Epic three-day post

Those of you with slow connections, be forewarned: this is an epic post.  It is so by necessity, as we had no internet the last two nights.  Now, however, we do.  So:

Thursday we started out slow, doing some coloring ...

... and some tickling.

Then we went to the beach at Lake Nokomis.

Madeline enjoyed this.

She also enjoyed the lake, and we all enjoyed her enjoyment.

We played on the beach itself, too.

Friday we played in the yard.

And we went to a park.

There, we found a dragonfly.

There was also a parental bird feeding a nest full of baby birds.

After that park we walked to a playground.

Madeline now starts and ends most days with some combination of "Walk?!" and "Swing?!"

Today we first went to the St. Paul farmers market.  Madeline was a little overwhelmed.

So we found an amazing playground nearby!

Madeline found a turtle ...

... and musical playground equipment ...

... and a train ...

... and then everyone joined us to operate what seems to be a play-goldmine.

We got a nice little family picture in this boat.

Then magically it was wedding time.

Kyle and Zanna were married at a nature center that houses rescue birds like this bald eagle.

Madeline couldn't make it through the ceremony, so we made a quiet exit and hung out with this bunny instead.

The nature center was a great venue for climbing and playing.

And for sitting and eating wedding cake.

When we needed some contained running-around, we went into the center itself, where Madeline could commune with the animals ("SNAKE!  Turtle.  Frog.  Birdy.  SNAKE!").

But most of all ...

... the center proved to be a great venue for dancing.

Madeline kicked things off on the dancefloor and kept the party going.

And finally, well past Madeline's usual bedtime, we said our farewells to the groom (pictured) and bride (not pictured) and headed back to Eagan.

Our Minnesota sojourn has been very nice; tomorrow, though, it's back to Rhode Island and reality.