What is more fun than the Fourth of July in Minnesota? Not much!
We enjoyed an All-American lunch. Nathan barbequed the best burgers, Briana made an amazing cheesecake, I made a terrific fruit salad, and Emmaline enjoyed corn on the cob in her full body armor.
After lunch, we chose to spend some time by the Mississippi River. Emmy was raring to go.
After lunch, we chose to spend some time by the Mississippi River. Emmy was raring to go.
She positioned herself by the strollers, ready for action.
It didn't matter whose shoes she wore, she was ready for walking.
Grandpa's shoes.
Grandma's shoes and sandals.
Daddy's shoes.
She was willing to drive a vehicle to get on the road.
She persevered, even with obstacles in front of her.
She did stop for occasional hugs.
We found this sign in Red Wing and thought we'd go see the Mississippi River overlook.
We climbed this interesting set of stairs that looked like they led directly to the overlook. We climbed them and found they led to a trek for advanced hiders that would eventually lead to the Mississippi River overlook. Sign after sign warned us that the trail was for advanced hikers.
This is the infamous sign.
Our state of preparation: All of us except Alan were in sandals or flip flops. The temperature was in the nineties and the humidity was high. We had no water, and Emmy insisted that she would do her own walking. Of course we decided we would take the hike. Who couldn't be an advanced hiker for .89 of a mile?
We thought we must be close to the overlook when we came to this "enormous opening." (This is the Mississippi River.) We made the decision to turn around, hoping that the not-to-be-missed opening wasn't just around the next bend. When we returned to the car, Nathan checked an ap that told us our round trip had been less than .89! We'd only gone half way! Personally, I was glad for this news. I would have been sad if we'd turned around at the end of the trail, but since we'd had a long way left, I was glad to leave our quest behind.
I wish I'd taken a picture of a friendly fox that wouldn't move out of the trail when we got very close. I was kind of spooked. Was he friend or attacker? I guess we'll never know.
Is the beginning or the end of the hike? With advanced hikers, it's hard to tell. They always look fresh as a daisy and raring to go.
We had some wonderful ice cream at Nelson's. (We got there 10 minutes before closing.) After enjoying dessert before dinner, we went to KFC for the main course. Emmy had a wonderful time dancing around the floor. I walked around with her and let her do her swinging, dipping-her-shoulders-kind-of-dance. She scolded me in some kind of gibberish language when I moved her sippy cup from the middle of the floor. She placed it back in the same exact spot on the floor and then continued her dancing and exploring.
Other highlights from the trip:
Tickling Elmo and making him laugh.
Dumping books all over the floor and then singing "Clean up, Clean up," while picking up all the books.
Going with Grandpa to the park next to the apartment.
The clean up song also worked for picking up packets of popccorn.
We had the best conversations:
We read lots of books.
It was a great trip. We love you, Nathan, Briana, and Emmy!
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