Cape Town: Baboons, Penguins, and Whales

Cape Town, South Africa is an amazing place.  The views are incredible, the food is great, and the weather is wonderful.  We were concerned about safety before coming, but haven't felt threatened at all. We felt more concerned for our safety in Barcelona than Cape Town.

It is hard to explain Cape Town.

• It's beautiful like Lake Tahoe, only not expensive.
• It's polite like England, only they don't respect traffic laws.
• It's common to see people waiting on the side of the road like Mexico, only the roads are paved.
• It's racially and economically divided like Missouri, only not everyone carries guns.
• It has wonderful hiking options like Colorado, only you can surf too.
• The shoreline is dynamic like San Diego, only you don't have to go to the zoo to see penguins and baboons.

Of all the places we have been fortunate enough to visit over the past three years, this is high on the list to visit again. If it wasn't so far away, it would easily make a wonderful place to live.

Lake District Again

Sunday was a great day in the Lake District National Park!  We had a great day out with our friends, the Weavings.

Mara is 5!

Mara turned 5 yesterday.  Incredible to see our little girl grow up so fast.  She had a wonderful birthday two weeks - since she celebrated on two continents, and got to celebrate with her cousin Elsa:)

More MN Highlights

We spent the 2nd week with Auntie J, Uncle Betty and Chaya at their house in St. Louis Park. We had the whole basement to ourselves! There were many parks, a freezing cold morning at the lake, s'mores and a fantastic BBQ complete with visits with close friends. 

Grandma Pam would have been 64 on August 28th. She absolutely LOVED the Minnesota State Fair and went there every year for her birthday with Janessa. So, we thought it only appropriate to go to the the fair on her birthday this year too. We also bought a tribute brick, in her honor, that can be found by the Grand Stand. It was a lovely day of eating and people watching. What a fabulous week! We can't wait to go back again next year...hopefully with Josh in tow this time!

Minnesota Cabin Highlights

Our trip back to MN this year was a bit different for a few reasons:

1. Josh was unable to come with.

2. The weather didn't cooperate.

3. Grandpa is officially retired!

4. Grandma Pam wasn't there to greet us.

However, we did make the best of it and were SO GLAD to be with family and the best of friends. Our first stop was in Brainerd with Grandma and Grandpa. We had planned to be out at the lake most of the days, but as stated above, the weather didn't cooperate. We were lucky enough to have one fun day of boating and tubing! The girls had a blast tubing with Auntie Kirk.

Lake District Part 2

The girls aren't back until tomorrow, so off I went to the Lake District again.  The weather wasn't as nice, but still not bad at all.  I remember thinking at one point that it would be terrible to be stuck on the mountain if it started raining...and it did, but wasn't enough to be completely miserable.

Lake District Hike

England's Lake District rivals Yosemite, and at just two hours from our house, it's a shame we haven't spent more time there.  Since the girls are in MN without me, I made the best of some nice weather nearby.  After a two-hour drive, and a two hour hike, I was rewarded with an incredible view:

Manley Mere Trail

A few weeks ago, we were invited to the Manley Mere Trail with a group of friends.  What a great day out!

1-Day in London

A few quick photos from 24hrs in London: