I'm back from our huge whirlwind weekend up in Minneapolis - we spent a lovely time with my family from Saturday through Tuesday and made the most of our time together. We had a few items on our agenda, but it was a bit of a challenge to schedule all the different ideas we had to truly make it feel like a vacation. Here is the play by play so you can feel like you were a part of our adventure!
We left Saturday morning from our little log cabin, arriving at my mom's around noon for lunch. One of our goals this weekend was to get her a new TV and get her cable set up on the main level of her home. Of course, nothing goes quite as smoothly as intended, and for some reason the DVR refused to load the channels. According to the cable company, it was due to tornadoes in the area, so we would have to wait until the power interruptions were over. Evidence of the weather:
See the sinister face in the clouds?
The kids were all happy because some of their cousins were able to come and stay at Grandma's...we were setting them up to be together the whole time we were up there, so they were excited about all the cousin playmates. Sunday started out with church with Grandma, and then we headed out to my sister's place. We hit Como Zoo
which has, not only animals
but also some beautiful flowers
Since we were at Como with most of St. Paul, we opted to head over to the mini golf course and break away from the crowds.
Some of us opted for a walk, where we were able to take a three generation picture
before heading over to the restored carousel to let Miss TJ have a little spin on her favorite pony
Then, we headed down to Grand Avenue to the place with the BEST ice cream! YUM! 
We finished the day with a BBQ at my sister's and enjoyed some patio time on a beautiful evening.
The next morning, Brad was off to play in a golf tournament fundraiser, so my sis and I were able to catch some coffee at Bread and Chocolate on Grand Avenue. Things have changed so much since my college days up there - it was fun to reminisce and see how far we've come. From there, we were able to go to Trader Joe's (YEAH!) down the street and get some much needed and long awaited supplies. We have NOTHING like that where I live, so I had to stock up (hoard) and know I will be giving a shopping list to my sis for the next time we are together!
Later that night, we moved on to meeting up with my brother and family for a night on their boat. They have a boat on Lake Minnetonka, so the adults gathered (thanks to my niece and nephew who stepped up and watched all the kids!!!) and went out for a cruise before stopping off for supper at Lord Fletchers. Minus the rain shower that Joel had to drive in, it turned out to be a beautiful night to be on the lake. It was so fun to just hang and enjoy the company of my family
- thanks to Joel and Kelly for the memorable (and exhausting for some!)evening!
Tuesday morning dawned bright and early as Brad and I were able to head to nearby Hazeltine Golf course to take in a practice round for the US Open...the course is beautiful!
We got to see some of our favorite golfers, except for Phil Mickelson who wasn't out on the course yet while we were there. Recognize this guy?
The afternoon was spent at the beach with the kiddos, and Tuesday night Brad headed off to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes/PGA tour dessert event...it featured Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson, Kenny Perry, and J. Rollins all gave their testimonies and shared their faith with the attendees. Brad said it was very affirming and made him want to join the tour all the more! :)
Exhausted, we left Minnepolis around 10:30pm and got home at 2:30 am. Somehow, we managed to stay awake on the drive home and Brad was off to work the next morning as scheduled. Now, we are getting back into the groove again, doing laundry, picking veggies from the garden, and assuming the daily grind. But, we are thankful to have shared a wonderful weekend with family who went out of their way to adapt to our crazy ideas and schedules, and put up with us day in and day out. Their extra efforts did not go unnoticed and we were so blessed to share the time with them.
Family. Nothing like it in the world. God has blessed us tremendously.
We left Saturday morning from our little log cabin, arriving at my mom's around noon for lunch. One of our goals this weekend was to get her a new TV and get her cable set up on the main level of her home. Of course, nothing goes quite as smoothly as intended, and for some reason the DVR refused to load the channels. According to the cable company, it was due to tornadoes in the area, so we would have to wait until the power interruptions were over. Evidence of the weather:
See the sinister face in the clouds?The kids were all happy because some of their cousins were able to come and stay at Grandma's...we were setting them up to be together the whole time we were up there, so they were excited about all the cousin playmates. Sunday started out with church with Grandma, and then we headed out to my sister's place. We hit Como Zoo
which has, not only animals
but also some beautiful flowers
Since we were at Como with most of St. Paul, we opted to head over to the mini golf course and break away from the crowds.
Some of us opted for a walk, where we were able to take a three generation picture
before heading over to the restored carousel to let Miss TJ have a little spin on her favorite pony
Then, we headed down to Grand Avenue to the place with the BEST ice cream! YUM! 
We finished the day with a BBQ at my sister's and enjoyed some patio time on a beautiful evening. The next morning, Brad was off to play in a golf tournament fundraiser, so my sis and I were able to catch some coffee at Bread and Chocolate on Grand Avenue. Things have changed so much since my college days up there - it was fun to reminisce and see how far we've come. From there, we were able to go to Trader Joe's (YEAH!) down the street and get some much needed and long awaited supplies. We have NOTHING like that where I live, so I had to stock up (hoard) and know I will be giving a shopping list to my sis for the next time we are together!
Later that night, we moved on to meeting up with my brother and family for a night on their boat. They have a boat on Lake Minnetonka, so the adults gathered (thanks to my niece and nephew who stepped up and watched all the kids!!!) and went out for a cruise before stopping off for supper at Lord Fletchers. Minus the rain shower that Joel had to drive in, it turned out to be a beautiful night to be on the lake. It was so fun to just hang and enjoy the company of my family
- thanks to Joel and Kelly for the memorable (and exhausting for some!)evening!
Tuesday morning dawned bright and early as Brad and I were able to head to nearby Hazeltine Golf course to take in a practice round for the US Open...the course is beautiful!
We got to see some of our favorite golfers, except for Phil Mickelson who wasn't out on the course yet while we were there. Recognize this guy?
The afternoon was spent at the beach with the kiddos, and Tuesday night Brad headed off to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes/PGA tour dessert event...it featured Stewart Cink, Zach Johnson, Kenny Perry, and J. Rollins all gave their testimonies and shared their faith with the attendees. Brad said it was very affirming and made him want to join the tour all the more! :)
Exhausted, we left Minnepolis around 10:30pm and got home at 2:30 am. Somehow, we managed to stay awake on the drive home and Brad was off to work the next morning as scheduled. Now, we are getting back into the groove again, doing laundry, picking veggies from the garden, and assuming the daily grind. But, we are thankful to have shared a wonderful weekend with family who went out of their way to adapt to our crazy ideas and schedules, and put up with us day in and day out. Their extra efforts did not go unnoticed and we were so blessed to share the time with them.
Family. Nothing like it in the world. God has blessed us tremendously.
Ok, serious fun!! My gosh! You aren't joking... that would be a whirlwind weekend, but well worth every bit! How incredibly fun fun fun! Love ALL the pics... so my favorite to SEE all that ya do :)
Hugs.. Amy
Sarah, thanks for going to all the work of sharing all that family fun! I'm not familiar with that part of the country; it's beautiful! Glad you all are now home again, safe and sound. :)
That sounds like a great weekend!! That is how it is everytime I visit my family--busy, busy, busy and fun,fun, fun!
I also love Trader Joe's. I always go and buy all sorts of stuff when we are in Chicago. This time though our car was so full there was no room for anything extra so I didn't even go. I knew I would be too tempted.
Love the three generations picture--you all three look a lot alike.
It looks like you had a wonderful time. I'm catching up on fellow bloggers as I've been tied up for a couple of weeks...Glad you are having a last hooray for the summer.