Thursday in Ortonville

Well, I know that today is the day that I usually do a TNT update. I'll share a little about our training run today and then fill you in on what else we've been up to the last few days.

We woke up this morning early and headed out for a 10 mile run. The air was cool and perfect for running! There is a park preserve not too far from my parents, so we headed there. It was the perfect spot to run with some of the road in wooded, shaded areas.








And some of the road along wetlands. We saw some wildlife.. mostly amazing birds. There was a whole group of pelicans on one of the lakes which were very fun to see. The run itself went fairly well. We run a mile and then walk 2 minutes and just keep repeating until we're done. (We only do this on our long training runs) The shorter runs during the week we run the whole time.






Now to let you know what else we've been up to. Yesterday we headed out to my brother Gregs' place. He has a farm near here that he spends quite a bit of time at. He and his girlfriend have project galore that they work on out there. One is the raising of exotic chickens.






They haven't started laying eggs yet, but I guess they are suppose to be quite colorful. They sure have some interesting looking chickens, that's for sure!!








Last night found us at a lovely restaurant overlooking Big Stone Lake. The weather was perfect and we sat for quite a long time visiting and enjoying a wonderful meal.










This is the view we enjoyed for the evening.













Today after our run, we headed up to a place on the lake that my brother Dean and his wife own.
It has a wonderful view of the lake and South Dakota, which is on the other side of the lake.










Steve and K found some lovely chairs on the deck and I think would easily have spent the day right there. But of course we had other things to see and do!! I guess we'll just have to make 'reservations' sometime and come back!









We managed to sample another local restaurant for lunch and then headed into town to the museum. Here is a shot of the inside of a one room schoolhouse that used to part of one of the 61 school districts of Big Stone County years and years ago. My cousin Larry was working at the museum today and acted as a tour guide for us! We also stopped by a wonderful shop downtown (Village Crafts) that hosts a weekly knitting group. Mom decided to pick up yarn and some needles and we are hoping to help her cast on a scarf tonight and get her on her way before we leave in the morning. The knitting group (led by the wife of another one of my cousins) at Peg's store should be able to give her guidance as she goes.





Tomorrow we pack up and head back to Omaha. We will be making a stop in Orange City, Iowa to meet our little Sophie. We are very excited to see her. (And I'm sure I'll have LOTS of pictures to share!)


Until Next Time.....

P.S. Thanks to all who have visited M's Etsy shop. (And for many of you who purchased her jewelry!) I'm working on a button so that it will be easy for people to head over and take a look at what she has been creating. I know I want like everything that she has on her site!!