Tourists in a Familiar City

Along with the Engelhard Family (or part of it... Kim, Zach and Chelsey), the little TrygKerz family took a fun trip to the twin cities. We go to Mpls./St.Paul fairly often (well, not so often after the birth of Edie) but usually head right to St. Paul to visit our friends. This time, we took a different approach and did all the touristy things we never do.

We drove down Thursday and spent the day at Valley Fair. It was Kris' first time riding a roller coster. At first, I think he was a bit afraid (okay, really afraid). But, after the first ride on the Wild Thing, he was hooked. Valley Fair might become an annual tradition now. Unfortunately, their selection of rides for a 1-year-old isn't so awesome. We did ride the carousel and we have pictures (and video) that we will post very soon (in otherwords, they are stuck on our other camera).

On Thursday evening, we headed to Hastings to visit with the Richardson family. Chad is fellow wedding photojournalist/MSUM Advocate Almuni/Winter Thaw Participant and editor of the Hastings Star-Gazzette. We hung out, took some pictures (will post on the photo blog this week) and ate some amazing Puerto Rican Food (thank you Lisa!). Here are a few photos from Hastings:

(Photo by Chad)

(Photo also by Chad)

(Chad and Lisa's adorable and hilarious son Gabe)

Friday morning and afternoon was spent at the Mall of America where Chelsey found all sorts of fun stores and I finally bought something nice for myself. Kris, Kim, Chelsey and Zach went to a Twins game at Target Field on Friday night while Edie and I chilled in the hotel and took a fun trip to IKEA (of course!).

The whole purpose of the trip was to take some graduate photos of my niece Chelsey. I've been photographing Chelsey for a very, very, long time. She is so extremely photogenic, so, naturally, she is one of my favorite subjects. I decided we needed something new and different for her pictures, so we decided to take a trip to the twin cities to take her pictures. After numerous recommendations to visit the St. Anthony Main neighborhood, I knew it was the place to go. Too bad the GPS doesn't know where it is. We ended up at the Old Mill Ruins (also awesome) and eventually found our way to where we wanted to go.

Here is a pic from the St. Anthony Area of Chelsey:

And a few more of Edie, Kris and Zachary...

All in all, it was a super awesome trip.

Forty Eight Weeks Old

(Sorry, this is late. Excuse below.)

Edie was so lucky to attend her very first music festival this week. Our little family (along with my parents and my brother Dana) drove up to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada for the Winnipeg Folk Festival. This is a yearly tradition for our family, so, it was fun to initiate little miss Edie Pants into the folk fest club. She was a great little camper and seemed to really enjoy the outdoors, the people and the music.

In other news, her pointing skills have reached a whole new level and she can now point with both fingers. She is also talking more and more, and says "Kitt" "Treeeeys" "Pa" and, again, something that sounds like "Papeeen" (Pauline?). She is become a more confident walker, but still needs a steady surface to stand up. She has also become very, very good and climbing things (including picnic tables) but still struggles with stepping down.

Duluth

This past weekend, Kris, Edie and I traveled Duluth, Minn., for a little spring trip with my mom, dad and brother Dana. We had a nice time despite all of our lack of sleep (courtesy to little Miss Edie Pants) and a flat tire (courtesy of a large rock on the interstate). Duluth is a wonderful city with very good beer (Thank you Fitgers!).

We stayed at the Black Bear Casino Resort (my mom, queen of good deals, managed to get a killer deal) which luckily had a pool. So, Edie went swimming for the very first time!

The next day, we traveled to Duluth.

We visited the Glensheen Mansion a gorgeous early 20th century mansion on the lake. The mansion is run by the University of Minnesota Duluth who give quite a historic tour. I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside, but here are a few of us outside.

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We were also able to spend sometime in Duluth Harbor. I have a thing for parks by lakes.

Tuckered out... don't let this fool you though. She still slept very little that night.

Sunday, we drove back... I went the wrong way on Highway 210 and ended up at Jay Cooke State Park. I took the opportunity to take a picture of myself.

Home Sweet Home :)