After fighting with the toilet in the basement and losing water to the whole house until a plumber comes on Monday, I thought that it might be a great day to get out of the house. So I took the kids to Pike Island, which is where the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers is. All in all they walked about four or five miles, and it wasn’t until the end where Helena was (the only one) asking how much longer it was back to the car.

On the way we played on beaches, found walking sticks (which Ada really never got the hang of), skipped rocks across the rivers, made pancakes out of mud, found toads and animal tracks, climbed trees, waved to people in boats, and took some photographs.

The kids were an absolute mess because of the mud pancakes, so we went to Lifetime to shower afterward because of the water situation at home. How pleasant!

Pike Island…the Mississippi River in the river on the north side, the Minnesota is on the south.

Early into our walk when they were nice and clean.

Helena had me take this photo.

 

The kids taking off in front of me.

Helena thinks she’s an owl. She wanted me to take this photo, too.

 

 

And yet another one that she wanted me to take. She probably needs her own camera.

Liam and Ada throwing sticks into the Mississippi River.

Helena’s toad.

It isn’t easy getting a photo of the rivers coming together if you aren’t on the river itself. But here is the tip of the island.

Mud pancakes.

Liam: “Dad, do you want me to show you how to make pancakes?”

Dad: “I’ve been watching you make them for 20 minutes!”

Liam: “Okay, here’s what you do…..”

 

Helena loves to climb trees….even ones that have fallen over. She’s sitting above the river here, trying not to worry her father too much.

Now all three are getting dirty.

After that, we walked up the Minnesota River side of the island back to the car stopping every hundred feet or so for Liam to skip rocks on the river.