A visit, a hike and a trip

I've tried and tried this weekend to get a video to upload, and it just won't go. So here are some photos instead. We finally had a chill weekend at home this weekend, and it felt good. Two weekends ago, The Jenson's came up. They rented a house out in Oskar, and it was fun to hang out with them. For some reason we did not take very many photos though. We have a really great video of Willow and Grandpa Jack doing a puzzle, but oh well. Here is a photo instead, of Grandpa, Josh and Willow.

















That Sunday, after the Jenson's got on the road, we decided to do a hike from our book. The weather was beautiful - summer-like, really - for a couple weeks. It was a great day for a little hike. This one was just outside of town, at the Paavola wetlands.





















We walked by a swamp that used to be farmland back in the day. Apparently a beaver dam flooded the land. Here's Josh and Willow with the pond/swamp in the background. You can see one of the beaver dams too.

















Of course I had to take a photo of some fungi.

















Here's me by the old stone wall that used to mark the edge of some field on the farm (according to our book).






















Then we came upon the old farmstead. Willow did fall asleep for part of the hike, but she woke up when we stopped at this awesome apple tree. We picked about 20 good apples. We've been eating them since - they weren't just good-for-baking apples, but actual good apples you can eat plain. We'll definitely head back there around this time next year.































Here's Willow on the trail.



















Then last weekend, my mom, Willow and I took a trip to Minnesota. I had a training for work in Saint Cloud on Tuesday, so I decided to bring mom and Willow and visit my Grandpa Zip, who lives near St. Cloud. We left on Saturday, and spent Saturday night in Duluth. We met up with Sharon and went to the zoo. It was a special Halloween event at the zoo, and it was a madhouse. Still, it was a beautiful day (again), and we had fun walking around with the stroller. Willow was a ladybug.

















Here's a ladybug riding a ladybug.
















The next day we went to Great-Grandpa Zip's house. Some aunts, uncles and cousins stopped by too, and it was great to see everyone. I didn't get any decent pictures of WIllow with Great Grandpa Zip...my mom got this one, which isn't great, but it's the best we've got.

The night before my seminar, we stayed in the Holiday Inn in St. Cloud, which had a great kiddie pool, Willow had a blast! I thought this picture was cute.

















Willow went to the doctor last week for a check-up. She is 23 pounds now, and 33 inches tall. Her blood pressure was nice and low, which was good to see. She's been having these tummyaches lately, and icky poop (sorry if that is TMI). I'm sort of worried. The doctor's theory is maybe Willow needs probiotics...maybe since she had so many antibiotics when she was in the NICU, her gut doesn't have enough of the good bacteria. So, I ordered some online...we'll see if it helps. Here are a couple photos of Willow and Dada from around the house this weekend.