Riverboat dinner cruise

 The St. Croix river runs between Minnesota and Wisconsin and the town of Stillwater, Minnesota is a quaint little river town with nice dining, cute shops and activities on the river, including this dinner cruise on one of the riverboats. 

 

 We boarded the Avalon, ready for a nice evening cruise.

 

 The meal was served buffet style and the food was tasty and plentiful.

 

 We chose a seat by the windows.

 

 We could also watch some activity on the other riverboats (before we started the cruise) - and near us was a wedding party boarding.  What a fun wedding reception that would be!

 

The water in the river was higher then normal. 

 

Here is a view of our dining room.  There was dining and a full buffet on the first and second floors and open-air table seating on the top/third floor.

 We had a fun dixie-land style quartet playing during the evening.  They roamed the ship.

 

 More view of the diners.

 

 They added a lot to the evening!

 

 After dinner we enjoyed the remainer of the cruise on the top deck. The weather was perfect.

 

 It was a nice night for sailing.

 

 The riverboat with the wedding reception. 

 

 After being asked to take pictures for two different groups of strangers, I was happy to have them use my camera and take a picture of the two of us together. 

 

 Following the cruise, we checked in a motel in St. Paul - on the Mississippi River.  And we had this wonderful corner room!

 

 Our view from our room was great.  We woke up the next morning and took a brisk walk in the town and went for breakfast at the iconic Mickey's diner.  I forgot to bring my camera for a picture of it but I copied one to share here.  You may have seen this diner in a movie; I can't remember which movie it was in, maybe more then one, actually.
 

A nice little weekend getaway.

Loving the lake...

 Our fun middle son knows I have the camera.... so he poses for a picture, showing his expression of happiness at being on the lake today!

 

 So, this son of his decided it was a good pose....

 

 And then so did this little daughter...

 

 Soon most of the family got into the act...

 

And finally turned around for grandma's camera!

It was another perfectly lovely ordinary day....

Door County Vacation

 It's been a long time since I last blogged.  Facebook seems more interactive and easier, but I still enjoy sharing over here on my blog.  So I thought I would share a few pictures of a sweet little vacation trip to Door County, Wisconsin; a place on our "bucket list" that others have visited and said how nice it was.  It is a penisula with Lake Michigan on both sides; very quaint and no large motel chains or big box stores in sight...  Just lovely little towns with picturesque waterfront scenes.

 There were lighthouses and state parks and hiking trails.

We spotted this deer while enjoying the outdoors...

 

 And abundant stands of beautiful blue "forget-me-nots"...

 

 We also found a little patch of trillums.  That was a big treat; we were not familiar with them before.

 We climbed the look-out tower...

 

And enjoyed the beautiful view!

 

The sunset that evening was lovely and we enjoyed these kayakers coming in at sunset.

 

 We took a ferry to Washington Island and visited the Stave church; a replica of an old Norwegian church.

 

The inside was magnificent.

 

 Everywhere you looked there was a peaceful scene.

 

And some cute shops too! 

 

We ate at the famous Al Johnson's swedish restaurant which is known for its grass roof and the goat who is often on it!

 

But our vacation meal was breakfast at the White Gull Inn in Fish Creek.  We had the popular french toast; it is a stuffed french toast... stuffed with cream cheese and cherries!  DELICIOUS!



In fact, it was SO good, I had to try my hand at making it myself! 

We enjoyed every bite!

Harbinger

 We should not be surprised, but we seem to be.... once again, snow in April here in Minnesota.  Because last year spring was early, beautiful and long, we forgot that most springs are not that way... and adding to that fact is the fact that so many of our winter storms disrupted weekend plans, so it "felt" like winter was out to get us....

 

This morning as I looked out at the snow from the storm I identified a bird that I had never seen in our backyard (which backs up to a river) before.  After investigation, I determined it was an American Woodcock.  It has been here all day and seems a bit disoriented.  However, as I read up about them I read the following encouraging news: The American Woodcock is often considered a harbinger of spring in the northern climates. 

That works for me. 



Art in the mail

Look what came in the mail for grandpa and grandma.

Fine art.  Made with love. 

Melts my heart. 



Escaping the winter!

 Winter is long in Minnesota and some years it really lingers... like this year!  So it is sometimes necessary to escape to warmer venues!  We did just that this past weekend - only traveling an hour away to a wonderful resort/waterpark.  Along with us was our middle son, his wife, and their five sweet grandchildren.  We had FUN!

 

 The waterslides were a big hit, naturally!  It was quite a climb to get to the top where the 3 different slides began their descent...

 

and part of that ride included a brief trip outside... (but still in the tube, phew!)...  notice the climate from which we were briefly escaping..

 

 And slash they came!!

 

Another splash at a smaller slide..

 

 This little person was quite happy in the shallow area for children just her size!

 

 This pretty granddaughter should go into modeling as she lights up each time the camera is close.  I like that!

 

 This energetic grandson is either offering a smile or a silly face.. here is the smile!

 

 And HERE is the BIRTHDAY BOY!  He turned 8 years old today and we think he had a grand birthday!!

 

Here is our eldest grandson - growing up so fine and handsome!  He is becoming so independent and this morning he made the choice to not swim because the lure of the arcade machines was more his style today!  How do they grow up so fast?

 

 Our little sweet pea was happy once she got bundled up!  It was cold getting out of the water!

 

 A big wave as they travel the lazy river!

 

 Lots of things to do at this waterpark including this challenge of walked across the water without falling in... the platforms would move a bit and the rope above was helpful for maintaining one's balance..  though sometimes falls into the water were inevitable!

 

One evening after dinner the children came back to their room to discover that Easter eggs werer hidden everywhere!  They were running around finding them and putting them in a pile. 

 

 Some candy was also hidden - and here "bumpa" had to help out so that this little gal could reach one high up.

 

 Lots of happy faces... and ..

 

Sometimes a not so happy face....  proving that the lack of sleep is a big deal in a child. 

She slept for hours after the weekend was over. 

We sure all had fun!



A study in contrasts

I'm not sure words are even necessary here.  Suffice it to say those of us living in the world of white are getting mighty discouraged.

This too will pass. 

Wishful thinking

 I love winter.  That being said, even I am wishing for the end of the color white....

My poor little garden.  It is hard to even remember what she is to really look like!

 

 But the day will come when she returns to some color, some greens and some blossoms!

Is it even possible?

At the present, it doesn't appear so....