trailer to dump a boat in. They were very concerned that the van was going in too.

We visited the historic 2 story gazebo. This was constructed over one hundred years ago (and restored a couple of times) by a WBL man for his daughter's wedding. You can still get married there.

Our pretty little girls. Yes, I made them wear their matching dresses. Annalise still likes to match, but I think this may be the last time Evie will allow herself to be dressed as "twins" with Annalise. I think she has finally gotten to the age where she can be embarrassed.

My goofy Shlee. What a cutie.

We took a walk along the "new" Lake Avenue. They repaved it since we left and put in a nice berm and flower beds. The girls were impressed by the height of these lilies.

After hanging around the lake until we were too hot, we headed down to pick up Laura, Nate and Michele and go to the Minnesota Science Museum.

It overlooks the banks of the Mississippi River and the trains that come in to the station. This was the daily Amtrack. Inside, there was all kinds of stuff to do and I was busy trailing kids instead of taking pictures.

On occasion, they did stand still enough for me to get a picture. Here is Annalise building yet another barn.

Evie was working on some structure to see what pieces she could take out without knocking it down.

Later, after we saw the dinosaurs, the weather lab, the grass maze, and the rock collections, the girls played with the air and ping pong table.

Sometimes I forget that Annalise isn't a baby and is almost 4. I wouldn't be surprised that Evie was coordinated enough to do this at 4, but Annalise reminded me that she is growing up and can figure out things too.

Evie and Laura had a good time making a ping pong ball move across the table.

That night we went to Marketfest. it was fun for the adults, but a whiny mess for the tired and hungry kids. We left early (but not before a serving of cheese curds, mini donuts, and lemonade) and threw them in bed.