101 Days of Summer Fun - Update #13

As I look back on this week, I realized that we did all of our fun activities on Saturday and Sunday for the 101 Days of Summer Fun, and simply relaxed for the remainder of the week. It's been a needed break after a busy summer; and will be good to have this time to do whatever we want without trying to cram planned and educational activities into each day.

Saturday, August 16 - We learned how to do stand up paddleboarding on the St. Croix River.

Although the girls were registered for the event, several people didn't show up at 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning, so I was able to go as well which was nice.

We left from a small bay off the main part of the river at William O'Brien State Park and then went onto the main part of the river.

It was a great workout and used muscles that we normally don't use.

Would we do stand up paddleboarding again? Probably not. I, at least, prefer to be sitting down in a kayak and paddling. There's more of a sense of stability that you don't have when you're standing up on a board.

At least we can say that we tried something new this summer.

Sunday, August 17 - We visited Gammelgarden where there were outdoor activities and music. We stayed for a while to listen to a few songs and then continued on.

We went to Northwoods Humane Society where we adopted Gretel, Cooper, and Aspen. Aspen won a $100 gift card to Chuck and Don's Pet Food Outlet, so we picked up the gift card there.

Brenda, the executive director, was there so we talked a while with her. She's watched the girls grow up from when they were about 5-7 years old to now (11 and 13 years old).

Monday, August 18 through Friday, August 22 - The girls spent a lot of time reading books of their choice, swinging on the swings in the backyard, seeing Mary B. on Wednesday and going to the library and swimming, and just taking it easy. It's been an enjoyable and relaxing week!