the Mining place in Chisholm

Jean-Patrick Mally found a sign with his initials.

JP on one of the huge trucks that they use for mining. (I don't think you're really supposed to climb on top like that, but there wasn't anyone around to yell at us.)

Me with a truck that could scoop me right up.

Getting comfy on a big mining scoop.

We visited this Mining museum place in Chisholm, MN. It is about an hour and a half from where I grew up, on the "Iron Range" of MN, but I had never been there before. We had fun! We got to learn all about the mining process. They find iron ore and make it into taconite pellets, then it goes on trains to the harbor where big ships bring it down to Chicago to get melted and whatever. Then we got to go outside and see the equipment and even climb on some of it.

the Duluth aquarium

Here are a couple photos from when we visited the Duluth aquarium. A friend gave us some free tickets to go (thanks Aimee!) and we got to go and see all the fish, the cute otters, and some birds. Some things like the moose statue that JP is with are not very aquarium-y but I guess its a diverse place. There was also this cool play area for kids with a hollow "tree" that you can climb up in and take the slide down from. It totally reminded me of the Bernstein Bears house! (well, they didn't have a slide, but still...) The otters were really cute, and I felt bad for them living in their little enclosure, but the lady explained that they had been orphaned and taken in very young and now wouldn't survive in the wild.

Tennis Anyone?

How cute is my husband? We had a good time playing tennis. JP did a great job! It was another first for him. He said that tennis is easier than rollerskating!