A visit from Grammy and Poppy

I guess it was 2 weekends ago now, I completed my triathlon (.4 mile swim, 15 mile bike, 3 mile run). 1 hour, 51 min. I think that's at least 30 min. faster than when I did it 5 years ago, and my goal was 2 hours, so I feel pretty good about it. My neighbor Paula did it with me and I beat her by 10 minutes!!! Yeah! Below is Maggie sporting the always stylish swim cap that we had to wear, and the free T-shirt, on backwards of course! She and Maya and Daddy came to watch and cheer me on.
Jacob has gone to Texas. He goes every summer for a couple of weeks and stays with his grandparents and cousins. So, to celebrate his leaving, all the neighborhood kids who are around during the day went to Chuck E. Cheese the day before he left. They had a great time eating bad pizza and playing games and collecting tickets. Mags and Maya had more fun on the cheezy rides than the games but they didn't care. Mags ended up with only 23 tickets, but that was fine because the only prize she wanted was a sucker, and luckily those were only 10 tickets! Michele and Dean leave on Tuesday. The moving truck came today so now they have an empty house for a few days. It will be very sad. They were great neighbors. Still haven't sold the house.

Grammy and Poppy came last Friday afternoon. Monday morning we left for the North Shore. We stopped in Duluth on the way up and went to the aquarium there. Not worth it. It was sooo small, and was way to pricey for what they had. Oh well! The girls got to touch and hold a turtle and we watched a huge barge go by out one of the windows facing Lake Superior. We stayed in Two Harbors, just north about 20 min. of Duluth in a hotel and traveled the next 2 days up to the 3 state parks within 30 min. north. We went hiking, threw rocks in the lake, and checked out the Split Rock Lighthouse. It was a relaxing and fun time. Maggie said her favorite part of the trip was swimming in the hotel pool. (of course!) We've also been to Lake Elmo, and today, the zoo.

Tonight during dinner, Maya finished up and was playing on the couch. She kept popping up with this huge grin on her face. I had to run and get the camera!

Poppy and girls were wrestling in the grass in the backyard. We told them to "take him down!"

Here's Maya at Lake Elmo. Half of the lake is basically a wading pool so she can goof around and play in the sand. She had a great time. Maggie and Poppy went all the way out to the ropes and the deep part. We got a spot under one of the giant umbrella's and had lunch and watched the girls play in the water.
This was just funny. She discovered the vent by the front door and her hair was just a blowin' in the wind!