For vacation this year we mainly had a stay-cation. We kept Johanna in daycare and used the time to work on some projects around the house and get some much needed couple time. We were able to get some of our storage cleaned out (nice throw back graduation picture below) and make the basement usable as a TV area for Tony and play area for Johanna -- plus we made room for our new windows that are going in this week! For our couple time, we had some nice meals, some nice walks, took a bike ride (just down by the river) and a kayaking trip on the Maquoketa River. The river was a little low in places, I did have to get out and push once, but overall great fun and we even did a little swimming.
But we actually started out our vacation with some family time. After the Kruse Anniversary party, we headed up to Decorah and stayed at the Hotel Winneshiek for a night. We were able to take a little hike with Johanna in the backpack to see a water fall and we walked a great bike path by the river the next day. Johanna was perfectly behaved when we went out for a nice dinner. And we were able to get her to sleep through the night and take a nap the next day at the hotel without too much trouble. Decorah is definitely a pedal bikers paradise and we will have to take our new bikes up there soon. I would guess Tony's highlight of the trip was stopping into the tasting room for Toppling Goliath Brewery. Yes, we had our baby in a bar :-) We brought home a growler of Zeelander and of Pseudo Sue, both were very good!
