Monday, October 24, 2016

Time At The Lake



Very soon after we got back from Switzerland,
we headed off to Minnesota to spend time with our extended families.



And spending time near the water was great, too!

I wanted to post a little bit about what happened even though it's been a long time since these events occurred, because they were fun and memorable.

The night we arrived, the moon was huge and full and beautiful:


We spent our first few days at my parents' cabin on Sauk Lake.
There was excellent food:


With plenty of vegan gluten-free options!



There were cute little girls (my nieces, Cora & Esme).

Cora:



Some "Daniel Tiger" before nap time:


With a Grandma added!


Jet-skiing with Grandpa:


Esme:








There were pelicans:


And beautiful sunsets:







We saw a tree frog
(in fact, we rescued him from inside the house!)


Photos are blurry because he was moving and it was dark, but he was really cute and small!



There was lots of beautiful and peaceful kayaking
during our time at the lake:




Kayaks are great because they're very quiet and because we can go into water that's quite shallow to poke around.


See the heron on the dead tree branch?


There he is!






This year there weren't very many water lilies blooming.
There were a few tiny little buds poking their noses above the water, but there weren't even many of those.















My brother, Mark, builds excellent fires:


And he likes power tools as an aid to his natural manliness:





Cosmo appreciated the extra snuggles I gave him.


Grandpa had made some really cool wooden toys.
Here's a fire engine!


And a cute little pick up truck!



One day, there was a weird humming/buzzing noise,
and we looked up to discover a strange flying machine!




One of the days, my Mom and Jillian (my sister-in-law) and I went shopping in town.

There's a really cute Christian book and gift store,
where we saw this sign:


I also liked this one . . . 
I need it attached to myself so I can always think about this before I speak!


One of the stores was in a building that used to be a bank,
and the safe was still in the basement
(used for storage):


 Can you see me?


We had a fun time!!!


My Dad also found a turtle nest and we were able to see the eggs.
A couple of months later, my brother sent me photos of a baby turtle emerging!


Cabin time is always fun - and certainly not boring!


Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Hike In Sedona





Greg and I took a day to hike up north near Sedona.

We didn't happen to see any wild horses or donkeys, whatever this sign advertises.



We did see some crazy mean-looking cattle!


We didn't see any jumping deer, either.



Look at the beauty! 



Here's the big metal chicken at the crazy antique shop! 





We found the river - well, Oak Creek.



Here's a quick video of me in the river and the beautiful red rocks and dirt!


It was lovely to get out of the heat
(okay, it was still hot, but it was LESS hot) than in the Phoenix valley.



This tree had a big hole in it . . . I looked to see if there were squirrels or trolls!
I didn't see any.



 The water was COLD and clear.




The trees smelled clean and great. 


 Shoes off and feet in the river!






There's the Matterhorn Inn - but just a couple of months ago, we saw the REAL Matterhorn in Switzerland! 


 It was extremely busy and slow on the way home.


But we MADE IT!!!!