Life as it is lived...

The rules are you have to take ten pictures of the following things. You have to do it right away...no straightening, cleaning, etc.

Favorite Room

What are your children doing right now?
Closet

Dream Vacation
Favorite Shoes
Self Portrait

Kitchen

Bathroom
Laundry Room

Fridge

Wilderness Way

This weekend we embarked on an adventure! We decided to accompany our friends Heather and Michele to Wilderness Way, an all-women's campground near Wascott, Wisconsin.

We discovered Saturday morning, however, that we didn't have directions, so we googled our way to Wascott and figured we'd find our way from there.

The scenery on the drive was beautiful, and the drive went quickly. We found our way to Wascott but then had no idea how to find Wilderness Way. We tried calling Michele and Heather and Wilderness Way but only got voicemails.

After driving around aimlessly for awhile we finally stopped at Red River Resort to ask directions. Kristin went inside to ask only to find that it was a bar. There were five fairly intoxicated people inside who, between, them, were able to give her somewhat decent directions once they figured out it was the "girl scout camp" she was trying to find (yeah, whatever, as long as it got us there, who cares what they think!).

We finally found the somewhat hidden entrance and our cabin! Michele and Heather had arrived the previous night, so they had the cabin all set up. After a little rest and catching up we headed down to the water for a little canoeing action. I was a little freaked out (never been canoeing before), but Kristin was a great guide and we were able to get in the canoe and launch off without a problem. I wish I could have taken my camera out with me! It was beautiful - I think I could have just stayed out all day.

When we got back to the dock I ran up to grab the camera and a woman offered to take our picture. I thought about photoshopping the dock out, but thought it was funny to have it in there. :)

After the canoeing trip the other ladies decided they wanted to go swimming. Lake swimming isn't really my cup of tea, so I just sat on the dock, read, laughed at them, and took some pictures.

Kristin was relaxing on her floaty thing and had her fingers dangling in the water. Along came a fish who decided they looked tasty. After that incident the swimming was over for the day.

We headed back to the cabin where Michele checked out the grill to see about prepping it for some chedderwursts (which she seemed obsessed on making). Everyone decided to skip the chedderwursts (sorry Michele!) and just have a snack of Suddenly Salad (another obsession of Michele's). We got ready and headed to the Golden Chipmunck for dinner. It's a little local dive restaraunt/bar that has really great food. Yum.

On the way back there was a minor emergency when Michele got a bug in her eye. Thank goodness Heather was there to help out.

We headed back the cabin and all watched in amazement as Kristin built what some passing women called a "model fire." She was so proud - as were we! Who knew she had such skills?!? We had some s'mores (Michele was a great preparer and even made sure everyone was equipped with a bib to prevent messes). We also made some new friends - a couple of women from the cities stopped by to admire the fire and ended up sitting with us for quite awhile. It was fun to talk and get to know them better.

We had planned to play some games last night but were so tired we decided against it and ended up heading to bed. This morning Michele cooked a fabulous breakfast of bacon and eggs (we were so spoiled!).

We finally packed up and headed home. We kept saying how beautiful it was and how we wished we could have stayed longer so I told Kristin we have to go back over MEA weekend...I think I may also plan a solo trip there in the next couple of months - can't wait!!

So, thanks to Michele and Heather for the inviting us, thanks for Kristin for telling me to get my butt in the canoe, and thanks to Wilderness Way for being so great :)

For more pictures of our fun-filled weekend, click here.

Funny Cartoon

I love this and had to share... (click on it to make it bigger)

End of a visit

Last night we went to the Loring Pasta Bar with Robyn and Dejan. I think Dejan was a little skeptical, but I also think he had a good time.


Lucky for us it was tango night. There was a live band playing and some very interesting people there to dance the night away (this picture doesn't do it justice...by the end of the night the dance floor was FULL of people).


It reminded me a bit of a junior high dance with dancers sitting all around the periphery and guys shyly approaching women to ask if they wanted to dance.


Not very many of them danced with the same partner twice. Most of the dancers were wearing...interesting outfits. We never could figure out what was going on - whether it was some sort of singles event or an assignment for people taking dance classes or just a gathering of folks who like to dance. It provided some good entertainment for us, though, so that was good.


When we started to tire of watching the dancers Kristin provided some entertainment of her own - napkin art!


After dinner we headed to a much quieter Kafe 421 for some dessert. Along the way we saw some Mormon missionaries...not sure what they were doing out on a Sunday night, but we snapped a picture for posterity.


Dejan ordered 3 desserts for us to share, and they were fantastic!























We were all pretty tired so we headed back to Saint Paul to drop them off at their hotel. Along the way we made a quick stop at CVS to pick up some supplies for Robyn's horribly sunburned/blistered knees.

Today they came downtown to have lunch with me and see my office. I think they liked the place :) I was going to take them to The Loon for lunch (they weren't up for Luce or Brenda's), but Dejan didn't want to walk 3 blocks in the hot sun so we ended up lunching at The Ugly Mug. I hadn't eaten there since it changed from being Harvey's. It wasn't the best food, but the people watching (waitress watching, really) proved to be a fun pasttime, so we were okay with it.

After that it was a sad goodbye and they were off to Chicago.

The visit was way too short, but we had a great time getting caught up with them. We both wish they would move closer to us, but we'll take what we can get in the form of visits!

Robyn and Dejan Visit!

We've had a great day so far! Robyn and Dejan are here visiting for a day on their way back from a fabulous Ricks Family Adventure at Yellowstone.


We picked them up at their hotel at 11 this morning and headed to Minnehaha Park for a little bike riding action.


While we were waiting in line a random group of violinists started playing which was a little weird, but provided some entertainment while we waited in line.


Once we finally got our bike we were on our way! Somehow we got completely lost and ended up pedaling over the Ford Pkwy bridge. Oops. We were able to get turned around, though, and head back to the park to finish following the correct path. We only got stuck at one hill. I guess the four of us just aren't very strong because Kristin and I had to get out to push the bike up the hill. Time to work out a little more, eh?


After a 45 minute ride (that felt more like 15) we returned the bike and headed to Chipotle. Robyn always seems to call me when I'm at Chipotle and so I've told her all about how fabulous it is. She decided she needed to try it when she was here. We made it a long lunch and got all caught up.


Afterward we headed back to our apartment to give them the grand tour and to look at their pictures from their trip to Utah. It was fun to see all of them and watch all the videos they had taken with their flip (I really need to get one!).


We just took them back to their hotel so they could "freshen up" before we head to dinner.

It's been a great day! I wish they could stay longer...ah well, maybe next time!

Saturday Night

Nothing too exciting to share, but I've decided I need to blog more, so here I am. Jehn came over earlier to go swimming with Kristin. I'm glad Jehn likes to swim because it's not really my gig and Kristin loves it. While they were playing out in the hot summer sun I took a nap - ahhhh.

When I got up I ran to Target to pick up some pictures so we could FINALLY get photos in our frames. Yes, it has been over a year since we moved in. What can I say, we're a little slow.

We spent the evening picking up a bit in anticipation of Robyn and Dejan's visit. I'm actually on the phone with Robyn now. They are about 1 1/2 hours away. They've driven over 12 hours today - poor them! We're planning on going for a bike ride at Minnehaha Falls tomorrow, relaxing, and eating "authentic Minnesotan food" - whatever that is - look for pictures of our adventures tomorrow or Monday!

New Car!

After weeks of research and days of looking and putting 240 miles on my Focus we finally found our new car - a Ford Escape...blue, no less (the color Kristin really, really wanted). We have both decided we can never buy a house because this first somewhat big purchase was so stressful, but we survived! :)

Middle Child Day

Today is officially “National Middle Child Day.” Don't believe me? See here.

Kristin wondered when it would be time to celebrate her. I explained that she, as the youngest in her family, had been celebrated her whole life while I, a middle child, had never, ever been celebrated.

Some may say that I'm indeed NOT a middle child. After all, how can you have a middle child when there are four children in the family? Simple. Robyn was spoiled because she was the oldest. Cassi was spoiled because she was the youngest. Jason was spoiled because he was the only boy. Which leaves me as the bonafide middle child. A pictoral view for those of you who understand better that way:

The thing is, I don’t think anyone even knows it’s my day. On the train a woman shoved me aside. Walking to work I got rained on. At work not one person said “hey Danette – it’s your day!”

So I’m going to say it myself. After all, I don't need other people to confirm how fabulous my middle child self truly is -

Happy Middle Child Day, Danette!

Whew. There. I feel so much better.

PS – Happy middle child day to all other middle children out there!

PPS - If you want to send a card to a middle child you know, follow this link (yeah, I totally sent one to myself).