a few weeks ago lars and I decided to take a saturday and visit our

three local wineries.

the are all located within about 10 miles of each other, and

each one definitely has it's own style.

we started our jaunt with a delicious brunch at

pangea restaurant in waconia.

they had me at eggs benedict.

(named after a very pious chicken?)
they make them about 30 different ways.

the wait staff at pangea told us where they thought

we should go first so we headed out.

the first winery

is also a brewery and it was crawling with people.

beer's not my thang~ and this vineyard sprouted right up

in the middle of a rural development and no offense

schram vineyard and brewery

but you turned out to be our least favorite of the 3.

i think if you like beer and vino the draw would be different.
the beer drinkers were out in full force. : )

the second grape grower we visited was one i'd been to before with

friends, but lars hadn't.

sovereign estate

sovereign feels the most like a winery that you'd find in california.
it's grand and in a beautiful location. it was very quiet there that day, and the
staff was setting up for an evening wedding.

best part? the swing.
if you have the chance to swing people, swing.
it brings me right back to my childhood. please ignore the fact that
my "skort" flew up while i was swinging. those are not my undies you
see, it's the shorts part.

child labor?

i was all excited to buy a bottle of this wine~ labeled 
domaine du duke 
i loved the yellow lab on the label. (eric's dog is duke- a yellow lab), 
but alas...it wasn't aged quite enough and they wouldn't take my money.

pretty anemones from the vineyard gardens

our last stop was at 

 parley lake winery.

now this winery might not be the prettiest, but it was the most fun.

there were people everywhere and live music that was amazing!

this is also the home of deardorff orchards. 

their retail store is in a big old barn.

crabapples

lars buying his bag of crabapples

i always wonder if this is maybe what noah's ark looked like on the inside~ so so majestic.
i wish this kind of barn was still being built. there are fewer and fewer of them around, so i applaud 
the people that take care of them. that lovingly restore them and keep them standing.

the silo

people were coming in from the orchards~

there were many bronze sculptures ~all for sale.

if you ever get the chance to hear this band, take it! it was 4 young guys with
mad vocals and musical talent.

on our way home from the wineries we drove through the

mn landscape arboretum.

lars hadn't seen their sculpture gardens, so we parked and walked 

around, marveling at how lucky we are to live this close to

such a wonderful place. (well i was marveling, lars, being the quiet man

he is, was pondering it all in his heart...haha)

the main reason for the stop at the arb was for me to see the dahlias.
i'm growing some for the first time in many years and i've fallen 
completely in love with them. the arb grows amazing varieties.
the colors and size of theirs is nothing short of spectacular...so i'll finish up
with some favorite shots from their collection.

there is a display of large insects at the arb this summer. i was in my car
when i took this picture guys. it was about as big as a semi. for real!

it's been 5 years ago today since i wrote my first blog and started
sharing some of my days with you.

over one hundred thousand of you have tuned in to see what me and my 
family are up to. (wow)!  
(when i mentioned that  #   to my daughter, she said she 
is probably accountable for about 10,000 of those views... thanks adria)

thanks for following along with me and the days of our lives~

xox, beth

p.s lars, our 2 boys and our son in law are in the mountains of new mexico
on an elk hunt. they literally prepared for it in one way or another
for close to a year and they all took cameras so i hope to
share some of their adventures when they return.
*it's a somewhat dangerous, very physically demanding hunt.
 cole said to me when i was talking to him about some of my fears,
"mom, if it wasn't challenging and kind of dangerous it wouldn't be
nearly as exciting~ we'd have no great stories to share! 

boys will be boys!!!