a garden retreat wedding. { frost on flower }

This was my second visit to Panola Valley Gardens in Lindstrom, MN.  I high recommend it if you're looking for an outdoor location and don't mind a little drive.  It's neat to be driving through the country, mostly farm fields, and find yourself in this little flower filled oasis.  The ceremony spot is covered so there is protection from rain, as well.

Speaking of rain - it POURED just before this wedding.  Thankfully I left home early and I ended up beating the entire wedding party to the venue and had to wait a while.  The wedding just before this one was unable to take a single portrait due to the intense downpour.  During my drive traffic actually came to a standstill on the highway.  The pastor ended up being 30 minutes late to the ceremony due to major flooding on a major highway.  Yikes!







The bridal party prep room is tiny and was filled to the brim!







Bride's get such special treatment.  :)





The groom sent a personalized gift over to the bride and then she opened a very emotional note from her grandmother.  After lots of fun getting ready the mood started getting serious.



But then goofy again.  :)










I really love this spot.






The owner of the property coordinates the weddings and gets everyone where they need to be and keeps everyone on a strict schedule.





The after the storm clouds kept bugging me - the skies went from overcast to bright light to puffy clouds constantly.







Besides a little water on the ground in a few spots the area fared quite well during the downpour.



The flower girls dropped nearly all of the flowers right at the front.

we went outside!!

It's late.  I'm tired.  But I haven't posted anything here in so long.. I thought I should.  Because that's important, right?

Olive and I WENT OUTSIDE TODAY.  Like more outside than just running to the car or briskly walking from one building to another.

Guess what?  It was 53 degrees outside!  Holy buckets!  Did you know that last year, on Easter, Olive participated in an Easter egg hunt in our backyard wearing a dress and little sweater.  As did I, and Tyler only wore a sweater.  The Easter before that was similar.  What's going on 2013?

But let's not dwell on the past - today we went OUTSIDE.

I had intended to take Olive to the park but Tyler ended up having to go into work late and stay late so he took the car.  So then I thought we'd make a huge adventure of our first nice day and walk to the park (it's really not that far).  But Olive took some sort of weird epic nap which screwed up that plan.

I ended up feeling cold and tired later in the afternoon (nothing new) and was hesitant to leave our warmer home for a cooler outside since I was already cold.  But we put on our coats, grabbed some materials for doing chores, and went OUTSIDE.

What did we do?

I picked up trash in the front yard that had been stuck in the snow all winter.
Took down some of our Christmas lights (need to grab a ladder for the rest).
Burned sticks and brush.
Raked the garden a little until I sunk in the mud.
Began digging out a garden expansion.
Continued the seemingly never ending job of picking up dog poop.  Which, like the front yard trash, had been stuck in the snow all winter.  Ew.
Broke down boxes for recycling.
Tidied up a few things.
Brought the garden hose out of the garage.
And things.

Olive walked around.
Ran around.
Rode her bike around.
Tried not to walk in Honey's poop.
Put sticks in the fire.
Touched lots of things.
Squished mud.
Sprayed herself with natural bug killer, which then resulted in a jacket change.
Ran inside for a potty break.
Threw toys at the dog.
Touched other things.
Tried to shovel ice.
Tried to shovel nothing.
Parked her bike in the garage.
Found a piece of pink chalk that survived the winter and scribbled on the sidewalk before coming inside.

Here is some photographic evidence of our being OUTSIDE:




She's confused.

Yes, we will finish our fence.




Coat change + garden expansion.




Really excited to be riding her bike somewhere that is not living room.




Evidence of excited running.



And more. You should view this one large. It's rather cheerful.



I missed.



Olive enjoyed the fire.  She said "fire! sometimes hot!"



Someday this will melt.  Will it be when the sun's placement is farther north and it's warmers rays peek over our southern fence?  Or will it be due to warmer temperatures?  Who knows.  But there are nearly fossilized pieces of dog poop in there that I need to remove.

On that note.... good bye.