Up to the Great North over the 4th of July

We had to stop and get pictures in front of  the welcome to signs!

And the one for Minnesota

I thought that by heading up north to Wisconsin and Minnesota for the 4th of July I would get a bit of relief from the unbearably hot weather that we were experiencing in Kansas City. Well I was wrong at least for the first day we were there. That Friday Neal showed be around the city of LaCrosse,WI, there we went and saw Lock 7 along the Mississippi River. Did I mention that it was the first time for me seeing the Mississippi River. It was pretty cool to see such a large river. So I just had to dip my toes in it. Later that evening we all went up to visit Neal's grandparents and have dinner with them.

My piggies in the Mississippi River

On Saturday we headed up to the Twin Cities so we could visit Neal's brother Luke and his wife Elise and meet their beautiful baby girl Vienna. We spent the day hanging out and we all went to the Mall of America. All I have to say is that is such a huge mall. Later that night Elise prepared us an amazing meal. Then we all just chatted the night away. My sister in law introduced me to The Pioneer Woman cookbook and now I think that I found a new favorite cook book.

This was taken inside the Mall of America

Cuddle Bugs

We then headed back to LaCrosse on Sunday morning. But not before we went through Wabasha where Grumpy Old Men was filmed.

Them we went over to Neal's mom's house and then we all weaded up to Hatfield, WI and hung out with Neal's family and went swimming in Arbutis Lake. Ne-J just loved the lake and had a great time swimming and splashing around. Later that evening we roasted hot dogs and made S'mores.

Then after a weekend that went by way too quickly we headed home.

Coffee Kind of Day

On Saturday I decided that it was going to be a coffee kind of day. So what do I do? I head down to Latte Land where my hubby works.

There I find him hard at work and he makes me a vanilla latte and I then enjoy an amazing cup of coffee and a good book (I am reading The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne).

Once he has a few minutes break we get to enjoy lunch together from McGonigal's Market. It was so nice to be able to go and visit Neal at work and have a relaxing afternoon.

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day weekend was such a nice weekend. Neal and I were able to spend all weekend together, it was great. On Sunday we went down to Celebration at the Station at Union Station where the Kansas City Symphony gave a free concert followed by the 1812 Overture with firing of cannons then an amazing fireworks show.

Then on Monday we went to the Royals baseball game against the Angels. Neither one of us had been to a Royals game yet so it was fun to go and watch the game, wander through the stadium and eat hot dogs. The Royals started off playing good but by the end not so much and they ended up loosing, which was a bummer but it was great to go to the game.


Memorial Day weekend was a great weekend and it was so nice to be able to spend it with Neal  and take time out to remember and thank all those who have and are serving our country.

Worlds of Fun

Tons of roller coasters! Garmin had an employee day at Worlds of Fun which is a local amusement park so we had the park to ourselves for the day. The day started off with riding all the big coasters then we had lunch. Then after lunch Neal went on the Detonator which is a free falling tower ride. After that we went on all the other rides again! At the end of the day we decided to play a game. Neal won me a Minion from the movie Despicable Me and then I won him one as well.
  

 

Neal won me this Minion

And I won him this one

Nelson- Atkins Museum

A couple of weeks past we decided to take advantage of the Nelson- Atkins Museum which is a free art museum in Kansas City, MO. It has great grounds with sculptures, a ton of trees and big open lawns. On the inside there is art from many different eras from Roman and Greek to Egyptian and French and Italian and a ton more that we did not even get to see. I think that our favorite exhibits were the display of the original rules of Basketball, Egyptian artifacts, and there was a Rembrandt that was pretty cool to see. Then we went outside and too some self portraits out on the gardens and that was fun.

Thomas Graduates College!

During the beginning of December my brother Thomas was graduating college from the Jacksonville University with a degree in Aviation. It was such a fun weekend. On Saturday we watched Thomas walk across the stage getting his diploma.

Then we went out to lunch to celebrate his accomplishment.  Then later we went to St. Augustine and walked through downtown St. Augustine and enjoyed some shopping. They were having a sailboat decorating competition for Christmas so we watched that and that was really cool. Then I headed home. Congrats Thomas!

   

Happy New Years!

Over New Years Neal and I headed to Chicago for my cousins wedding. We had such a great time. I was in the wedding as one of the bridesmaids. From just being newly married I have a new appreciation for everything that goes on before and during a wedding and all I have to say I am glad that I only get to do it once=)

There were a few things that Neal and I wanted to do while we were in Chicago, drink coffee at Intelligentsia Coffee and eat Chicago deep dish pizza. Well we accomplished only half of it. We had coffee at Intelligentsia, which I must say was amazing. After that we drove through downtown Chicago and we saw the Garmin Store there and then we headed to the airport. It was such a quick weekend but it was a complete blast!