Our last couple of days in Minnesota were packed with more water, more family time, plenty of porch-sitting and sunset-gazing. Â I had eased into country life, and it felt good.
We spent Sunday afternoon out on Blackwell Lake, floating aimlessly on Doug and Val’s pontoon.
Shane, not usually one for swimming, couldn’t resist the chance to dive and swing and cannonball.
With that life jacket strapped on, he was the perfect flotation device.
Juliette loved being on the boat, especially when Doug put the pedal to the metal and the wind blew through our hair. Â She’d laugh like crazy and yell, “Super-faster! Â SUPER-FASTER!!!”
I shutter to think what this kid will be like when she’s old enough to get behind the wheel for real. Â Watch out, folks!
I’m so glad we got to catch up with this crew. Â It’s a special feeling, being with people that have known Shane and I since before we were “Shane and I”!
Jules was wired from our boating bonanza, so I put her in the stroller for a walk when we got back to the house, hoping she’d chill out and doze.  But then we came across these dang cows and she was over the moon again!
She eventually crashed, waking from her nap just in time to give Purple Baby a sunset bath on the porch.
This porch swing was my happy place…
Monday morning, it was Juliette’s and Grandpa’s happy place, too!  It makes my heart flip-flop, seeing how fiercely this guy loves his granddaughter.
We had hoped to spend Monday afternoon back out on the water, but gray skies and drizzle kept us from putting on our swimsuits. Â We settled instead for a trip to Carlos Creek Winery and a drink on the patio.
We gathered with the whole gang for dinner at Zorbaz that night and then walked across the street to Lake Le Homme Dieu for one last water-fix and a quick family snapshot.
The rest of the evening was spent…back on that beloved porch!  Shane staged his own version of the Olympics by pulling up the stopwatch app on his phone and challenging the kids to dart from one end of the house to the other in under ten seconds.  They took the challenge very seriously.
Super-faster, Jules, SUPER-FASTER!
A final sunset (a few final mosquito bites), a round of teary hugs, and…that was it. Â We were off to the airport before sunrise on Tuesday morning. Â I missed that place and those people before we’d even turned out of the driveway. Â There’s a lotta beauty, a lotta peace, a whole lotta love in that little corner of the Midwest.