Happy Feast of St. Benedict (just a couple of days late)! On Saturday, we drove up to St. John’s to celebrate the Feast and, more importantly, the final profession of my good friend Br. Richard Crawford. The service was lovely and Ada was remarkably well-behaved throughout. It’s a terrible shame that I took ZERO pictures of the vows or the luncheon or our reunion with Brian and Betsy White (my very first post-college roommates!)

I’d say next time, but there will definitely be no next time in this case. Ah well.

After we said our goodbyes at the Abbey, we dove into a whole different type of friendship when we stopped at Jugfest. What in the world is Jugfest?! It’s an annual celebration of friendship and music that goes down at Millstream Park in St. Joe. I would love to tell you that I know how many years it’s been in existence, but I just can’t keep track anymore.

We hung out with Auntie Laura and some old friends from The Local Blend and The Middy before heading back to Oma and Opa’s for some rest.

Sunday brought us brunch at Eddie’s on Grand – a local Rockville hotspot. You just can’t beat BBQ ribs as an option for breakfast!

Before heading back to St. Paul, we paid a visit to Great-grandma and Great-grandpa Molitor. Ada is the 7th of 8 great-grandchildren for them, and it was their first time meeting each other. Although a bit wary, Ada was a trooper for a few photos with the family elders.

Oh! And just a couple of snapshots of the family in Oma and Opa’s beautiful gardens.

We need to stop having so much fun on the weekends! It makes preparation for a full work week much more difficult.

Dads are good for many things. One of those things is making their daughters look quite put together by adding dirty work caps to their outfits.

Last night we attended a lovely picnic at Minnehaha Falls Regional Park. (Yes, that’s its full official name.) The evening was a glorious break from the Canadian wildfire haze and hot/humid conditions we’d been dealing with. No bugs. Crisp, fresh air. Good company. WAY too much food! Sounds like a success, no?

Some important activities to note:

1. Ada played her first game of catch with Mr. Brian P. Heilman. (The world is as it should be.) Though there are no photos of this, I’ll allow you to imagine how well the adult glove fit her hand.

2. We got a good look at the Falls. They were captivating. And this is what we ended up with when I had T and Ada pose for a photo…

My photography skills are out of control!

Then we all went home and went to bed. Seriously. All that outdoor activity will wear a girl (or three girls) out.

It seems that many folks headed out of town for the weekend to enjoy some time on the shores of MN’s 10,000 lakes. We did not. Instead we attempted to entertain ourselves right here within the St. Paul city limits.

Weekend fun began on Friday morning when we packed up and headed over to Como Zoo and Conservatory as soon as the doors opened. We were not the only family with that plan. It was SO BUSY, but we cleverly bypassed the line to the zoo by entering through the conservatory. Ada enjoyed staring at the plants and flowers between naps.

Once we squeezed our way into the zoo, we cared about only two things:

1. Visit the water dog (sea lion), and

2. Get a molded plastic gorilla to add to the family collection.

We succeeded in both quests, though not without dodging our fair share of clueless vacationers and runaway strollers.

Saturday was fairly low-key with just a visit to Dan and Amy’s to hang out with Luke and Ryan, and to flirt with Davie a little. It turns out Davie did all the flirting and Ada just cried in response. Apparently boys are still scary.

This morning we packed up and hit the science museum. Turns out the very best time to visit is at open on a Sunday morning (especially on a holiday weekend.) There were so few people around that we could easily maneuver the stroller through all of the exhibits. Naturally, we spent most of our time with the dinosaurs.

All-in-all, we’re voting good weekend! Even if we did skip the fireworks to stay at home and catch up on sleep/protect TiVo from the terrifying noises of the 4th of July holiday.

A lot has gone down in the past few days.

First of all, Ada and I got a wonderful visit from the Paulson girls on Saturday morning. It was a lovely day, so we enjoyed some time outside at Nina’s and then took a walk around the neighborhood. The poems which are stamped into the sidewalk were especially popular with Ashley and Courtney.

I wish I had photos, but Megan was the only one smart enough to snap them.

Things were slightly less casual on Sunday. It was the big moving day for the Nelson grandparents and (Aunt) T! We unloaded the U-Haul in record time and then left the Nelsons to organize their space and look after Ada.

Why were they looking after Ada? Oh yeah. Sunday was also our first anniversary (and Steve’s birthday, but don’t tell him I told you) so we figured we’d better do something to celebrate. And boy did we! By going to the Mall of America to see Jurassic World. Verdict: clearly not as good as Jurassic Park, but an enjoyable summer action film that was better than the other dino sequels.

Monday brought us Ada’s two-month well child appointment (even though she’s nearly 2.5 months old now.) The highlights were finding out that she’s now 24″ long and weighs 15lbs 1oz which, as the doctor told us, makes her roughly the size of an average four month old baby. Oh, and the shots. But Ada took those like a champ and, like any woman, rapidly worked her way out of hysterics by staring at a photo of Jon Hamm.

The rest of the week should be relatively normal. Relatively. Ada now gets to spend her days being entertained by Grandma, Grandpa and T which means that “normal” is about to take on a whole new meaning. Good luck, kid.