Tall Timber Days

Heading up north in the summer time is always wonderful even when the drive home always looks like this around Mille Lacs Lake.

All of the inch by inch, stop and go action is bearable because of the opportunity to spend time with our families in DR/GR.  Last weekend Anth and I head up to see my mom who was recovering from foot surgery and then spend the rest of the time in GR for Tall Timber Days.  The best was Sunday's parade that last an hour and a half on a splendid and much cooler than usual day.  Even though this was our third parade of the summer and we really did not need any more candy, I'm so glad we went.  Maybe we were saving the best for last?!

It was great because Anthony got to spend even more time with 

Grammie Carol and Papa Marv!

 There was a real life fireman walking around...

as well as Ronald McDonald 

(a pirate, roller derby girls, a "green man", Shriners motorcycles and go carts too)!

But none of those things were as good as hearing Papa Marv use his voice to let a certain elected official know what he thought of her recent decisions!  He even got a whole handful of candy from another elected official that he never voted for back in November!  Our future Shriners Club, motorcycle-riding-in-parades papa sure had us laughing! 

The best part for me was watching Anthony proudly waving "our flag" to all the floats while sitting on the curb by his loved cousin, auntie and uncle knowing that these days of summer and being with family are an absolute gift.

This smile (and mouth full of as much candy as he could shove in without mom seeing it) says it all and makes the trip up and back always worth it.