One more from yesterday at the nature center...

My favorite girl in the world. I never get any pics with her. So this one is nice. (Thanks Emma!)

09.24.11 Carpenter Nature Center

My girls.

Some kind of hawk being released to the wild. The Raptor Center at the U of M was there Saturday releasing birds that had been injured and nursed back to health. It was pretty touching to see some of this stuff.

If I could sell that grin (or its antidote), I would retire tomorrow.

McIntosh.

Tilly didn't want to leave!

08.30.11: Amishland 2011-Day 6

I think Tilly's a born geographer, like her dadda. She helped plot the day's course.

We went hiking in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. Google it and read a fascinating, tragic story of ultimate redemption. Where were standing there--eating an apple from a tree that had probably been on a family's farm 30 years ago--would have been on the bottom of a thousand acre lake had the US Army Corps of Engineer's plans gone through. Thankfully, they didn't. The land there is finally healing now.

Sassy pants.

Six beautiful days and one day of restorative rain wasn't a bad vacation. On the last day, we refamiliarized ourselves with the game Ticket to Ride. And finished up the gin, wine, scotch and whatever else we could.

We'll be back next year.

08.29.11: Amishland 2011-Day 5

Real live Amish goats.

That girl was within months of being the same age as Tilly. How wonderfully similar they are now...and how different--for better and worse--they'll be a decade or two from now.

Blue is the best color for sweet stuff. Period.

More make-overs, a vacation tradition.

Momma.

08.28.11: Amishland 2011-Day 4

Momma raccoons can't be far behind with two babies like this warding off the dogs. We moved on before Annie and Phisher had their faces ripped off by Mrs. Raccoon.

We made it to the top of the bluff without getting lost this time...and made our way back down too. On Day 3, Tilly and I had gone for a walk to the top of the bluffs, got turned around, and wound up coming down the wrong side of the hill. We descended through some guy's pasture, and then had to walk about 2 and a half miles to get back to the house. Oh well. Good memories.

I am biased, but I have just never seen a prettier girl anywhere.

Fresh from the Amish to your dinner table. Tilly loved it. I think we could live out there every summer.

08.27.11: Amishland 2011-Day 3

Tilly's godfather Uncle Alan (and his girlfriend Jen) came out to spend the day with us. They brought Tilly a talking picnic basket. She loved it. She hardly let go of it the rest of the trip.

This barn...it's a bar. One of the coolest things I have seen in rural Wisconsin. And I have seen a lot of cool stuff.

Tilly and Uncle Al having a picnic in said barn-bar.

Finally, after screwing this up the past 3 years, we found a Saturday evening Prime Rib night in some small town...Elroy, I think it was. Emma was pleased.

Roasting marshmallows is not as easy when the roaster is being obstreperous.

08.26.11: Amishland 2011-Day 2

Obstreperous = word of the year for Tilly.

Day 2 began our quest for the Amish. The last pic with Tilly and the horse was at the "Amish Walmart".

08.25.11: Amishland 2011-Day 1

We made our annual pilgrimage to the Kickapoo River Valley again, this time for the last full week in August. Having a full week away (during which I literally never checked email) was such a blessing.

Watching Tilly run around on this 600 acre farm was bittersweet for me...she got to have a glimpse of how I grew up, but it was just a glimpse.

We saw more cars go by our house the first 3 minutes we were home than we saw the full week we were there.

This year we stayed in the northeastern corner of the valley, near Hillsboro, east of Wildcat Mountain State Park and the Kickapoo Valley Reserve. We had a 4 bedroom old farm house with the land all to ourselves (including some trails to the top of the bluffs). It was very peaceful.

Sibley County Fair, 08.05.11

Sorry, it's been a while. Summer was so much fun that we spent more time living in it than photo-documenting everything.

We went to the Sibley County Fair on Friday August 5 with my sister Colleen (Tilly's god-mother). It was fun and surreal having Tilly walk around in a place that I can remember visiting when I was 5 years old.

Tilly got super protective of her momma when the goat started to try to eat her (green colored) dress.