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:

Prague by Night

It is easy to see why Prague is such a popular tourist destination.  The city is beautiful and comes alive at night.  There are as many people out at midnight as there are at noon.  There is live music everywhere, and Czechs drink a lot of beer.  The consumer per capita is twice that of America.

We capped our trip with a few night photos, and a few more miles on foot.  Kirk snapped a few really pretty pictures of the city.

Thanks for coming to visit Auntie Kirk!  You will be missed dearly!  See you on the other side of the pond. 

Prague Highlights: Part 2

Our final full day of Prague was filled with food, more walking, a coffee experiment for Outing, and some 'pretty good shopping'.

We sampled lots of local fare from street vendors today in the Old Town Square.  Spiral potatoes, some cabbage/bacon/potato mix, Trdelnik (some delicious sugar pastry thing), sausage, and some wonderful Old Prague Ham (except for the hunks that Outing dropped 2 minutes after buying:)).

And finally, Mara narrowly averted being eaten by a hippo in the park:

Prague Highlights: Part 1

Prague is a highly acclaimed city.  We found it wonderful and a lot of walking.  We've been averaging 18,500 steps a day (about 9 miles/day).  Our girls lasted surprisingly well over the 50+ miles this week:)

The cityscapes are incredible, and there are thousands of tourists everywhere.  Prague has over 8 million visitors every year and is 7th among European cities for visitors (top six are: London, Paris, Rome, Barcelona, Dublin, and Moscow).

We had a fabulous night view of the city from our apartment:

Found another rainbow on our walk home...

We took a lovely boat ride in the rain...
Celebrated Mara the Princess...

Enjoyed the lovely streets of Prague...

Enjoyed a relaxing boat ride...

And saw the world's largest Castle...