I'm pretty sure we've spent an extended amount of time "up north" every summer since Ruby was born (and probably before) which makes this (at least) the 7th summer.
We planned our trip for mid-July, hoping to escape hot temps in Texas, and I convinced Steve to come with for the first part. We took a gamble and bought tickets with Spirit, they were cheap and thankfully it all worked out! With all of the dehydration and hospital drama, I was super nervous about flying Spirit!
We spent the first half of our trip in Winona with "Gaga and Grandpa with the Puppies" and were so happy Jen and Charley were able to be there too! We were quickly reminded how beautiful it is up north; everything is just so green in the summer. We got to enjoy the cooler temps and great outdoors; fishing, kayaking, boat riding, paddle boarding, swimming, and walking.
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Three successful fisher-women!
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Auntie Jen took the girls out on her SUP!
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Two goofballs enjoying the "pool"!
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Boat ride fun
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Taking her job very seriously!
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Coloring cousins
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Three peas
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Gaga took her three grand daughters on a shopping spree one afternoon; shirts, pants, dresses, purses, and accessories!
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We are ready for back to school! Thanks Gaga!
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Steve and I got to have a little afternoon date thanks to Auntie Jen and Gaga. The girls went to see the Secret Life of Pets while we had lunch on the river, enjoyed the view at Garvin Heights, and did some kayaking and paddle boarding on the lake.
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Couldn't have been a more perfect day!
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Three thumbs up!
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We found a super fun pizza place to enjoy one evening. It was a farm in a gorgeous valley that does wood fired pizzas with fresh ingredients. Everything was SO good, I'm still drooling over the thai pizza.
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Checking out the animals while we waited for our farm fresh pizza
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Steve and I are both still talking about this pizza! I think we would frequent this place often if we lived close.
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I snuck away another day to get together with one of my college roomies, Mel. The last time we'd seen each other was her wedding 5 years ago in Texas. She and her family now live in Rochester so she made the drive to Winona and we had coffee, walked around the WSU campus, did a wine tasting at a new winery, and had lunch together. It was SO good to see Mel and catch up. I hope we can do it again soon with our other roomies too!
Steve had to head back to the heat and work in Waco the following week while the girls and I went to Wisconsin to stay with "Gaga and Grandpa with the Kitties". We were able to spend lots more outdoor time there too; swimming, biking, chalking, kayaking the kinni, and having lots of fun.
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Lots of bike rides
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Water t-ball
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Beach day! The water in Wisconsin is a tad cooler than Texas!
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Hot day at Como Zoo
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Cooling off in the COLD Kinni
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We visited Great Grandpa Clete and Grandma Carol, swam in their pool, and went out to dinner
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Went to Crystal Cave one rainy afternoon. It was cold down there!
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Gaga always has lots of activities planned for us.
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This one must have involved chocolate
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Another yummy one: homemade deep fried cheese curds. The. best.
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Third (fourth?) annual scavenger hunt!
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Lots of fun with chalk!
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We got to celebrate Grandpa's birthday when we were in RF.
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| Grandpa's favorite present: matching tye-dye shirts ;) Another one of Gaga's projects! |
It was a late flight, but we made it back to Waco and the heat without major issue.
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Bye-bye sun and bye-bye 'Sconsin-sota!
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Awesome vacation! So happy for the fun time together and all the great memories!
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