Minnesota Weekend Away.

Dallas and I had our last getaway before the busyness of harvest starts.  As Dallas says, "We play hard and work hard."  It seem like it ebs and flows so much; the busyness/laxness, stress/fun, long hours/flexibility.  It has taken me years to get the hang of it, but I think I can now declare that I'm in the groove.

Anyway, back to the weekend...

Our small group (minus two couples who couldn't make it, booo...) went to the cities (Minneapolis area) for the weekend.  It was so incredibly wonderful!  Our group has been together for three years now, with a few coming and going, so we have been incredibly blessed by how close-knit we have become over time.

We left Saturday morning and ventured to our first stop: Cheesecake Factory!  Doesn't good eats seem to be a common theme when together with friends?  We then checked into the hotel and played cards, before heading to Valleyfair!

Dave & Stacy.

Us.

Jon & Dana.

Fireworks while waiting in line for a roller coaster.  Super neat!

The two CRAZIES of the group.  This ride is in sane, and they were the only two brave souls!

Good conversation over coffee & min doughnuts.  Sweet times.

This girl got me to drink, and like, coffee!!  That is shocking news, folks!

See us?  The last 3 cars.  Jon and Dana in back, Stacy and stranger next, Dal and I in front.  Photo credit: Dave.  He was much more content with his feet on the ground.

It was so fun to be at an amusement park together.  We laughed and laughed, felt nauseated, snapped our necks in bumper cars and jerky coaster rides, hyperventilated climbing up Wild Thing, and ran from line to line.  Sounds bonding, doesn't it?

Sunday morning we went to Dave and Stacy's old church.  It was great, and so fun to see their old stomping grounds.  We followed that up with the most delicious lunch ever!  Stacy's brother owns a few restaurants, so we hit one up.  We started the meal with a banana cream waffle (let's be real, it was dessert).  Don't judge; we were on vacation!  We stopped at just one shop, then hit the road.

After stopping for apples, mango salsa, and good time BBQ sauce at a big, cute as can be, barn, we made out way of Minnesota via gravel roads.  We back-roaded our way down memory lane.  Over the course of the trip, Jon and Stacy realized they grew up going to the same lake/camp summer after summer.  We stopped to see the now run down place, and they were giggling in excitement over all the great memories the lake triggered.

Of course we had to stop, one more time, for snacks, then hit the road for home.  We all decided that the weekend was spectacular, but being together, visiting and sharing stories and life with one another, was the best part.

The kids had a wonderful time between both sets of grandparents (THAN YOU!!!), and it does me so good to know that while we are having a refreshing, fabulous time, so are they.  We all come back together with stories and giggles.  What a great weekend.