A Summer Softball Game

We went to watch our nephew, Nicholas, play softball on Monday night. Nicholas is Leonard & Denise's son...........he is 6 and just finished kindergarten. He did a good job & it was such a nice night to go watch the game.

Ahhhh..............Vacation!! :)

Todd & I rented a cabin on Spirit Lake (6 mi. south of Aitkin, MN) for a week.....July 12-19. It was so beautiful there! :)

Our 1st day there, we had some rain & saw a beautiful double rainbow!

On Sunday, we drove about an hour to Jenkins, MN visit my friend, Deb & her family. We went to church with them in Pine River & then spent the afternoon with them..........including a yummy BBQ complete with strawberry shortcake...........with fresh strawberries from Grandma's garden. :) Amanda, Deb, Michael, Grandpa & Grandma Hall & Shane in front.

We got to go for a ride on our friends, Dick & Cindy's boat. Very fun!

Dick & Cindy & their kids, Matthew, Katie & Corey rented the "cabin" next to us. I use quotes because theirs was really a house. Very nice. I brought some games up to play with the kids. Here we are playing Sum Swamp.

Sunrise on Spirit Lake.

Todd's mom & step-dad drove down from Duluth on Tuesday to spend the day with us.

Corey & Katie helping Todd with his word-find puzzle. :)

This is our cabin. We weren't more than 12-15 ft. from the lake........if even that. It was wonderful!
Sunset on Spirit Lake.

The beautiful pink clouds at sunset.

Todd & me sitting on the dock.

A loon on the lake. On Sunday night, we heard at least 5 or 6 of them on the lake at one time. It sounded like a big party.

Me barbecuing hotdogs.

Todd making mac & cheese to go with our hotdogs.

This was the view from the front window of our cabin. :)

July 4th Weekend in Duluth

Todd & I went to Duluth for the long 4th of July weekend. It was so nice to get away for a few days. :) We drove up on the 3rd & had dinner with our friends, Matt, Lisa & David Anderson because they were up there for a little mini vacation also. Then we spent the rest of the relaxing weekend at Todd's mom & stepdad's house.



I wanted to test out our new camera on a night shot. This is a picture of the pier & two lighthouses in the harbor at Canal Park in Duluth. I thought it turned out pretty good for my first try. I need to learn more about the different features on the camera so I can play around with it a little bit.

Todd's grandma (Grandma Vi) and brother, Kevin at our July 4th BBQ.

Todd & his step-dad, Jerry, and mom, Jan.

Grandma Vi :)

Todd & I both tried taking shots of the arial bridge when went to see the fireworks. This one of Todd's was the best one we got. We both agreed that we will have to try it again next year & bring our tripod. It is very hard to not wiggle the camera when taking night shots like that. :)