July 2014 - All-Star FanFest

As part of the All-Star week activities, Keith and I went to All-Star FanFest on Saturday, July 12th. Keith had actually gone the day before with his brother and dad but he wanted to go again with me.  I can't quite remember how I got tickets but I know I didn't pay for them.  I must have gotten them through work.

We were walking through the Convention Center common areas that morning and I slowed down because I saw someone at the coffee area. Keith kept walking and then noticed I was several steps back and I told him to come here. He came back over and I pointed at the guy known as Bert Blyleven finishing up his coffee purchase.  We all three hit up perfectly as he started to walk the same way as us and he said, "Good morning."  We told him we were here to see him (truly, I was there to see him) as I pointed to my Blyleven jersey and he liked that.  We all walked the same way for a little bit and I told him we'd see him later.  

It was almost time to get in line to see Bert as he was going to be there for 20 minutes or so to meet and talk to.  We got in line and he showed up a little bit early and when he got on the stage, he noticed both Keith and I in the line, pointed at us and said, "Hey, you made it." and smiled.  

We also went and watched Bert speak in a pretend locker room setting, him answering questions from the host and fielding questions from the audience. He talked about one of his favorite all-time baseball experiences which was the homecoming at the dome in 1987 from Detroit.  He said he gets goosebumps just telling the story.  I feel lucky enough to have been there that night.  

Keith and I walked around the area stopping at many different things along the way and taking pictures.  I thought Keith might be bored as he was just there the day before and he said he hadn't seen a lot of the same things the day before so it was somewhat new to him.  We stayed just over a couple of hours and we were out of there by noon.  I really enjoy these experiences with Keith and I like being the sports auntie.  

 

July 2014 - Fourth of July

M and I decided to do go on a somewhat impromptu trip for the Fourth of July.  Thankfully, I have a sister in the hotel business that was able to set us up nicely.  We stayed in Canal Park in Duluth on Thursday, July 3rd and then in Two Harbors on Friday, July 5th.


Once we got there, we went directly to see if there were any ships coming in.  We got lucky and saw one departing right away.  There were so many people there.

We then went up to Enger Tower.  I don't know if I had ever been up there before.  If I had, it was when I was a kid and I don't remember.  It's a beautiful park with a zen garden and a path to Enger Tower where you can climb up it for a gorgeous view of Duluth and beyond.  We walked around the park a bit and explored, taking a narrow wooded path where we were eaten alive by mosquitoes.  It was so bad we had to make our trip quick and turn around of the woods.  

M ringing the gong

Can you see the bridge in between the two trees?

We woke up on Friday, July 4th somewhat early, ate breakfast and got ready for the day.  Both M and I thought it would be funny, yet still patriotic to wear the some of the cheesiest 'Merica t-shirts we could find.  M originally started this a couple of weeks earlier and bought a couple of shirts because he couldn't decide on just one.  I went and bought one the week before and so I was ready too.  We reluctantly put them on and headed out for the day. We got them at Wal-Mart, the best place to find shirts like this, hands down and probably only one of the couple times a year you'll catch me at a Wal-Mart. Yuck.  I had three compliments before I even left the hotel and M had two.  It settled our nerves a little bit about wearing them out and we would seriously have lots of compliments all day long.

I would have bought this shirt had it been in my size.  A raccoon holding a patriotic cupcake with sparklers and a flag in it with a bow in its hair?  Are you kidding me?!?!

We ventured up the North Shore, stopping at Stoney Point.

We continued all the way up to Lichen Lake.  We were just there several weeks earlier but there were campers in the area where we put my dad's ashes.  I assumed since it was Fourth of July weekend there would also be campers there but we decided to take our chances.  The spot was clear when we got there!  

We saw this little guy in the middle of the road so we had to stop and help him across safely before we moved on.  

Butterflies again!  How I love butterflies. These are Silvery Checkerspot butterflies.

In September of 2013, most of us threw pennies into the lake for my dad.  M decided to put lodge his into the bark of a tree.  The first thing I did was go look at the tree to see if it was still there.  It was not but after searching for a minute or two on the ground, I found the penny.  

We drove back and checked into our Two Harbors hotel, rested a little before heading back to Duluth to watch the fireworks from Bayfront Park.  We were worried about finding a place to park so we got there early, close to 7 pm and hung out in the park in our grassy spot listening to the bands play, people watching and walking around to the different food vendors.  We saw multiple people in the park with the same shirt that M had on.  

We had heard big things about the fireworks show in Duluth and were excited. The show was good but I think St. Paul still has them beat, despite Duluth boasting the upper Midwest's largest fireworks show. (Not sure what largest really means.) We stayed around Canal Park walking around and admiring the lit up Aerial Lift Bridge before heading back to Two Harbors.  We had tons of fun in our last-minute trip!

June 2014 - Random

I have the cutest sleeping cat.

I made a wedding dress out of cupcakes for my friend.

M testing out our new deck. 

Powder relaxing under the chair. 

The road alongside Lichen Lake.  

June 2014 - Twins Game

I bought tickets earlier in the month for Keith and I to go to a Twins game for his birthday.  We went on June 30th against the Royals, the team that would lose in game 7 of the World Series later that season.

Joe Mauer is one of Keith's favorite players and when I asked him before I got the tickets where he would like to sit at the game.  He said anywhere with a good view of Joe Mauer.  Ok, so that's where we sat then.

We watched batting practice for the Royals and just before the Twins came out, Keith got autographs from three players.  

 

 

Keith may like Mauer but I'll take Trevor Plouffe.  Yes please. 

  

#bestauntieever

   

The Twins lost 6-1 but I know he had one of the best baseball experiences ever. Me too.