Amish Country! Lanesboro, Mn and surrounding towns.

OK, so I have been reading a lot about Amish people lately.  Makes for a very interesting read and I am very fascinated by their culture.  So since there were old order Amish in Minnesota, not so very far away from where we were going and because we had some time, we went to Amish land.  We headed to a town called Lanesboro in southeastern Minnesota.  Here is the downtown of Lanesboro:

Here are some more pictures of the area:

It is very green and VERY humid in this part of Minnesota.  Everything was wet in the morning, not from rain, but dew.  Forgot what dew even was!
Here is Brecklyn at our little hotel called Brewster's little red hotel.  It had a LOT of stairs.  Very casual check-in, and Amish furnishings in our room such as head boards, dresser shelves, etc.

Then  for a little night life across the street.

Lots of road construction, of course!  And a band and dinner across the way.  Here we ate on the back patio with a collection of fireflies to entertain along with the band.  At first Brecklyn didn't like them, but after a while she decided that they were pretty fun to watch and eventually try to catch and put in a container.

A quaint, quiet, Minnesota street.

The Root River runs along the patio part of the restaurant where we ate.

A few phone issues as Jamie's phone and my phone literally took turns getting zero reception.  Luckily we had different phone providers and when hers failed to work, mine did and vice-versa.

Looking out at the river.

Our hotel and we were on the 3rd level up.

The side-yard of the hotel, also had picnic tables and a fire pit, BBQ, etc.

Eating at the "little" diner.  Looked like a train car squeezed lengthwise between 2 buildings and as narrow as you see in this picture.  Home-style breakfast on the counter cooked as you ordered it.

We had a choice, to take the Amish bus tour or the Amish "self-guided" CD tour.  I opted for the latter.  Saved money and we could shop as we pleased.  Here a view of Amish farmland.

A little Amish school, there were many since the kids have to walk and everything was kind of far apart if you were on foot.

The Amish have big houses, lots of kids, ya know!

Last place on the tour was in Harmony, MN at the village Green.

There were many Amish shops on the way.  They are on their own property and of different types and sizes.  Some sell crafts, others produce, eggs, butter, quilts, furniture and such.  We stopped off at several and would have loved to take LOTS of pictures but we didn't want to disrespect their religious beliefs as to not taking pictures.  So we didn't.  The little kids were absolutely adorable.  In their little Amish dresses they looked so cute!  And they were very shy.  Sometimes they would peek out at us and duck out of sight if they saw us looking at them.  It was kind of funny.  We weren't sure why.  Some were less shy, like a tiny little Amish girl about 1-2 who found one of the "English" lady shoppers so interesting and was very animated and cute.  So funny.  Would have loved to have had a video of that.  In many cases the Amish were almost too trusting as they left the money boxes in the shop area and let you shop and requested that you leave your money or check in the box on the table and to write down what items you purchased.  Very interesting. The little boys were also cute in their straw hats and suspenders.  Other times there was a lady in the store to help and they had little accents and I asked the one younger girl a question in German but they couldn't understand me at all.  So I listened to them speak and I couldn't understand them at all either!  So their "German" was really different than any I have ever heard.  A fun experience and another fun thing to recall. 

Minnesota Road Trip!

Jamie, Brecklyn and I took a little time, back in time for me.  It was the week of my hometown's Sesquicentennial celebration.  I figured I had been to the centennial, I should be at the 150th as well! I definitely won't make it to the Bi=centennial, will I!  So here is a little re-cap of our fun trip we took together.  By the way this was Breckie's first airplane ride.   It was a fairly smooth ride so it was a good first experience for her. 

Here we are waiting to go!

Waiting to depart.  We left a little late because a bird or something hit the door of our plane on it's last flight and they had to make some repairs, they said.  But we still got there at the scheduled time.

The first plan of attack was yeah, you guessed it, the famous "Mall of America".  Last time that Jamie and I were here we were able to take pictures in front of the big sign outside.  But this time we couldn't because there was construction just outside in the front. Oh well, we took a picture in the parking garage instead!  Ha ha!

 

 

And what was the first discovery?  Yes, it was ....The American Girl Doll Store.  Jamie always wanted one, never could afford one...guess who got one?  Yes Brecklyn lucked out!  Here some pics:

Pinch me, I think I'm dreaming!

Does it get better than this?  Well, yes, maybe so!

Brecklyn searches for the one that looks like her!

It's number 38!

A musician...

A never-ending store with dolls that are black, white, brown, old and new, washing clothes in a wringer washer, Indians with a tee-pee, kitchens, doctors, nurses, students, ironers, colonial, pioneers, you name it!  They got it!

Clothes, accessories of every type, shape and size!

But this is the one:

And poor baby, has to go for an appointment to get her ears pierced!  Can you believe it?

An outfit, glasses, a stand and a few odds and ends, and poor grandma is out a small fortune!

Then on to the rides, yes it is a small amusement park within the mall!

 

 

 

Did the flying Walendas start here???

Then to the Lego store it is:

 

A whole store for Lindt Chocolates, can you believe it?

And several hours later, a million bucks poorer, we head out on our trip and pass by the Mayo clinic in Rochester, MN.  The famous medical clinic.  Good to know in case we have an illness on the road, no?

Just an aside, as a child I loved "old Dutch" potato chips and ya know what?  Still do!

So this concludes the first post.  Now on to the next!

And What Did You Do On The 4th?

I had hoped to BBQ, but it didn't happen.  Tyson had double-header baseball games "supposedly at Park City".  Spence and I were almost at Park City when Jamie called and said they had changed the location to Salem.  Completely in a different direction.  We had to turn around and go back.  Crazy.  Tyson and some teammates had spent the night in Heber at a cabin and that way the plan was to go from there to Park City.  And so everyone was surprised at the change.  Made for some unhappy "campers".  Well, we got there, Ty and friends got there and Jake and his two boys got there, too.  All a bit more stressed than planned but it all worked out anyway.  It started out not being too hot, but the heat went up, up, up!  And now I am so tired...Spencer too.  So we aren't doing too much. 

Jamie and Brecklyn have been busy getting ready for the Provo Stadium of Fire celebration all week.  Tonight is the big night.  There is a large group dance and Jamie is helping a group of younger girls prepare for the dance and Brecklyn is in the dance.  Lots of rehearsal, also very exhausting. 

Here are a couple of shots of the day in Salem!

Logan spent some time sitting under the Cooperstown umbrella with grandma on top of the water cooler.  We took a self portrait of ourselves.  Aren't we cute?  Can you believe I had to almost rip that green sweatshirt off of him?  It was blazing hot!  Made no sense to me!  We had fun.   Lost the first game by 2 runs and won the second game by 3 runs.  Tomorrow there are 2 games out in Coalville.  That is pretty far.  I won't be able to make that one.  If they make it to the championship game, then they play Saturday.  And hopefully then they will have some time for these old grandparents to rest!

Guess who's 7?

Yes, it was Logan's birthday yesterday and he is officially 7.  He made me laugh cause he kept saying he was 6.  I say today's your birthday-you're 7!  No, he said, "I won't be 7 until I blow out my candles!"

Waiting for his family to come was not so easy!

Now, can I open the presents????

A new family member named Paisley.  (Did I spell it right?) 

A Clay Matthews pose for Uncle Ian!  Green Bay day!

Grandma's biggest nightmare....
Now, who will blow out the candle first?  Grayson is taking over Logan's job of blowing out everyone's birthday candles!