Unlike Seattle, where we had 6 months of showers to welcome beautiful spring of more showers and lovely flowers, like daffodils, tulips, rhododendrons, cherry blossoms and peonies, the ground "Up North" was still thawing out from our 16 inches of snow we received in APRIL! However, we basically skipped spring and are now in full blown summer with temps in the upper 90s!
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| April snowstorm |
The trees are just started to form buds, and a daffodil or two started to peak up from the ground and the hungry black bears have come out of hibernation and enjoy free meals on the weekly garbage day (I guess that's why they say don't put your garbage out the night before). The lilac bushes are starting to pop.
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Welcome back Mr. Black Bear!
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Hiking at Gooseberry falls
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Luckily, we have all officially come out of hibernation and sprung into summer! Within two weeks we went from 12 inches of snow to a weekend with temps in the 80s and then hit records for Memorial Day weekend with temps of nearly 100! Auntie Annie and Uncle Eric kindly opened their pool for us! What a crazy "spring" but if there is one thing that Minnesotans love to do, it's to talk about the weather so this year has definitely given us something to talk about!
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Hiking in Banning State Park to Wolf Creek
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| Say cheese at Wolf Creek Falls |
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Grandma and Grandpa Benziger drove up from Chicago and we did some touring up the North Shore and road the North Shore Scenic Railroad.
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| Riding the North Shore Railroad with Grandma and Grandpa Benziger |
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North Shore Railroad blowing her horn
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The first weekend in May, we drove down to Moose Lake where Theo and Marit completed their first kids running race (1k) and both got medals and a dilly bar at DQ. I ran my fastest 10k in 51:58, which I was pretty excited about. I am getting ready to run Grandma's half marathon on June 16th. Auntie Annie and cousin Evie came up to cheer us on and then we went hiking at Banning State Park near Sandstone to Wolf Creek fall. The kids enjoyed playing on top of the falls and in Kettle River. If only the water was a wee bit warmer. The next week, we had visitors from St. Peter, MN - Harmes family. We went hiking along Tischer Creek and in Jay Cook State Park. Theo learned how to ride a bike after never riding with a strider bike or training wheels this spring as well. Thank goodness for Holy Rosary parking lot!
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| Theo, Evie and Marit tubing on Balsam Lake |
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Faster, faster!
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| Loon on Balsam |
Memorial Day weekend, we celebrated Tom and Cole's wedding at W.A. Frost and then headed "Up North" to the cabin for Memorial Day weekend. We still had a lot of work to do getting the boats ready, canopies on the lifts, getting the sailboat in and water trampoline set up but once the work was done it was time to play. The big and little kids had fun swimming on the new Maui Mat (despite the fact there was ice on the lake a month ago), water skiing, tubing and fishing off the dock. A couple severe thunderstorms rolled in and the chain holding the water trampoline broke and the trampoline went floating away. We managed to rescue it and roll it onto land with minimal damage. Never a dull moment with the Pastorius clan. We look forward to many more adventures at the lake. Thank you John and JoAnn!
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Fishing at sunset on Balsam Lake
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More pictures from the "spring":
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| April snowstorm |
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| 1 week later, snow's half melted and we're out riding bikes in the street! |
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| Ringing the train bell |
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| Ice on Lake Superior |
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| Checking out the raging Gooseberry waterfalls |
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| What happened to the trail? Covered in water! |
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| Taking a hike over the river |
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| This is our driveway and he was just wandering up the street looking for something good to eat. |
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| Neighbor kids taking a break from riding bikes in the sunshine topless. |
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| On top of the Wolf Creek Falls |
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| Evie, Marit and Theo |
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| Eating a snack |
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| Climbing on the rocks |
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| Theo helping Marit across the stream (she fell down and got her pants wet so we just took them off since we forgot to pack an extra pair). |
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| Theo's the photographer, can you tell? |
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| Marit was tired (and wet) so Theo helped carry her |
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| Scooting around Blaine |
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| Underdog |
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| Hiking with the Harmes family in the woods |
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| Tischer creek falls |
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| Mac buddies |
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| Callum helping Theo over the falls |
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| 5 mile bike ride to Brighton Beach and the North Shore Railroad train came by |
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| Little fisher-woman |
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| Marit was teaching Evie how to fish and push the button and watch the bobber go under. |
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| Getting all the lake toys ready! |
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| Playing on the trampoline |
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| Taking a ride on the pontoon |
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| Paddle boarding Theo and Mommy |
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| Lounging on the new Maui mat |
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| Unicorn ride anyone? |
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| Tubing time! |
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| Theo, Marit and Lauren having fun tubing |
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| Daddy and Marit tubing |
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| Theo and Marit |
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| Bald eagle nesting |
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| Bald eagles |
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| Beautiful loon |
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| The loon photobombing the tubers |
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| Theo and Daddy fishing on Balsam |
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| Theo caught his 3rd fish |
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| Sunny fell out of Daddy's hands |
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