The Adventures of Pearl !!! Host list post's #22 and #23

[willythekid]

Barrett all of your pics and tours have been wonderful. And your little one is a jewel. Thanks for such a great time with Pearl.

I second this Barrett... I've been to most of the sights Pearl saw in the Twin Cities as I have family there. Super cool adventures and great pics!

 

[zolthar]

Thanks for the great tour Barrett!

(The likelihood of getting a normal face from this child when taking a picture is pretty slim.)

Hah, I just thought "that girl is good at smiling to the camera" My daughter is about the same age and I recognise the difficulty to get a normal face for pictures Even saying "cheese" harvests weird looks half of the time

 

[redsparrow]

Barrett, thanks for hosting Pearl and showing us around. From Vikings to Tank and Falls to Sculpture Gardens a very enjoyable tour... but Eleanor stole the show.

 

[Mason Knives]

Thanks for the photos and tour Barrett, we really enjoyed it!!!

All the best, Paul

 

[Wurrwulf]

Thank you for the wonderful tour and taking care of Pearl! I know my little goober is the same way around the camera; it makes those memories ever better.

 

[Jolipapa]

Great pictures , Barrett. Can I say I dig miss E in red boots? She's too lovely! You happy father!

 

[Lostball]

Thank you Barrett for showing us around in your part of the world. Obviously a beautiful place. And your daughter is just adorable.

 

[btb01]

Thanks, guys! It was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to seeing where Pearl ends up on her continued travels.

For anyone interested in such things, I thought I'd provide a little lake ice update. I was reading an article this morning that explained how "ice-out" is determined for Lake Minnetonka. While ice is still present on most the lake surface but has started melting around the shore (like the most recent photos I shared), the Sheriff's department takes a fan boat out on the water and over top of the ice. They go out to the middle of the lake and measure the ice thickness there. As of Monday (4/30, two days ago), the ice out in the middle of the lake was still 15.5" thick (down from 23" the previous Wednesday).

Once they determine that enough ice has melted and that ice-out is imminent, the Sheriff's department, along with a representative from the Freshwater Society (who have been in charge of keeping track of this stuff since 1855), go out and navigate the lake every day. Ice-out is declared when they are able to navigate all the channels and bays of the lake without being obstructed by ice. The record latest ice date is May 5 (that was in 1857), so there's a good chance that this year's ice-out could set a new record. On the other hand, it got up to 82º the other day, and has been up in the 70's pretty regularly, so that ice has to be melting fast out there.

 

[r redden]

Wow Barrett excellent tour I know Pearl enjoyed herself. When I sent Pearl off to @r8shell she was just a fairly plain looking girl but Rachel I must agree you did some incredible art on her thank you so much again. Thank you for hosting the ole girl Barrett I hope she behaved herself.

 

[willythekid]

Pearl landed safely in North Dakota yesterday and I will hopefully get a chance to take her out and about this weekend a bit...

 

[willythekid]

Old Lou dog wasn't very impressed with Pearl but he is lazy and has poor taste in knives...

 

[willythekid]

Pearl got to watch my girls play some soccer today... Had my oldest pose with Pearl.

 

[Fodderwing]

Old Lou dog wasn't very impressed with Pearl but he is lazy and has poor taste in knives...

Absolutely awesome picture!

 

[Fodderwing]

Had my oldest pose with Pearl.

A mighty sweet little doll....

 

[willythekid]

Sorry for the lack of updates guys... busy week. Just a quick update, after negotiating with the boss (wife), Pearl will be headed out for her first (I assume) Minnesota walleye opener later tonight... hopefully I'll have pics of her with some fish by the end of the weekend!

 

[willythekid]

Well, the walleye fishing was a bust... in all reality I only fished for about an hour total. I seem to spend all my time playing with my girls instead of fishing. I figure I'll have plenty of time to fish when they are teenagers and want nothing to do with me. It's fun now because they always want me to play with them! I did have time t snap a few pics this weekend and Pearl helped me carve up more than one apple this weekend...

Pearl with the guard bear...

Pearl chopping some firewood...

Signs of spring...

Pearl babysitting the girls...

Pearl checking for Northern Pike in the stream that runs through my in-laws property...

And a few random pics from the weekend...

 

[Vaporstang]

Great pictures! You need to get a bamboo pole for the girls to keep them occupied! Loons are always cool - and gorgeous sunset!

 

[willythekid]

Ok guys, first off, apologies are in order for my lack of updates with Pearl. I hate to make excuses but I've had sick kiddos and a crazy work schedule that put Pearl in the backseat unfortunately. I just mailed Pearl to WhittlinAway today so I hope he gets it this weekend. I was able to squeeze in one last adventure with Pearl where I took her to Itasca State Park in central Minnesota. This is where the mighty Mississippi starts it's journey to the Gulf of Mexico. Pearl touched Lake Itasca which is where the river starts it's journey. I'll include a few pics below... It's rather amazing how small this big river starts... by the time it goes through the Minneapolis/St. Paul area it is already a huge river... I had a blast hosting Pearl and look forward to seeing her next adventures! Thanks to everybody in this great community for doing this pass-around.

 

[Lostball]

Thanks for the beautiful pictures and the info. I never really knew where the Mississippi started. And I'm kind of embarrassed by that because of how old I am. Didn't really do well in school.................

 

[btb01]

Ok guys, first off, apologies are in order for my lack of updates with Pearl. I hate to make excuses but I've had sick kiddos and a crazy work schedule that put Pearl in the backseat unfortunately. I just mailed Pearl to WhittlinAway today so I hope he gets it this weekend. I was able to squeeze in one last adventure with Pearl where I took her to Itasca State Park in central Minnesota. This is where the mighty Mississippi starts it's journey to the Gulf of Mexico. Pearl touched Lake Itasca which is where the river starts it's journey. I'll include a few pics below... It's rather amazing how small this big river starts... by the time it goes through the Minneapolis/St. Paul area it is already a huge river... I had a blast hosting Pearl and look forward to seeing her next adventures! Thanks to everybody in this great community for doing this pass-around.

Hey, I've been there! And it was actually long before I lived in Minnesota. Back in high school, at the beginning of each summer, I'd take a yearly fishing trip to Minnesota with a friend of mine and his dad. We would stay with my friend's uncle, who lived a couple hours west of the Twin Cities. We'd spend part of the week fishing around where Uncle Dave lived, then we'd all head up north for a few days, rent a cabin and fish the lakes up that way. The first year we went, our cabin was on Lake Itasca. (We also stayed on Leech Lake one year, and our stay coincided with a huge mayfly hatch, which was... interesting.)