Choo Choo

We went to the old mining town of Silverton, Colorado. It truly was right out of a movie, with roads that were still unpaved, old brothel buildings still intact and 1800s general store fronts and saloons. I cannot imagine how people live there now - and they do - with it being so remote and small. But it sure was like stepping back in time! We caught the old Durango & Silverton narrow gauge steam train back to Durango and honestly it was one of the coolest things we have ever done! The scenery was shockingly beautiful and completely pristine - 3 hours of travel on the tracks with barely any civilization seen. We saw a bald eagle and deer and folks on the other side of the train spotted bear and a mountain lion! If any of you ever make it to Southwest Colorado, the train is a MUST. The kids loved it and 3 hours flew by.

Sky High

Here are pics of the jeep tour, described in posts below. Liam LOVED the rocks - climbing them and throwing them.  We found snow packed at 12,000+ feet and all in all it was just pristine and peaceful and stunningly beautiful.

Jeep Jeep

We took an awesome Hum-V jeep tour of some old abandoned mining areas and mountaintops of 12,000+ feet. The kids loved it and the neck-craning view and heart-stopping cliff drives were incredible. Here are some shots.

Colorado Fun

We took the kids to a great cowboy show. We ate a good ol' fashioned chuckwagon meal and saw a performance of cowboy music performed live by a great band. It was such a fun night!

Liam loved the cowboy music.

Durango Pics

This was the view out our window when we woke up.

Downtown Durango.

View from Durango.

More Wedding Wonderful

Wonderful Wedding

Madelyn and Joe became Mr. and Mrs. Woodson and we were SO honored to be there and be a part of it! Nick gave the bride away, Liam was the reluctant ring-bearer, Kate was the flower girl, and I got to read a beautiful selection of verse. My Mom and Dad were there along with so many terrific family and friends of Nick's family. It was a lovely, wonderful, special event. Another bonus is our dear friend and former babysitter from Minnesota, Lindsay (who now lives in Mississippi and we don't get see often) came to Baton Rouge and helped out with the kids over the weekend and we got to have a great visit with her! Such a wonderful weekend!

Mr. and Mrs. Harris at the wedding.

Nick giving away the beautiful bride.

Kate doing a FANTASTIC Flower Girl job (while Nick tries to coax Liam down the aisle in the background)

Kiss the bride!

Nothing like a man in a tux with a truck. :)

The Big Easy

A couple of weeks ago we headed to New Orleans and Baton Rouge (pre-Gustav) for Nick's sister Madelyn's wedding. We flew in with the kiddos a couple of days early so we could spend some time exploring the area. I had never been to "N'Awlins" so was excited to check it out. We met up with Nick's sister Ava and her boyfriend, Tommy (now the newly engaged couple, by the way, CONGRATS TO THEM!) and walked around the French Quarter. We had lunch, strolled around, indulged in DELICIOUS beignets and cafe au lait at "Cafe du Monde" and took a carriage ride around the quarter. I sampled an obligatory Pat O'Briens hurricane and we all made our best effort not to spontaneously combust in the sweltering southern heat! :) It was really fun! On our way back out of N.O., the kids, Nick and I celebrated my parent's anniversary with them at a fantastic brunch at "Commanders Palace". A wonderful family weekend of both Harris and McKenny. Blessed are we.

With Ava outside of Pat O'Briens.

Ava and Tommy - then boyfriend and girlfriend, but since then have become engaged! :)

Kate loving her beignet and chocolate milk at Cafe du Monde.

Nick and Liam on the carriage ride around the Quarter.

Nick and the kids at LSU in Baton Rouge - visiting Mike the Tiger.  Geaux tigers.

More Cuteness

My dear friend found this terrific little frock for Kate in Boston. Kate loves it and told me she feels like a Tinkerbell Fairy in it (we are reading a series of chapter books about fairies right now, so she is slightly obsessed). Here is a pic of Kate in her "Fairy Frock". When I was snapping her, Liam got jealous and said "picture of me, too, Mom" and then he turned on the charm. Enjoy!

Summer Cuteness

Here are some pictures of Liam and an ice cream treat. He is just about the cutest thing around, I must say. I can hardly stand it. :)

Worlds Collide

It seems that Nick's array of work experience has melded into one perfect professional circle.  He is enjoying his new position and was out of town this week visiting an Air Force base as a civilian to see some of the 3M product in action.  Here is a picture of Nick with a plane (oh gosh, I am in trouble - is it an F16? I have no clue....help me out USAFA buddies! Nick is traveling so I cannot ask).  Pretty cool that the plane is protected with 3M product! :)  Sounds like Nick had a good trip. I told him I thought he looked pretty good lookin' in this shot and he told me it must be the plane. ;) 

News

It has been a celebratory week for the Harris crew.  Nick has a new job within 3M that he is very excited about.  He is now the Military Market Business Development Manager for 3M's Aerospace department.  It is a perfect blend of his military and business strategy background and I know he is looking forward to hitting the ground running when he starts next week.  I am so very proud of him!

On another note, I have a bit of news as well.  I am now officially a candidate for a Masters Degree as I will be pursuing a Masters in Organizational Leadership at Bethel University!  I am very excited to begin my studies this fall.

There are a lot of great things happening here in Minnesota. We continue to feel abundantly blessed.   

Taaa Daaaahhh

Kate continues to love playing dress up, dancing around, and generally being a precious adorable princess. Here are some pics.

Road Trip

This past weekend Nick and I decided to pile in the car and brave the summer highway - and gas prices - and head to Chicago for a long weekend. We have not done a road trip in a long time, and wondered how the kiddos would hold up. No time like the present! We had been planning the trip for a while and at the last minute, my Mom found herself in the Twin Cities (more on that later) and, being the brave and highly tolerant woman that she is, decided to join us for the trek.

Saint Paul, MN to Palatine, IL (home of my Aunt) = 378 miles. According to Mapquest, that would take 6 hours and 14 minutes.

Yeah. Right.

I propose that someone add features to these driving direction search engines. One should be able to select options such as "number of children traveling in vehicle", "ages of children", "time of day you will be traveling" and "would you like the station identification numbers for Radio Disney at all points of travel along your desired route?". With all this information, the computer should be able to calculate things such as number of potty stops per age of children and food/beverage consumption according to time of day traveling. It should provide a list of radio stations by town along the route. It should provide restaurant locations along the route with kid-friendly menus that are NOT Wendy's or Burger King and certainly not Taco Bell (who eats Taco Bell on a road trip? And if you do, could the computer factor in additional diaper changes for the toddler?).

Alas - such options do not exist. Another option that should exist on these search engines......construction. And, accordingly, alternate routes. Our 6 hour and 14 minute road trip TO Illinois turned into about 9 because of construction. Sigh.

Thankfully, I would like to announce that I have the most wonderful children on the planet. Granted, we DID have a couple of "are we there yet" moments. And there WAS a point where I actually said "I will turn this car around, Kate" - and then I promptly burst into laughter at the fact that those words came out of my mouth. BUT - the kids were fantastic. Liam was particularly surprising in his tolerance of the trip. He was an angel - just super pleasant. And no bad diapers, if you understand me.

The actual visit to Chicagoland was fantastic!!!! We crammed a ton of visiting in - we saw my godparents, my cousins Biddy and Dean and Kris and Dave and all of THEIR kiddos - Sophie, Cassie, Matt, Kate, Clare and Jack (Kate and Liam were in HEAVEN playing with all their cousins). We saw my Grandmother and had a lovely lunch with her - it was really great to have 4 generations of McKenny family together: Grandma, my mom, me and Kate. Nick and I visited with one of my dearest friends, Erin and her wonderful Joe. My Mom got to visit one of her best friends. AND I attended a mini-high school reunion! We took the kids to a picnic where we visited with my high school buddies and their significant others and kids and later we had an adults-only Peoria Notre Dame night on the town. It was wonderful to see my friends and so great to catch up. I had a WONDERFUL TIME. I think Nick did, too! :)

We drove back late on Sunday and the road trip gods were kind. The kids, once again, were angels. Even with a stop for gas and a stop for food we made it home in 6 1/2 hours. Woo hoo!

I am so thankful for the chance to make that trip and see all those wonderful friends and family. Thanks to Auntie Robin and Uncle Jack for the hospitality - and Erin and Joe, too. I am so amazingly, unbelievably blessed with the people I have in my life. What a lucky girl am I!

Here are some pics from the weekend....

Kate and her Great Grandma

The Harris crew with my Grandma

The Peoria Notre Dame next generation

Me with my good friend Steve Gorman from PND

Nick and I out to dinner in Chicago with the PND'ers