Picnic at Pattison State Park

Crystal Irons and Randy Irons invited us on a picnic to Pattison State Park in Superior, Wisconsin.  It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed ourselves immensely.  Clavin, Gabriella and I went, Kyle was gone for the weekend as he had been invited to go camping with a friend.

We drove to Pattison State Park where we hiked to Big Manitou Falls.  The water was really muddy because of all the rains and some of the paths were closed too.  Gabriella said the waterfall had "big dirty grape nuts" in it.   I love the minds of children.  : )

Next we found a nice shady spot for our picnic. We had sandwichs, chips, grapes and brownies.

After that we hiked to Little Manitou Falls and took a few more pictures.

Since we were so close to Duluth we continued north and stopped to visit Uncle Ed. Gabriella rode on his wooden pony. It's almost 40 years old and all of us kids, and now both of my children, have played on it.

One last stop at Brighton Beach to watch the water and see the ships come in and then we headed home.

Sade with special guest John Legend

Both Clavin and I love Sade.  I mean LOVE Sade.  I mean REALLY LOVE Sade.  She hadn't produced a new album or toured for over 10 years.  She has never performed in Minnesota. 

Since we first dated we would watch a DVD of her Lover's Live performance and have always said we wanted to go to a concert. We even agreed we would travel somewhere to see her if she was in a neighboring city.

This spring a Sade tour was announced and Minneapolis was on the list!  John Legend was going to open for her.  I pre-ordered her new album so that I could get access to concert tickets presale.

We ended up with tickets on the floor in the 21st row!

Before the concert we had drinks and dinner at Seven The Steakhouse on their rooftop patio.  The weather was perfect.  I had California Rolls and Clavin had a steak.  It was a great comfortable atmosphere.



Sarah dressed for the show.



Clavin looking handsome as ever.

Clavin on the rooftop of Seven.

Sara - you can see the Sade poster in the background.

Clavin and Sarah.

The view from the rooftop.

The concert was amazizng! 

John Legend was very good. 



John Legend with his band.



John Legend at the piano.

Sade was everything we had ever imagined.  She is a lovely and gracious performer.  Her sets were beautiful and artistic.  Her music is timeless.  She thanked the crowd for "holding the torch for 10 years" and even said "I was told Minneapolis is one of the coldest places in the United States.  They were wrong.  You are the coolest."

Sade performing Soldier of Love.

More Sade.



Another stage change for Sade.



More Sade.

Still so beautiful.

My favorite song that she performed was Pearl.  I had goosebumps and tears by the time she was done. 

Sade performing Pearls.

Grandpa's Little Helpers

Dad decided to have a stone patio put on the back side of the house, overlooking the bird feeders.  He has been the "forman" on the job.  Can you guess who the real bosses have been?