Lanesboro!

We're six weeks from our due date, which made me think it was high time we head out on a Babymoon. For a few weeks we talked about going up to the North Shore, but we only had two nights and between the four hour drive back and forth and the cost to stay up there, we started thinking of other destinations.

I have heard about Lanesboro and Harmony for a long, long time. So I told Rory we would consider this trip a scouting trip more than anything, scouting out where we would like to stay next time, discovering our favorite places to eat, jotting down the things we'd like to do on future visits.  We dropped off the kids with Mimi and Papa on Thursday afternoon and went to see Mission Impossible, eat at Buffalo Wild Wings and then went home to sleep, saving us a night's lodging. On Friday we got up and were out the door by 8:30 heading to Lanesboro, just under two hours away.

A few things to note: the countryside in this part of Minnesota is stunning. Like jaw dropping. It felt like we were driving through some lush and bluffy picture that I've seen on a jigsaw puzzle. Of course it is early August, and probably the most green and stunning time of the year. But I'd love to come back in the fall...and spring...and winter. I didn't get a single picture of the countryside, which is so odd, but I think it's because I was taking it in. Which is good.

When we arrived, we drove to find a place my cousin Sarah had told me about. Her friends were fantastically helpful in letting us know some great destinations (I'll write about their tip for caramel rolls below) including the Lanesboro livestock auction place. (Can't really remember the formal name...) Rory and I arrived and it was incredible. There was so much to take in. The bidding was serious, but the cows lightened the mood. And I sat next to the nicest retired farmer ever. He talked to me the whole time, knows everything about every kind of cow, told me which cows out there had pneumonia, where each breed originated from and how cows have been bred to be so big and huge but he, "likes the cows that are the way God intended." I liked him so much and in the end we swapped contact info and he invited us to his farm to see his calves in the spring.

The town of Lanesboro is adorable. It boasts that it is "the bed and breakfast capital of the world" and was clearly designed to be a little get-away destination. There are great bike paths, tubing companies that will shuttle you down the river, fun shops, good restaurants, a reputable live theater and even a Hawaiian shaved ice stand. It feels very vacation-y.

This is the bed and breakfast I would try to stay at next time:

The Bed and Breakfast we stayed at was fine, nice and clean. But on the whole I have issues with Bed and Breakfasts. They're really hit or miss. And I sort of don't love the colors mauve and forest green and I don't love doilies, and that seems to be problematic. B and B's also can have some awkward breakfasts in the morning, sitting with strangers, trying to make early morning small talk. And I sort of always wonder whose room I'm actually sleeping in...was it their daughter's room who is now at college? Or their grandma's before she passed away? All this to say, I put off making a reservation at any B&B because I was waiting to stumble upon an AmericInn or something. But we didn't so when we arrived we quickly grabbed the last room in town at a nice B&B that had a nice room, right next to the owners room. It was clean, and comfortable and had cable tv, so we were pretty set. And then we closed the door and discovered this clock:

Iowa Hospice. Love in Action. We laughed so hard. And then wondered who it was who had died in the bed we were about to sleep in, hoping she was a lovely grandma, filled with peace and sweet things. 

The town is charming and we did a lot of reading, napping, eating and exploring. It's so exciting to discover a new part of your state that is so awesome. We will be back. And when we go we will again frequent the Lanesboro Pastry Shoppe...a shop that has not been remodeled since the day it opened, apparently, and has also never strayed from its original caramel roll recipe. Which is a good thing. I had one each morning followed by massive sugar crashes. But man, those caramel rolls were so good!

Ivar art

Rory's folks graciously took our kids for the weekend so we could enjoy a bit of a babymoon. We went to Lansboro and I have much to report. It was a great overnight. While Ivar was at Mimi and Papa's, he drew this awesome picture of his dad and the barn. Pretty great, isn't it?

And then he drew this portrait of pregnant me:

That's about right.

the minnesota landscape arboretum

My mom has been telling me about The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum for years. Telling me I should really get there sometime. Then my sister-in-law, Lisa, started raving about it. Next my friend Rachel started posting pictures on her instagram and wrote that they got a membership.

Last Monday the whole Harrington clan went to the Arboretum for a picnic and my jaw was on the ground the whole time. I just had no idea. It was so awesome. It was so stunning. We walked through rose gardens and vegetable gardens, we saw giant lego sculptures and got sincerely lost in a hedge maze. The grounds are spectacular and Rory and I started dreaming of landscape ideas for all around our house.

As a life-long Minnesotan, I cannot believe it has taken me this long to get there. But I also believe that once I find something awesome, I must shout it from the rooftops. So hear me now: this place is AWESOME!

You know what else is awesome? Cousins. And Aunts and Uncles. And Family. After the Arboretum we drove to a cemetery nearby, surrounded by cornfields, where my Aunt Jan's ashes were buried. There were so many of us able to gather and it really was special. The day was glorious and it was good to be together. After her burial, we went out to Uncle Don's house on Lake Minnetonka, my first time to his home since Aunt Jan died, where we had a huge pot luck barbecue just like we used to. It reminded me of my favorite kids book, "The Relatives Came" when family all gathers together in one house. The books says, "You'd have to go through at least four hugs to get from the living room to the kitchen. Those relatives!" And later the book says, "And then everyone split into two's or three's where there was quiet talking and catching up." We lived that on Monday night and it felt so good to be all be together.

It was a precious time, and Aunt Jan would have loved every minute of it.

homemade bubbles!

Our third pinterest project was Homemade Bubbles. There are all sorts of recipes out there, but I used my mom's tried and true recipe with Glycerin, found in our church cookbook. She used to make this stuff when she taught preschool. I had hoped to make enough to fill a mini pool, but it turns out Glycerin is expensive, so I filled a big flat rubbermaid instead.

I doubled the recipe, and a few days ago tried making the bubble wands in this video and they are amazing. I used chop sticks, twine and a washer and made huge bubbles. Totally recommend making the big wands. And mom brought a crate, which made for awesome bubble caterpillars. You can't go wrong with bulk bubbles on a beautiful day!

Homemade Bubbles
3/4 cup Dawn Dish Soap
2 quarts water
1/4 cup Glycerin (I found mine in the Cub Foods Pharmacy. Call before you go...it was their last bottles and they said they don't always carry it. My Walgreens did not carry it. Drug stores and Pharmacy's seem to be the best bet.)

Mix Glycerin and Dawn together gently. Slowly add the water...you do not want the mixture to foam! Slow and steady is the key. Mom uses little plastic berry boxes as bubble wands, or cuts a circle out of cool whip/tupper ware lids. Or again, the string and sticks diy wand was pretty awesome too!

Have fun!

four square, kick lines and step stools

The five days my brother was in town turned into a family reunion, but rather unintentionally. My mom and my sister and I each took a day to host the whole clan and it wasn't until we were well into the week that we realized we basically had planned a family reunion, but without the planning. Each one of us was responsible for the food the day the group gathered at our own home. Last year we went to the North Shore, and we hope to again someday, but it really cost a lot to stay there. This reunion was way less money and at the end of each night, we were all in our own beds (except Mat's family of course). We were tired...the driving was a lot, but on the whole, I think it worked.

Sunday was the day everyone came to my house. We went to church, had subs for lunch and then my nieces and nephews recognized our barn as the perfect place to play Four Square. We all played and I started to remember how awesome that game is.

We hung out, made bubbles, got out the sprinkler, took a picture of the kids with my folks for the Christmas card, and my Uncle Mark and Aunt Jane and their great-niece Niu Niu came in time for dinner. It was then that were informed by the kids that there would be a talent show after dinner. They explained that everyone must participate and then they set up the chairs for the audience. As a former Bible Camp program director, the fact that a talent show was happening without my planning, at my farm, was about the greatest thing ever. It was so fun. There was dancing, my dad told a joke, Ivar flew his kite, the adults did a kick line while singing 'You are my Sunshine' and step stools were used as the stage to jump off of as the kids sang "Baby you're a Firework." It was a very, very good time.