Alexis Bailly Vineyards

We enjoyed a lovely picnic with the Trudeau family today at the Alexis Bailly Vineyards. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of Minnesota wines at this vineyard, both red and white. After tasting a variety of wines, ports, and an ice wine, I decided to purchase a bottle of Seyval Blanc. It is a nice crisp white table wine made with a variety of grapes from France that that they no longer cultivate (something about the plants not being hardy enough... too difficult to grow).

And WHOA... what a lucky find at the vineyard, Mary Ann and Jerry Hines (Corey's Godparents)! Lise and I were just checking out the sites and discovered them having a picnic with friends. That just made the day extra good.

New Pictures here!

Lots of firsts

Sula loves the water and took her first swim in a pool during Memorial Day Weekend. She is such a water baby, I can't wait to take her swimming this summer.

Sula is talking, her first official word is CAT. She will also sometimes say "kitty cat". This past weekend she was also saying a lot of "ba ba ba ba," and we think we heard "ba ba ba ba......ra," as in Aunt Barbara, WHOA! No "mama" or "papa" yet. It is so exciting.

Sula is eating puffs and LOVES them.

She is getting around the house now and finding all kinds of things on the floor, including days-old puffs. She hasn't quite mastered the full crawl with her knees up but does really good job doing the army crawl.

New pictures here!

Family Time during Memorial Day Weekend

Sula was crawling all over the place, trying to find trouble and those cats.

Sula taking her very first swim at the hotel with grandpa.

Sula loved playing with grandpa's walker.

Taking a break and watching some news.

Grandpa with Kenton. He really wanted to put his boots on and had so much energy during this day.

We went on a whirl-wind trip to South Dakota during Memorial Day Weekend. Despite bringing along a stomach bug to share, everyone remained in good spirits and tried to make the best out of a tough weekend. Yes that is right, we passed along a nice stomach bug that I think originated with Sula, making just about everyone sick. Thankfully grandpa and Kenton were spared. To make a long story short, it was not a welcome surprise.

Sula kept the mood light with her silly laughs and persistent interest in grandpa's walker and other things around the house. I am so happy that Sula got to meet her great grandpa Stafford. He gave her the nickname, "baldy."

I am thankful we made the trip and got to share a few precious moments with grandpa and the rest of the family.

New pictures here!

Mystery Picture from Family Album

I discovered this intriguing picture in a photo journal during our visit to grandma and grandpa's house during Memorial Day Weekend. It was taken from a very old family album that belonged to great grandma McDowell, I believe it was her mother's album. The back of the picture says, "Frank and Emily Caldwell, tattooed in London England born in Champagne Ill."

Can anyone investigate the story behind this picture? I think it is quite rare to see a woman so exposed during this time period, let alone with tattoos. It is just so odd, I know there is a good story somewhere. I am guessing this picture is dated from the late 1800s or very early 1900.

Love

Love to Corey for helping me with the vegetable garden today.

Love to aunt Barb for helping watch Sula today.

Love to our cat Spaz for watching over Sula while she takes a nap.

What a nice weekend.

Garden Work

Sula isn't sure what to think of this green stuff called grass. She kept pulling her arms up to avoid it poking her arm, so curious.

Nap time!

Watch out, here she comes... she's a floor eater!

We got a new HE washing machine on Friday, my life has changed forever.

Discovered on Friday that Sula doesn't like peas, I think it is the texture. She sure does love her sweet potatoes though.

It was another busy weekend, with lots of work to do in our garden. Aunt Barb came over to visit with Sula today, while we worked on the border around the raised beds. Now it is time to get some rest. We are leaving for Spearfish, South Dakota on Friday to visit my grandparents. Lots to do until then.

Happy Mother's Day

My breakfast at Blackbird Cafe, yum.

Admiring the tulips at the Arboretum.

Wow, what a weekend!

On Saturday, to celebrate Mother's Day early, we went out to breakfast at the Blackbird Cafe in Minneapolis. This is a top-notch breakfast/brunch joint, definitely one of my favorites in the Twin Cities. I enjoyed the pancakes with fried banana and toasted walnuts, while Corey indulged in their french toast. Sula had fun distracting everyone else in the restaurant from eating their meal, she just loves getting people's attention. After breakfast, I received a sweet gift from Corey and Sula, a new All Clad french skillet. Later that night I fried up some asparagus in olive oil to go with dinner so that I could try out my new skillet. Thank you Corey (and Sula)!

Then on Sunday, we went to the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum to enjoy spring in full bloom. It was cold and breezy out, even with a forecast of 61 degrees. There are tell-tale signs throughout the gardens that the plants endured a tough winter. Most of the boxwoods and other shrubs looked stunted and had a lot of dead growth.

Mother's Day weekend pictures

Thinking of grandpa

Heard the news today that grandpa Stafford is having a rough week battling cancer. I thought a lot about him today and hope that he is not in too much pain. These pictures make me smile.

Big girl swing

Today we went to the park to watch papa skateboard and enjoy some spring time weather. Sula had her first experience on the big girl swing and just loved it. We are hoping for more sunny weather tomorrow.

Hello Spring!

Out enjoying spring today. More pictures later.