Weekend Recap - Decorah Edition (#5 on 14 in 2014)

I am basking in the bliss of a wonderful weekend! It was fantastic! This weekend we took a little trip down to Decorah, IA, the home of our alma mater, Luther College. Jeromy and I met at Luther, and started dating our sophomore year (more on this in a future post!). To say Luther and Decorah are special to us, and magical places are VAST understatements. This trip also checks off #5 on my 14 in 2014 list - woo hoo! Here's a peek at our fun trip!

We headed down to Decorah on Thursday. We left around 10:30, to leave ourselves plenty of time to get down there at a decent time, and geocache along the way! We made a quick stop in Rochester, and grabbed several caches between here and there. Linnea had been up way too late the night before, and then was up way too early. So she crashed soon after we slept, but then slept until Rochester. She was very happy with her "mushroom pasta" lunch, and then was quiet watching Frozen the rest of the way, which worked okay.

We met our friends, Tom, Jackie, and Gavin at Baker Village, the campus housing that would be home for the weekend. Baker Village is where Tom and Jeromy (and 4 other guys) lived our senior year. The housing is technically on campus housing, but it's across the street from campus, and not traditional dorm living. Each unit is two stories with several bedrooms and two bathrooms - the perfect place for our families to stay! 

Each family took a floor. The kids got their own bedrooms, and then each couple shared a bedroom (twin beds, of course - but we made it work). We will definitely stay here again - it really worked great!

After arriving and unpacking on Thursday, we headed to campus. Luther's campus is seriously so gorgeous, and seems to have only gotten more gorgeous. There's so much green space, and beautiful views of the bluffs. We had such a good time walking around and reminiscing. How has it been almost 10 years since we left?! We also stopped in the bookstore to stock up on Luther gear - a new sweatshirt for me, t-shirt for Linnea, mug and books for Jeromy, collar and leash for Luther, and nisse decoration for our house. We went a little overboard, but we just love our school!!

Our family by the Luther bell

After our walk through campus, we went to T-Bock's, one of the bar/grill restaurants in town. We were happy that our friends Bethany, Matt, and their daughters Cecelia, and new baby Marielle were able to join us! It was so good to see them and catch up!

We went back to Baker, and got the kids down for bed and relaxed for the rest of the night. (Side note: I was so nervous about how sleeping would go with Linnea, but it went so well! I'm so glad we made the transition to the big girl bed before we went. She slept and napped great the whole time we were there.)

Snuggles and laughs before bed

On Friday morning, Jackie and I headed out for a run along the cross-country trails on campus. We were in cross-country together in college (and high school for that matter), so there are lots of memories on those trails. We talked a lot about how surreal and weird it was to be back, and how it seems like no time passed!

We got back and had breakfast together and got ready. Then we headed into town. We stopped at a cute, new (since we've been there) coffee house, and then strolled through town. Decorah is such a cute, sweet little town. There was lots to see and do. We had lunch at a new (since we've been there) BBQ place. It was pretty tasty. We headed home after that to put the kids down for naps.

Jackie graciously offered to stay back while the kids napped, and the rest of us headed out to enjoy the GORGEOUS weather. Tom went for a bike ride, and Jeromy and I had a fun little geocaching date. We had a great time.

 Coffee at Java John's

Beautiful day!

Geocache Date!

After naps we loaded everyone up on our bikes, and biked to nearby Dunning's Spring, and beautiful spring and waterfall. Seriously, did I mention that Decorah is beautiful?!!

Dunning's Spring

The ladies at Dunning's Spring

From Dunning's, we biked to Don Jose's, a yummy Mexican place, to have dinner. It was delicious. On our way back, we made a stop at The Whippy Dip, which is a Decorah staple and tasty ice cream place. Jeromy, Linnea, and I stopped on our way home to snag another geocache.

Me and Linnea enjoying our Whippy Dip

On Saturday, we got up and had breakfast and got ready for the day. Mid-morning, Bethany and her girls came back into town (they live about 45 minutes away from Decorah). We decided to take the kids to the fish hatchery.

The fish hatchery is a place where they raise trout. It's open to the public, and is sort of like a big fish zoo. Jeromy and I went there the day before when we were geocaching, and knew the kids would love it. (We spent four years in Decorah when we were at Luther, and had never been here before!)

The hatchery had dispensers where you could buy fish food. Linnea loved feeding the fish and watching them splash around.

An amazed Linnea, and crazy splashing fish!

Gavin, Cecelia, and Linnea checking out the fish

Jeromy and Linnea

Me and Linnea

After exploring the hatchery, we went home for lunch, and to put the kids down for naps. The boys stayed with the kiddos, and the ladies got some time to go downtown, shop, and catch up. It was great!

When the kids woke up, we headed to a nearby playground to let the kids play - they loved it!

I LOVE this picture. Two of my favorite ladies, and favorite kiddos!

After playtime, Bethany and the girls headed home, and the rest of us grabbed a quick dinner. We had time afterwards, so we (you guessed it!) grabbed a couple geocaches! We love our family hobby!

Me and Linnea during our geocache outing

We put the kids to bed, and then Jeromy encouraged me to go out for a solo geocaching outing. The sun was fading fast, but I managed to find 2 caches, and I really had a great time being outside and having a little alone time.

Solo geocaching...

Sunday was Father's Day, so we went out for a nice brunch at the fancy hotel in town. The food was great, and it was nice to be able to celebrate Jeromy and Tom. They are both great dads!

I love my family!

After brunch it was time to pack up, and head home...but not before a couple pictures by the Luther sign! I will support Linnea in any college decision she makes, but I really hope she goes to Luther (we just have to figure out a way to afford it!).

Linnea - Luther class of 2033?

I love my sweet girl, and my awesome school!

It was such a fun weekend, and a trip that was much overdue. We would love to make this more of an annual trip!