Anya was not up for heading out, so Diane and I headed out to the conservatory at Como Park. This is one of my favorite places in The Cities (local slang for the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul).
I was introduced to this beautiful conservatory while finishing up my bachelor’s degree at the University of Minnesota–Duluth with a major in biology. For the course “Plant Diversity,” we came to the conservatory on a field trip. I’ve been back several times. For a suggested donation of $3, it is a great place to visit on a budget.
Diane and I wandered through the gardens inside and out (the Japanese gardens).
Highlight pictures include:
When leaving the WMPL guest house, I ran into Carmen. What a wonderful moment! Carmen is amazing. We were classmates at the Lutheran Bible Institute. She also was an emotional oasis of care and giving hope during a difficult year at university. She works with the Peace Rehabilitation Centre in Nepal which prevents, rescues, and restores young women from the sex slave trade. With such a heart rending issue, it is encouraging to hear these powerful stories of hope and healing.
Anya needed some lunch so we stopped by the Mall of America (again) because we knew there was food options there. We dropped into the Fjällräven store again (a Swedish outdoor clothing and gear store) and discovered a Swedish Midsummer celebration.
We put our names into a drawing for a backpack, for which one needed to be present to win. We figured that we had just enough time to wait for the 3:30 pm drawing and then pick up Faith and Oona from the airport. The odds were good, with our 2 entries and the 35-40 people there for the drawings, but we didn’t win. We did get a free Swedish flag!
We made it to the airport in plenty of time (having to make one loop around) and then drove the 4 hours to Mount Carmel camp just north of Alexandria, pretty close to where my dad grew up on the farm.
My parents are here. My entire birth family is here! This (amazingly) includes my brother! Anya has only seen him twice before in her life. My sister, Elenn, is here with her husband and two of her three stepdaughters, and then her two step grandchildren. The middle sister, Faith, is here with her granddaughter. (This is the girl that we were all ready and approved to adopt in 2006, but the offer was rescinded just two weeks before she was born. I realize that I’m a bit more distant from her than I usually am with kids, so I realize that I still grieve a little about this.)
It seems that my departure to Sweden is an incentive for getting everyone here!
Off for the night. Let’s see if I can get to my cabin (after using the lodge’s wifi) without any mosquito bites!
With blessings,
Beth