Hello Blog Readers – Forgive my absence. I had anticipated having more time to blog but somehow it all slipped away. But I’m here now to update you on all the fun that transpired during our month in MN!
Now that Nia is older, I am loving that I can share all my favorite quintessential MN activities with her. We returned to Fawn-Doe-Rosa Animal Park, home of a ridiculously accommodating deer population. I never fail to be surprised by how close they let her get to them!
She also made a new goat friend this time around. They got along quite well. :)
We also enrolled her in her first camp experiences. She did 3 vacation bible school week-long camps (Yup, you read that right, 3! My gal can’t get enough of Jesus).
She also did a week-long robotics course which she loved. Although I question whether it was actually the class she loved or her 8 year old partner Charlie who was oh-so-sweet to her. Did I mention that the rest of the class was ten 7-9 year old boys? No worries, Nia held her own just fine…
We also did a lot of things with Nia’s aunties and her adorable 4 year old cousin Armin. He’s Nia’s only cousin thus far (although Beth has cousin # 3 coming in November). They get along fairly well and it got progressively better as the visit went on. One of our first adventures after arriving was attending the Roseville Days parade. Nia was entranced by the marching bands and insisted on performing alongside them. She’s also narrowed down her instrument choice to the drum, flute or clarinet. Would be pretty cool if she was the third generation of clarinetists in our family!
Roughly 10 of our 35 days were spent at my family’s cabin on beautiful Turtle Lake in Wisconsin. The weather cooperated beautifully and we took full advantage for boat rides, swimming, campfires, lawn games and bbqs. Two fun new additions to the cabin this year included paddle-boards and . . .
the Lily Pad, a fun floating raft-like thing. Both were big hits. I was shocked at how far Nia has progressed with her swimming in one year. Last year she wouldn’t set foot in the lake and didn’t want to put her head under. This year she was dive-bombing off the pontoon, begging to go in the lake and having us count to see how long she could hold her breath. I guess those swimming lessons paid off!
Nia has recently gotten into American Girl Dolls so it seemed fitting that we visit the flagship Mall of America American Girl Doll Store and take her doll Josefina out for tea. For those of you with doll lovers, I’d highly recommend this. You can bring your own or borrow one of theirs. It was quite a unique experience and I thought the price was quite reasonable too.
A trip to MN wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the zoo, so of course Nia & her cousin visited there one morning. She was so excited to feed a giraffe for the first time in her life!
And what trip to MN would be complete without berry picking,
mini-golfing and . . .
a Twins game with whole dang family? And between all those activities I somehow managed to fit in a dozen friend visits too! Was a marvelous stay all-around. MN never lets me down.
It’s wonderful having a home that I enjoy returning to over and over again. And I think that Nia may just be starting to love it as much as I do. Thanks to the family and friends that made our trip so memorable! See you in a few years!
