Summer happenings

With summer here and Emily at daycare only 2 days a week, we're trying to make the most of our time together.

We've been working on our landscaping.  We've never really decided what to do with our 2 large planters in the front of our house but I think we finally figured it out.  Thanks to Patrick's mom, Val, we now have perennial Stella de Oro lilly plants as our base and accented the planters with purple wave petunias.  Top off the soil with a nice, dark mulch and voila:

We know it doesn't look like much but if you saw it before, you would appreciate how much it has changed.  I neglected to take a before picture : (

The dogs love to bark out of the windows at just about everything, you name it!  In order to see out of the windows they have to jump up to see out of them.  So needless to say, they have worn away the finish on a few of our window frames over the five years we've been here.  I took it upon myself to sand and stain the frames.  This brought the window frames back to their original splendor.  Again, something that doesn't look like much but knowing the condition they were in, Patrick and I are very happy with the results.

Patrick and I invested in a bike trailer so that we can take family rides and Emily and I can use it during the day.  She seemed excited about it before we were on the first ride but during the ride just sat and looked around, not much expression so we're not sure exactly how she feels about it but it worked great for us!

Emily and I have been visiting lots of what Minnesota has to offer and have been enjoying the nice weather.  I think it's safe to say that Emily loves water, so we finally made it to a splash pad in Minnehaha Park.  Since I was in the water and didn't want my phone to end up there too, I only got a couple of pictures but Emily enjoyed the water and watching all the big kids running around in it.

We also made it to a splash pad and beach in Blaine with my mom.  Emily was fearless, which is kind of scary.  She walked out into the water up to her chest refusing to hold my hand.  She wants to do everything herself lately.

Last weekend we headed up to Duluth for the day to participate in the wedding celebration of one of Patrick's cousins.  It was a great day.  We visited the Superior Zoo before the ceremony and Emily danced the day away on the dance floor.  The dance floor was definitely dominated by the many kids there since it was an afternoon wedding.

This summer also marked Emily's first visit to the Mill City Farmer's Market.  We're lucky enough to live within a few miles of downtown so we were able to ride our bikes there.  We enjoyed a coffee, croissant and cookie while overlooking the Mississippi River and Stone Arch Bridge.  It was a great morning!

Pre-Ride

Post-Ride

Chocolate Croissant Face

My brother Pat is also staying here a few nights a week to cut down on his commute to work.  Welcome to our crazy home Pat!

Happy Fourth of July!
The Harrisons