Twin Cities Weekend

Our last weekend in Minnesota was spent in the Twin Cities with the Brandenburgs/Muhrs and friends. We were able to spend time with our growing niece,Ellie, and nephew, Ethan, along with hitting up our favorite restaurant Punch pizza! Sadly we missed out on the Minnesota State Fair by only 4 days...maybe next year.


An afternoon at the Science Museum.


Berlin enjoyed hanging out with his Aunt Molly.


High school girlfriends.


The car packed up for the drive back to Philly.

24 Years at Lake McDonald

The majority of our week in Minnesota was spent at Big Lake McDonald Resort...where the Pearson and McLaren families have been going every August for the last 24 years!


The guys showing us their moves.


All of us!


Hanging out on the dock.

Duluth Reunion Weekend

In August Ben and I were able to head to Minnesota for a week to spend time with family and friends. The first weekend we were home we headed up to northern MN to hang out with my 4 college girlfriends and their growing families. It started out as 5 college friends and there are now 17 of us! (yes we are the only ones without kids:)

Here are pictures of our fun weekend on the beautiful Lake Superior in Duluth.

From 5 college girlfriends...


...to a group of 17!

Schroeder's Visit

Ben and I have been blessed with many visitors this summer...our latest were our college friends Lauren and Wade. We were lucky to be apart of their 5 year wedding anniversary trip to the east coast. Here are a few pics from our fun weekend together....thanks for the visit Schroeders!


At LOVE Park.


A very hot day at the Jersey shore.


A tour of historic Philadelphia.


Lauren & Wade's first cheesesteaks!

Short Reflections on our Summer in the Woods

We love our urban jungle. We love cobblestone streets that aren't supposed to be romantic. We love the way the unemployed amuse themselves. We love the stained glass window variety of cement that seemingly covers every square inch. We love random one way streets...

...But we also can't stand these things at times. And in the summer, we especially must escape to the woods. So these last few weeks we ran away to the beautiful Wissahickon Creek, Philadelphia; French Creek State Park, Western PA; Fallingwater, Southwest PA; and the exotic Hocking Hills, Ohio.

Here are pictures from our last few weekends.


Hiking Wissahickon Creek, Philadelphia.


Our rainy hike while camping at French Creek State Park.


At Frank Llyod Wright's Fallingwater.


Outside Fallingwater, Southwest Pennsylvania.


Playing Corn Hole at our cabin in Hocking Hills.


Hiking Conkle's Hollow, Ohio.


Hiking Rock House, Ohio.

The 4th in Philadelphia!

This holiday weekend Ben and I exercised the staycation with lots of fun activities around the Philadelphia area. Amongst the BBQ's, World Cup games, fireworks and friends the highlight of our weekend was teaching Berlin how to swim!

Today we are recuperating with the day off. Ben is getting ready to teach summer school tomorrow and me back to the kids. Happy 4th!

Berlin Turns One!