Visiting Ironwood

The kids and I made a quick trip to Ironwood Friday and Saturday. We left Cresco at 6 a.m. in the Acura, which was a tight fit for the four of us. But, the van was unavailable due to our accident the week before. It is sitting at a Honda dealership in Des Moines, waiting to be fixed. The Acura started giving us problems south of Rochester. It turns out that snow froze in the hubcaps and created some type of weight problem on the tires. Thank goodness Toyota in Rochester opens at 6:45 a.m. and was willing to spontaneoulsy take an Acura in and defrost it. Great service! Kind of makes me want to buy a Toyota on the next go around. (See picture of Andrew cramped in the car.)

Anyway...We drove to the UP via Rochester, the Twin Cities, and Duluth with the first planned stop being Ashland, WI where Dr. Lovlien and his wonderful staff made Rachel one happy preteenager. After 16 long months, her braces were removed. Now her beautiful smile showcases her straight teeth. (See picture.) And of course, we can't go to Ashland without stopping at our favorite three places....Black Cat for coffee and snacks, the Ashland Baking Company for bread, and the Chequamegon Food Coop for our favorite sandwiches (which are made at Good Thyme in Washburn.)

Rachel spent time with Danielle and Payton. Michael hung out with his friends Mike, Andrew, Dom, Robbie, and his hockey buddies (he ran the penalty box at a game). Andrew went ice skating with Bradley, Cole, and Brian and snowboarding with some of the guys at Black Jack. I didn't plan too much because I was exhausted from the week prior. I was honestly just looking forward to sitting in the hotel and reading a book. I did get to do that, but I also got to see baby August and family, play Take Two and laugh like crazy with Leeanne (see picture of me and my sis above!) and Betsy, and chat with Annette and Emily. We left early because of the nasty weather expected in Wisconsin on Sunday.

David went to Decorah to watch the Crestwood girls win their first tournament game. Hopefully the boys will do the same on Monday.

Sunday it was back to church, where the youth group held an elegant Valentine's Dinner. Andrew was the host, and Rachel waited tables. Delicious pasta, wine, and dessert were served by candle light. This church sure knows how to do food!

That pretty much sums up the weekend.

Until next time,

Anne