A few days in Goodhue County with the nieces

Your scrapblog editor enjoyed five delightful days in Lake City, Minn., last week with nieces Moriah and Elizabeth Miller. A few snapshots:

Every night we drove up to Frontenac State Park to see pretty views, deer and fireflies. Moriah took this photo of herself and me up at the top of the hill. In typical foggy-53-year-old-brain fashion, I forgot to take my camera on this trip, so all of these photos are from Mo's camera. Every night at the park we saw deer, too many to count.

One day we hiked out to Sand Point, the Wells Creek delta on Lake Pepin. The beach was flooded by recent heavy rains, but we still saw interesting things, including thousands of tiny frogs in the marsh beneath the boardwalk portion of the trail. Elizabeth, 6, did NOT like the frogs. She did like finding this feather, perhaps from an immature bald eagle, as well as buckets of rocks, shells and driftwood.

On the boardwalk portion of the trail to Sand Point.

Mo on the trail to Sand Point. Mo had her trusty cell phone at all times, which allowed instant communication with a delightful, handsome young man who visited us one evening. :)

Portrait of the young women as artists: Continuing a Miller family tradition, Moriah and Elizabeth painted the rocks they'd found on the beach in the evening on Auntie Pam's patio.

We visited Grandpa Bill Miller's memorial bench outside the Florence Town Hall in New Frontenac, Minn. (There is also a Bill and Alverna Miller memorial bench at the big field in Old Frontenac.)

The plaque on Dad's memorial bench.

Here's the house the Miller kids grew up in. The current owner has let the raspberry bushes go to weeds, which would have vexed Mom, but she's a fine neighbor to my Old Frontenac land.

Elizabeth picked a daisy on my land in Old Frontenac.

Moriah, ever the athlete, whacked a whiffle ball to kingdom come on my Old Frontenac land. That's the world's finest outhouse in the background.

Mo in Old Frontenac.

We visited the Old Frontenac beach almost every night, because it's Our Place (one of several).

Moriah executed a perfect cartwheel on the beach, just for fun.

The decaying, haunted old hotel on the Old Frontenac beach is going back to nature. Bats and swallows flew in and out of it. Elizabeth wanted to go in, but Auntie Pam didn't let her, because it's falling apart and probably dangerous.

We took a couple trips to the Colvill Aquatic Park pool in Red Wing, Minn. Elizabeth is a fine little swimmer, and Moriah a wonderful big sister lifeguard.

Everything Moriah does is athletic. Here she walked around the pool on her hands.