We just had another full weekend with a trip up to the Twin Cities to see BOTH sides of the family! We left Rochester Friday evening and drove up to Mound to stay with Mom and Dad A. for a couple of nights in their new home as their first houseguests. The weather was amazing and we grilled some food out on their deck while the sun was setting over the lake. Mom and Dad are both so happy to finally have their dream come true, it is great to see!

Mike and I ran the Lederhosenlauf 5k at the German American Institute in St. Paul Saturday morning. The race left the GAI on Summit, went down and around the St. Paul Cathedral and then up Selby Ave and back. After the race, we were able to indulge in a German breakfast, which naturally included some fine German beer! It was a beautiful course on a very nice sunny (and warm) day. After the race we took advantage of the time alone to stroll along the shops on Grand Avenue and visit the St. Paul Farmer's Market. We also had an amazing lunch at the Midtown Global Market, which is a favorite place of ours to get wonderful ethnic foods.

Back in Mound that afternoon, we all went down to the lake to do a little fishing on the piers just behind Mom and Dad's house. Benjamin (with help from Mike and Grandpa) caught at least 10 little sunfish and one fairly nice sized bluegill on his fishing pole from Daddy for Christmas. He really loved being close to the water!

Sunday was Father's Day and Mike wanted to spend the day with his Dad back at the German American Institute for Deutsche Tage, which is an annual festival of music, food and games celebrating German Heritage. We have been going there for many years. We had yet another beautiful sunny day for our time at the festival, which was great. Joe, Jen, AJ and John met us at the fest and Dan and Katie were able to stop by later. I've posted some pictures and videos and from them, you can really tell that we all had a great time. Benjamin and AJ especially liked the German music and the special German trainset, which we literally had to drag AJ away from!! After the festival we went back to Grandma and Grandpa S.'s house for dinner. I have a feeling that Mike had a wonderful Father's Day and I know we all had a great weekend!