Red Wing/Wabasha September 2011

Ethan and I went on a road trip one day to Red Wing and then on to Wabasha.

 Half and Half tree in Red Wing. Love it.

 A picture of the bridge from half way up Barn Bluff. Which I would totally recommend the hike up there for the awesome view. Just make sure you wear good shoes! The trail is a little narrow in places, and I was afraid I was going to go sliding down.

 From the top of the Bluff, Red Wing in the background.

 I think this was in Pepin, on the way to Wabasha.

 Hiking up the bluff.

 Ethan and an eagle giving each other the stare down. This was at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha. Pretty cool, worth the $4 I think it cost to get in. We got to see an egale devour some raw meat...pretty sick.

And just another view from the top of the bluff. There's a few different trails you can walk up, but I think they all go to the same place. And on one of the trails you can watch some people rock climbing, which is pretty cool to see.

California August 2011

So we went to California in August for Ethan's family reunion. I'm not going to lie, it was COLD, and I didn't bring any pants. But other than the cold weather it was a great time!

We went to Sea World, and of course caught the Shamu show!

 I can't remember what beach this was on, but it was in San Diego, where we hung out while the kids and everyone else went to lego land.

 The first time I ever saw palm trees!

 Erin @ the beach! Much too cold to go swimming.

 We got professional pictures taken on the beach one morning, here's the whole fam.

 Me, Ethan and Erin.

 My favorite picture of Ethan and Erin. I wish Ethan wasn't covering most of Erin's face!

Ha ha, I'd say the best one of me and Ethan. 

July FUN

So 4th of July weekend Ethan and I went to Minocqua, and stayed at Sill's Lakeshore Bed and Breakfast which was AMAZING! The owners were super friendly and helpful, and I would recommend this place to anyone and everyone. After booking the place I found out my Mom and Grandma actually stayed there two years ago, which was pretty random. They take pictures of all the guests before they leave and keep them all in photo albums, and the owner was nice enough to search for my Mom and Grandma's picture for me, even though I was a few years off as to when they stayed there. She found the entry but of course it was probably the only guests they didn't have a picture of.

Before checking into the hotel (and about 4 other times over the weekend) we stopped by the Thirsty Whale, which has awesome vodka lemonades, in a bucket, that you can keep! We were also able to watch a waterski team from the deck on one of our visits.

Lake was AWESOME!

Another lake picture...we did some fishing and caught a million little sunfish and Ethan also caught a smallmouth bass (?) and he was even nice enough to put the leeches on the hooks for me because I wasn't touching those slimy, squirmy, little blood suckers.

Even though this picture is dark, it's one of my favorites from the weekend.

Ethan petting some goats at Wildwood Wildlife Park. This place was pretty awesome, like Wilderness Walk but bigger. I stayed away from the bird section, because apparently I got bit by a crazed bird when I was here when I was about 3.

We did alot of walking around downtown and did some shopping, and ate some awesome food. There was a popcorn store (!) which we got a mix of jalapeno and caramel popcorn, which sounds odd, but was awesome! We also saw a good cover band, which I should have gotten the name of....

We also went to Rock Fest in July and saw Chevelle, which was super awesome, and went to Country Jam for a day, I'm pretty sure the only music I actually watched there was The Dweebs, who I didn't even know were playing. We also ate a ton of food..there's nothing like fair food....gyros, mega corn dogs, cheese curds, funnel cakes, pop corn.....I'm hungry just thinking about it all again.

Schwinns!

So I bought these bikes from a guy on craigs list, I got a steal of a deal for both of them. I had been looking for a yellow Schwinn, and I got lucky and found a MATCHING SET! They were both made in '73, and I'm really bummed that the original seats are a lost cause, so they'll probably end up with basic black. I've already gotten most of the rust off them so all they need is new tires, new chains, and new seats! Oh, and even tho I really liked the matching basket on the women's bike, I took it off because it was in pretty rough shape.