End of Minnesota Summer Fun

Summer has come and gone again! It seems like as soon as the MN Fair is over, BAM! fall comes swooping in. I love the crisp fall air, being able to bake without steaming up the house, wearing hoodies, and so many other wonderful things about fall! BUT this cooler air also means that winter is on it's way. Bleegghhh! Here is a last look as some of the wonderful things of this summer. Good bye summertime!

Fun in the water

boating is exhausting!

 Garden Fresh Sun Ripened Tomatoes

Hours of Sliding in the Back Yard

We were given this monster pink & purple play set from a friend whose daughter has outgrown it. He loves it, but our house now looks like twin girls live here rather than a boy!

Trip to the Sculpture Garden

always running...

Hey look at me! I'm about to make a run for it!!

Ice Cream

The Como Zoo

Minnesota Summer

Despite the fact that I have only camped outside of an RV once, live in the city, sun burn in a matter of minutes, and freak out when lake weeds touch my feet, I have a strange delusion in my head that I am "out-doorsy". Part of this is my inner wish that I was a rough out doors-woman and part of it is that I live in Minnesota, where most everyone relishes every moment they can spend outside and try to wring every last drop of out door fun from the short 3-4 months of summer that we have. This spring/summer started amazingly early and has been one of the best I can remember!
In order to be a true Minnesotan you must looooove the lakes that surround us! ButterBean had his first trip to Minneapolis' Lake Calhoun not that long ago. I thought he might be wary of the water, but he had a great time even though it was an extremely windy day and there were whitecaps on the lake. Whhewww! He IS a Minnesotan!

My Calhoun Surfer Boy

 Yesterday he went on his first cruise of Lake Minnetonka and played in the Murphy Bay beach area. I've got to get ButterBean in the lakes as much as possible this summer to make him think he's out-doorsy too! We are actually going on a REAL camping trip in a couple of weeks, so I'll put my "roughing it" skills to the test. Expect an interesting blog posting!
Our other "outdoor" adventure recently has been a trip to the Como Zoo. The only animals ButterBean actually paid attention to were the monkeys. The rest of his time was spent finding any door he could sneak through, crawling up any stairs he could find, and pushing the stroller. Oh, and pounding the glass of the polar bear exhibit and screaming for no reason - the bear was nowhere to be seen. 

We didn't get to the Sparky show, but we did pose with the Sparky statue

Me: trying to get a picture with my son. Butter Bean: trying to get into the sea lion exhibit

As I sit in my air conditioned home, looking out at the 93 degree muggy day, I'm still convinced I was meant for the outdoors. Maybe it's because I'm wearing no makeup and KEENs?

Farmers Market

Minneapolis has great farmers markets and residents love them! Maybe it is because we only have a few months to spend outside. Maybe it is due to the push to "eat local". Whatever the reason, the Minneapolis farmers markets are bustling with people!
We have a couple small ones close to our house, but I've been exploring some others in the city. 
Last month, while Gatsby was out of town, ButterBean and I went to the Kingfield Market. This little gem was packed with people! I really enjoyed the variety thy were able to fit in a small space: veggies, herbs, handmade candies, a couple bakeries, cave-aged cheese, and a few food carts offering options like Thai food, gyros, and coffee. And a stage was set up with entertainment for the young shoppers. I haven't made it back there yet, but I plan on it.

ButterBean had fun with our Farmers Market Finds

Lettuce, and kale, and beets! Oh My!

One of the blogs I follow, Bogart Loves, has a stand there selling baked goods. She makes amazing macarons, and if you read my last post, you already know that I love macarons!
The main market down town has rows and rows of local vegetables, flowers, eggs, breads, and meats.  Saturday our little family ventured out in search of sweet corn!

Starting veggies early

We found it! We got a 14 ears (they threw in an extra 2 just in case we got a dud in there) and grilled some with my parents that night, We also got red and gold potatoes and white, orange, and purple carrots! I haven't decided what to do with the carrots yet, but the colors were too fun to pass up. I was also tempted to buy every tomato that we passed, but I'm hoping that the tomato plant in my back yard will give me a few of those. So far I've had lots of tomato flowers, but no actual tomatoes.

He actually does like carrots!

I love going to the market - you'll probably see more of ButterBean surrounded in produce. Hehe!