Thanksgiving and Bentleyville Lights

This Thanksgiving weekend we were joined by Joel's parents, Pat and Tom, for a few days of Holiday celebration in Duluth . We enjoyed a Thanksgiving Eve church service on Wed. evening, a day full of good eating on Thursday, and a couple of fun outings on Friday. I'm proud to say that my turkey turned out relatively well, considering it's the 2nd turkey I've fixed in my married life of 7 1/2 years. I'm sure I'll learn new tricks of the trade in the years to come, but for now I'm satisfied with the turnout my trusty roaster gives! Friday we ventured out to experience a bit of "Black Friday" - just visiting one store - which was enough. Then on Friday evening we took the train ride to visit Bentleyville, the Midwest's largest Holiday light display, located at Bayfront Festival Park in Duluth. For those of you within the state, we would highly recommend you make the trip North to visit (open evenings through 12/23). Check it out here: www.bentleyvilleusa.org
Here's a few highlights of the Bentleyville excursion (photos courtesy of Papa J/Tom):

A snapshot of us on the train ride down to Bayfront...toasty warm but soon to be cold...

The tree's stats are pretty impressive...more than twice as tall as the tree at Rockefeller Plaza in New York, which makes it the tallest man-made Christmas tree in the U.S. Not only was it beautiful, it was very cool to watch it synchronized with the music that was playing through the speakers throughout the park.

Hope you all had a good Turkey Day!

Fun at the Parade

This past Friday evening we attended the Duluth "City of the North Parade." It reminds me of the Minneapolis Aquatennial Torchlight Parade - an evening parade with lights and sounds - except for the cold part. For some reason Duluthians thought it would be a good tradition to start a Holiday parade the Friday night before Thanksgiving and it has stuck all of these years. Regardless of the cold, hundreds of Duluthians lined the streets in the 20-degree (and falling) temperatures between Lake Ave and 5th Ave W downtown to see the 80-unit parade, complete with marching bands, lighted floats, dance lines, fire trucks, and other fun entries. We didn't make it through the entire parade, but we saw enough for a good time. Here's a photo to prove we were there - on the sidelines and bundled up:


And here's a couple of photos of the parade units:


Our favorite entry (and the talk of the parade) was a float built by float-maker and local business owner, who designed a lit-up steam engine train, cars full of oversized toys, and a fog that was released from the train funnel on top of the engine that smelled like peppermint. The float maker had apparently experimented with scented floats before, but the peppermint was a first. It was quite a hit, and the float was pretty cool, too.

Announcing...The Number Two

Yes, the number two is very significant to us these days. Isaac being 2 (1/2) years old, and also we're excited to announce that we are expecting our second child (consequently, we are 2 1/2 months along :-)), due in mid-June. Let me include 2 pictures below to put things into perspective (not to mention the 2nd Lilypie ticker you now see on top of our blog)...Not sure which one of us looks more excited in the photos above...I'll let you decide :-)

Halloween Fun

This year for Halloween we decided to check out the Duluth "Malloween," where they offer indoor trick-or-treating at the Miller Hill Mall for young children in costume from 4-6 p.m. Of course, we made a quick pit stop on the way to scoop up our free hot chocolate from Caribou due to our participation in the Halloween Holiday via costume (thanks, Isaac!)...

To us, the mall was a great alternative to spending a cold and dark evening outside going from house to house. We enjoyed seeing the many other children in their costumes, too. Isaac enjoyed getting the candies in his pumpkin pail, and we still made it home in time to be able to hand out candy to our neighborhood trick-or-treaters, too, which Isaac also enjoyed (once we explained the candy in his pumpkin pail was his, and the candy in the "big orange bowl" was for the other friends...) Here's a few highlights of the experience...
And what would a trip to the mall be without riding (what seems like) a few hundred times up & down the escalator...

Hope you had a fun and safe Halloween!