Castle Danger

Two weekends ago we took a quick trip up to Castle Danger to see Eric's aunt and uncle. We went up on Saturday and spent a little time hiking at Split Rock State Park. The hike was nice, only did 3 miles but the views were amazing! It felt great to be outside and walking in the woods again. After our hike we had lunch out and then spent some time hanging out around the house. Sunday was raining so we headed out early. It was a short trip but it is always good to see Chuck and Ada!

Spring Flowers

Just wanted to share some pictures of flowers. I love this time of year when everything starts to bloom. My favorite are the peonies and lilacs. A couple weekends ago I did make a quick trip to the Como Conservatory and they had Dahlias in bloom....made me excited for summer!

This time last Year: April

So this was supposed to be posted back around Easter.....woops!

Over the Easter weekend last year, Eric and I went camping with our friends Michelle & Kelly at Devils Fork State Park. The weather was warm enough to be in swimsuits and we all worked on our tans. This was also the last time we went paddling.... wow! Cant believe it has been a whole year!

This Easter, we spent the weekend in International Falls, MN for Eric's high school basketball alumni tournament. It was cold and raining over Easter weekend.... I was hoping for warmer weather, but April tends to be cold and wet here. We did have a great time seeing old friends and spending time with Eric's sister.

Eric's alumni team won their division beating two of the more recent graduate teams. It was fun to watch Eric play, I had never seen him play basket ball before. Eric also participated in the 3-point challenge, and made 6 3-pointers in one min. While he played I got to talk with the other wives and catch up. After the tournament we had a bunch of his old friends, sister and cousins over for a bonfire to celebrate Eric's birthday - again. It was a really fun night!

Being in I-falls at the cabin for Easter was great, but it would have been even better if we were paddling and soaking in the sun!

A month!?!?

I can not believe it has been a whole month since I have blogged! I am so sorry to be so behind! We have been super busy traveling, spending time with family and planting our veggie garden. I promise to post something substantial soon!

Eric turned 30!

On April 9th Eric turned 30 and I attempted to give him a big party. We ended up giving him a "surprise" party at a local bar called the Chatterbox with some friends and family. We celebrated early because his actual birthday weekend we were in I-Fall (post on this coming soon). It was fun to get together with some of Eric's cousins and friends for food and drinks. It was a pretty low key night but I think Eric had fun.

The next day we went to Summit Brewery in St. Paul for a beer tour as part of his birthday gift. The tour started at 10:30 am and lasted about an hour. To be honest, the tour was a little boring but it was still fun to see it all. I had a fun time taking pictures of the brewery. Summit gave us three 10 oz pours of beer to taste - for free!! The beer was OK - not our favorite, but it was still fun to try.

We also celebrated with Eric's mom, step-dad, grandpa, and my parents at The Craftsman for dinner. It was a fun night and we had some of the best food I have had in a long time. Overall, I think Eric had a good birthday!

Milwaukee Avenue

A very cool part of our neighborhood is a place called Milwaukee Ave. Milwaukee Ave is unique in that there is no street access to most of the homes. The are nestled behind other homes and you can only access them by a small path in the back yard or the walking path that separates the two rows of homes. It is also a historic place and was saved from demolition in the 1970s.

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The houses in the Milwaukee Avenue Historic District were developed between 1883 and 1895 in what is now the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis. These low-cost vernacular structures with brick cladding and gingerbread trim were populated by Scandinavian and Eastern European immigrants who worked for the nearby Milwaukee Railroad shops and other industries. 

In the early 1970s, the City of Minneapolis planned to raze these homes along with 70% of the neighboring 35-block area in a gambit to address blight and “renew” urban housing stock. Visionary neighbors recognized the integrity of the original Milwaukee Avenue houses; they successfully challenged City Hall’s plans and advanced an alternative that emphasized historic preservation. Although eleven of the original houses were eventually demolished, most were preserved and rehabilitated, with new foundations, restored facades, and reconstructed replica porches. The houses front on a narrow street that was converted to a pedestrian walkway, and the entire district was listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated a Minneapolis historic landmark district.

Sorry for the history lesson, but I just love these homes. They are so unique and the neighborhood is surprisinly quiet for being smack dab in the middle of the city. If I could live here, I would in  heart beat!



Spring Around Seward

We live in the Minneapolis neighborhood of Seward. We have grown to LOVE our neighborhood and I plan to blog about some of our favorite features. The weather here in MN has been overall surprisingly warm for this time of year. Spring has come early and I could not resist walking around the neighborhood to take pictures of all the beautiful flowers in bloom. And as always, I wanted to share....