This past weekend, despite a little rain, we headed to Stillwater to explore! It’s been about 2 years since I was last there (The Tale of the Squirrel) and only Adam remembers ever being there before – so it was time! Unfortunately, the Life Bridge itself was under construction, so we couldn’t walk across to Wisconsin like we had planned. But, we were able to walk down by the water, the river is incredibly high this year due to all of the snow we got over the winter and a very wet spring. It was splashing up and over the edges of the sidewalk! (I know it’s been a lot higher other years, but I think it’s the highest I’ve seen it this late in the season).

Chilly, rainy, who cares! When you’re wandering the streets of Stillwater, ice cream is a must! The kids were super excited when they got bigger cones than we had ordered (triples)! I wish I’d gotten a picture of them with their monster cones! But, they were melting and messy and we were worried we’d end up with one on the sidewalk.

Adam was very interested in the history of the area, and kept looking things up online as we’d point them out. Lucas was especially excited to touch the Mississippi River! We drive over it all the time to go visit Granny, but he’s never touched it. Alex was having fun, until he got stung by a bee (maybe more on that another day….) and ended up pretty grumpy for the rest of the time. We chased seagulls, tossed rocks and walked back and forth along the rivers edge until our legs were getting tired!

Visiting new breweries is always part of the adventure for us too. The kids actually love going to these places with us. A lot of them serve local sodas or have popcorn or popsicles for the kids and they all have a fun selection of board games to play. We love taking them because I can never get them to sit and play games together as nicely as they do when we go out! And we end up with some quality family time, there aren’t a lot of places out we can go as a family where everyone enjoys themselves! The highlight was visiting Lift Bridge Brewery. They make one of my favorite summer beers – Mango Blonde – and I was determined to enjoy it at the brewery before it was gone for the season! Lucky for us, our explorations also took us right past Maple Island Brewing so we were able to visit two new breweries!

Day trip adventures are on the agenda for our  family until sports and school take over our lives again, so stay tuned!