The Abus came to Minnesota

After more than a year the Abus finally got to see Ben again and meet Jimmy for the first time.  They arrived in a snowstorm, had a wonderful summery Easter and left in a deluge of 5 inches of rain.  A perfect spring vacation in Minnesota. 
Many foreigners are the same in that when visiting the US the spots not to miss are usually New York or somewhere on the east coast - Boston or Washington DC, Miami perhaps, Las Vegas, Los Angeles maybe a nice weekend somewhere in Colorado but the upper midwest is an often neglected locale with the exception of Chicago.  We wanted to try to keep them local this time so planned some fun visits around this state - now if we could get them to come in the summer we will have them hook line and sinker.

One of the first stops was the Minnesota Zoo  - since we are members we have to take advantage right?!

Then with a bucket list of recommendations from Ali we headed to Duluth for the day to sightsee and eat. 

 

 We went to the Como Conservatory for a quick visit.

 Where I failed epically at capturing photos - it is hard when Ben takes off running.

 Paparazzi shot of the Abus.

 The lift bridge in Stillwater is very similar to that in Duluth, however this one was nearly flooded.

We also celebrated Carlos' 69th birthday and shopped.  And shopped and shopped.  It was a very fun visit and so nice to have a house that is just enough bigger than the one in Crystal that everyone is comfortable.