MN visit: family, lake walks and coffee

I'm finally getting our trip to the midwest documented :) I have a lot of pictures, so instead of showing them all at once....I'm going to do mini-installments for a while :) I definitely won't be short on things to blog about for the next week or so ;)

SO...first we landed in Minneapolis on Wednesday, June 22. I broke out with shingles that night (ooh, that stuff HURTS)...apart from that, it was fairly smooth sailing ;)

We stayed with Nick's mom (thank you, Ardyce!)...

 ...and spent ample time with family. We also got to spend some time with Nick and Alan's bestie, Dan (can you use "bestie" when referring to male friendships? well I just did).

We made a few trips to the lake and partook in the tradition of Caribou Coffee. West coast, you are missing out. That's all I can say.

Here some are pics from one of our walks to the lake...

I can't tell you enough how much fun we had in MN with family and how sad it is that we aren't still there! Thank you again, Ardyce, for being so gracious with the early mornings :) and sometimes uncooperative sleepers! :)

Stay tuned for our zoo trip, time with Ray and Ellen, my cousin's wedding, and fun at the park with Ella! :)