Monday, July 4, 2011

Just Us Girls

My mom, Anne, and Livi came to visit me over the summer. It was such a fun time for just us girls!
We took a trip to the Como Zoo and Conservatory which is free to visitors.
Many of the rooms  in the conservatory grow exotic plants like cinnamon trees, rubber
trees, palm trees, etc. There are also several beautiful outdoor gardens to walk through.
This is one of my favorite rooms which displays hundreds of beautiful flowers.
Livi and I
Livi's favorite animal at the zoo was the gorilla.
Conservatory
Over the course of the visit I found out that my mom had been craving a chocolate cake
and Anne thought it would be fun to make one. So, we decided to be adventurous and bake
one from scratch for a ward 4th of July party. It was a five-layer chocolate cake with chocolate
 buttercream frosting, crushed cookie crumbs on the outside, and a layer of raspberries. It was
garnished shaved semi-sweet chocolate on top. I have to admit,.. it was pretty tasty!
Ward 4th of July party

Livi had a blast staying with her aunt "Ra Ra." I brought home some books from the library for
 her. I think we read the book "Always" a gazillion times. After only reading it once or twice Livi
was telling me most of the words to the story. Smarty pants.
Kona Grill for sushi

There are thousands of lakes in Minnesota. This one is not a lake, but a small man-made swimming
 pond with sand. The water is filtered and slightly chlorinated so you get to enjoy the great outdoors
without all the little microbial hitchhikers. The pond also has several lifeguards on duty and runs
safety checks every hour. It was a great place to take Olivia.

Livi loved playing in the sand. The weather was perfect and the water was warm. It was such a fun day!
This storm happened during their stay. We took this picture through our glass sliding door.
It was so frightening to see what appeared to be a black ring of death headed in our direction.
I thought it might either be a tornado or the movie Independence Day coming to life. Come
to think of it.....it did happen right around the 4th of July!
I have the most amazing family and am so glad they were able to come visit!

1 comment:

  1. Livi still talks about FLYING the airplane to visit Jacob and Robin and going to the beach. She loved the zoo and still remembers that there were NO ELEPHANTS......as for me, I can still taste that chocolate cake. The first time in years that anyone MADE a cake for me!
    What wonderful daughters!

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