vacation

So, we took our first vacation as a foursome a week ago and headed up to Minnesota for a week.



On the shore of Lake Superior along the Lakewalk

The initial impetus was for Danette's friend Ellen's wedding the day before Memorial Day. We flew up the day before that and met Grandma and Grandpa D. in the Twin Cities. The girls had a good time seeing their grandparents, and even having them to themselves while we went to the wedding. That was actually a highlight for Sara because she got to make a return trip to the Mall of America and see all the rides in the amusement park. She is still talking about the rides and making pictures of them at school almost two weeks later. We also had the good fortune to be able to see Sara's godmother Laura, and most of the Lukkarila/Krajewski clan for a couple of hours - too short, but great time to catch up regardless. Somehow we made the boneheaded move of forgetting to get a picture of Sara with Laura or anyone else for that matter...

On Memorial Day, rather than our usual local parade, we headed up to Duluth and saw Grandma and Grandpa H. This was Grandpa's first chance to meet Abby too. We stayed until Friday, basically just chilling out, and helping out where we could. The weather was cool and rainy most of the week except for Thursday. While not great for getting out, we did sample a new restaurant for breakfast, Sara got to frost cupcakes with Grandma, and Danette and I even made it out for a movie, Star Trek. Sara and Abby basically just basked in the glow of grandparental love all week. Excited? Yes. Spoiled? A bit..., Exhausted at the end? Oh yeah.

While in Duluth we also got to see my friend Jason from high school and college and his wife Jane (also a friend from college) and their two kids. In was nice to be able to catch up, and it turns out they are moving a bit closer to us, so we will hopefully be able to catch up again soon.

Total exhaustion, and colds, etc ensued by the end of the trip, but we made back mostly uneventfully (minus the present Abby left for me on my lap in the plane...)

Now for some more pictures...


trying out some goggles for the hotel pool


cupcakes with grandma for Sara's birthday


making a castle out of Lake Superior pebbles


Abby yakking grandma's ear off :)


Big smile