Views of Excelsior

So - as you know, we went to visit my aunt in MN this past weekend. She lives right on Lake Minnetonka - in the most adorable little town called Excelsior. Google it. It's like Northville on a huge lake. It got great shopping, a great restaurant that has Thursday night ladies night (I am so in love with Espresso-tinis!!)a great coffee place and water everywhere.


This is my awesome Aunt Nancy. She's my birth mom's sister and my Godmother and I kind of consider her the Mom force in my life. She is bluntly honest and caring and wonderful and so cool. I don't tell her that often enough (and I know she reads the blog...so...now I'm telling you.)

On the morning of the 4th, my cousin and I ran a 2-Mile run. Yeah. I didn't feel so good. but, it was fun...we finished. Whatever. My younger (and in better shape) cousins ran a 10K. I was so proud of them...

Can you see us in this pic?



And here we are - done with the run. Little Joe wanted to run with us...but then when he realized how far it was, he backed out. But, he was a good cheer-er for all of us crazy runners.

After the run, there was a kids bike parade through the downtown. Little Joe and Aunt Nancy decorated the most awesome scooter with pinwheels and streamers. He was quite the festive little guy!!

And here is Little Joe's new found guilty pleasure. The Wii. We don't have video games at home. I don't really want to get them until he is older, I kind of believe in the whole "get outside for fun" thing. But, he got kind of good at the Wii.

One afternoon, the cousins all got together and went strawberry picking. Um, yeah. We decided at 2:50 to go, and once we found out where the place was, and how long it would take to get there...lets just say I'm glad we are all family, so we can all be crazy together. It took almost 45 to get there, and the farm closed at 4. Yes, 4 pm. We arrived at the farm at 3:34. With 26 minutes to pick. How many strawberries can you pick in 26 minutes? Um...17 pounds. Oh yes. My cousins are rockstar strawberry pickers.

And we had a GREAT recipe for strawberry mojitoes. Actually - we MADE UP a great recipe for strawberry margaritas...and there is no way we could recreate the same one twice. So GOOD!!! Here is my cousin Darcy enjoying her Strawberry Mojito...

All in all - we had a GREAT time in MN. Of course, it was way too short and we didn't have enough time to really hang out with everyone. There were GORGEOUS fireworks over the Lake that we got to watch. Of course, Little Joe fell asleep before the fireworks started, and we couldn't even wake him up to watch them. Big Joe and I sat on the screen porch just watching the fireworks and avoiding the mosquitoes! The rest of the family went down on the dock to watch. 4th of July can be such a wonderful holiday - it makes you so thankful for the country we live in, that we are provided so many freedoms that so many people take for granted.