Minnehaha Falls After Four Inches of Rain

On the morning of Thursday, June 19th, we received about 4" of rain here in the Twin Cities. It broke a record for the most amount of rain recorded in one day. And June 2014 became one of the wettest Junes on record. Minnehaha Creek, a small creek which runs through parts of Minneapolis, immediately flooded. Rivers like the Mississippi and St. Croix took a little longer to crest. In fact, they reached their highest points late last week. We've gone out to check out some of the high water and flooding in our area, and we started with a trip to Minnehaha Falls on the Saturday after the big storms that dumped so much water.

We left early in the morning and it paid off. Not many people were around yet, allowing us to take our time looking at the falls and taking pictures.

We walked a little ways along the edge of the creek to a spot that is usually shallow enough for wading and playing in the water.

Evie liked standing on the bridges, watching the water as it rushed under. 

After the falls, we headed over to a nearby splash pad/wading pool. 

Again, since it was still early in the day, we got there before the crowds started showing up. For a little while, we had the place to ourselves.

 And here's one of our more recent blooms in the garden.

Maplewood Nature Center Hike

I took Evie for a short hike a few days ago. She insisted on packing a bag and bringing it with her. She carried it most of the way. Besides some water, she brought along her camera and a couple of stuffed animals.

After getting home from our hike, we hung around the yard for a bit, checking out what was in bloom.

Rain Dance

Let me introduce to you...

Evie the entertainer...

Enjoy the show

Budding Gardener

It has finally been warm enough to feel like summer.

Well, over the past week it has been warm. Today, I'm sitting here freezing as I type because it's something like 55 degrees outside at 2:30 in the afternoon.

That is nearly 30 degrees colder than it was yesterday at this time.

Not only have we been enjoying some of the nice weather at the pool, but we've been taking advantage of doing a little garden work, including planting some new things.

I picked up a hummingbird mint (agastache) plant at the Como Park Zoo and Conservatory gift shop a little over a week ago for only a couple of dollars. When plants are grown for the gardens in the conservatory, more are grown than are going to be needed, so the best-looking ones can be picked to be put on display. The left-overs are then usually sold at a really cheap price.

The hummingbird mint needed to be planted in a pot so I can bring it inside when it gets cold, and after getting it home, I decided to let Evie plant the plant for me. So, we got out her tools, I gave her some direction, then backed off and let her do her thing.

Meanwhile, in the rest of the garden we have...

Columbine

Prairie smoke

And occasionally some water drops left by rain, or maybe it was the garden hose