Off to Minnesota!

On Friday we met up with Aunt Debbie to go see the aerial lift bridge and hopefully get a chance to see a big oar boat come in or oat...

The cutest little baby duck swimming with it's Mama

My Grandpa helped build this bridge that connects Minnesota and Wisconsin

We walked down to the lighthouse... it was extra windy down that way!

Joey loved looking at the water

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"Chickie", Aunt Deb & Grammy 

She loves her brother!

He is SO CUTE!!

Where's the big boats?!

The bridge is up! Here comes the boat :)

It is really neat to see in person - they're huge!

Brynn and Aunt Deb

3 cute kids in Duluth MN

When in Minnesota, you must dip your feet in COLD Lake Superior!

Well some would prefer to watch! LOL... and here comes the rain AGAIN!

Grants Farm... and a major downpour!!!

Grant's Farm was beautiful... the weather was perfect, cloudy and cool - right up until the very end when we got DRENCHED! But it was pretty funny too (looking back at it now!)

This was pretty neat. The Clydesdale's are huge! I wish I got a picture... I was planning on getting one at the end but because of the rain, we didn't go back to see them at the end.

This picture cracks me up because of course Brooky was jumping in every puddle on the way IN to Grants Farm. Then at the end - when it was pouring and we were running through the parking lot, there were so many puddles for her to jump in... but she was crying instead because she was so wet! Only Brooky...

We fed goats with baby bottles!

So cute!

Joey was so happy to just walk around like a big boy

Brooky was in heaven that they had elephants there! and we got to watch the elephant show! The grand finale?!... the elephant peed and pooped right in front of everyone. The kids thought that was hilarious!

Cheese! Love this bunch!

and of course we had to ride the carousel - Joey's first time as well!

Go Cardinals!

On Tuesday afternoon we headed down to St. Louis to do a little exploring and go to a Cardinal's game... this was the view from our room! Perfect. We were planning on going up the arch (or at least Brynn was!) - but they were doing construction under the arch so you had to schedule appointments and we didn't have enough time. Next time!

We only saw the sun twice on our 10 day adventure - and this was one of them... and it was HOT at the game! 

Yum yum

All smiles for cotton candy!

Joey even got his first taste and he was a happy boy!

We had lots of fun and both Brooky and Joey had fun at their first baseball game. I'm sure Daddy is happy that all 3 kids experienced a Cardinal's game for their first game!

Are You Ready For Us Nana & Papa?!

Our first stop on our trip, was to Findlay IL... Nana and Papa's house!

There it is!

When we first arrived, the girls helped to get the corn ready for dinner... we were hungry!

The next day we went to Daddy's friend Keith's house to visit and play with Emery... they did a little workout in the basement!

Best buddies

Getting ready to go ride the horses!

The girls had a blast riding horses all by themselves!!

Brooky was so proud that she rode a house - ALONE! She rode Java, Brynn had "Rodeo"!

Joey's first Cheeto experience... it was a hit!

The next day was 4th of July and we headed to Mattoon to watch  the parade (yes - those are big umbrellas for the little bit of raindrops that we felt! Best to be prepared!)

Those trucks are loud!

Hey - there's Santa in that car!

Look at that bucket of candy - and we had TWO of them!

Happy 4th of July!

The kids got tokens for a free ice cream cone at the original Burger King so of course we had to stop after the parade. When we parked in the parking lot Brooky said, "There's Santa's car!" Sure enough - there he was!

and he was such a great sport playing along with the Santa role!

That's one happy girl!

Joey's FIRST ice cream cone! He loved it!

Cuties!

That night we went to a carnival while we waited to see fireworks (well, Nana, myself and Joey couldn't stay up that late - but everyone else did!) While we waited we went on some rides and played a few games. This ride was probably a bad idea - you can tell by the look on Brynn's face!

This one was more their style. This was Joey's first ride as well and he loved it!

Fishing!

They won! It was a fun day!

I think it's safe to say we wore Mia out!