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Happy Father’s Day to all! Love these two — I’m a lucky Dad! 🥰

Man in blue plaid shirt with arms around two smiling teens outdoors near a garden trellis
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Collected POAP 7371704 for Lake of the Isles — 612 POAP Challenge.

Circular badge with pixelated art of Lake of the Isles shoreline, labeled 612 POAP Challenge at top and Lake of the Isles at bottom.

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Collected POAP 7371688 for Bde Maka Ska — 612 POAP Challenge.

Circular badge for the 612 POAP Challenge showing a pixel art Minneapolis skyline reflected in Bde Maka Ska lake

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Collected POAP 7371669 for The Kid’s House — 612 POAP Challenge.

Circular badge showing a pixelated Minecraft-style building with pink windows, labeled 612 POAP Challenge and The Kid's House.

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At the Stone Arch Bridge Festival this weekend these clear candles by Lake Escape Candle Co caught my eye. I hadn’t seen anything like it. They are made with a gel wax and they did a brilliant job using that in the design. The next day I lit one and was wowed by the way the light lit it up. Lovely!

Glass jar candles labeled Lake Michigan by Lake Escape Candle Co. containing gel wax, sand, and stones, on a wooden shelf.Lit Lake Michigan gel candle by Lake Escape Candle Co with two flames glowing through clear wax with embedded stones and sand.

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Making pizzas on Blackstone pizza oven for first time.

Pepperoni pizza on a stone inside a Blackstone outdoor gas pizza oven, sitting on a stone surface outdoors.

Finished pizza.

Pepperoni pizza fresh from a Blackstone outdoor pizza oven, resting on parchment paper on a metal surface outdoors.
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Stone Arch Bridge Fest

Today was Mazie’s birthday and one of the things she decided we should do is the Stone Arch Bridge Festival. It had been a very long time since we had been to this and I was really impressed by the size of it. There were so many artists and vendors. It felt to me like it had a particular Minnesota flare to it, with a lot of art that was locally inspired. We spent about four hours but could have spent the entire day there.

Crowds of festival visitors browse rows of white vendor tents along a tree-lined path with a stone bridge tower visible in the background.

Some artists that caught our eye:

Mazie bought a piece of art with her own money — her very first art purchase from H. Ward Mileswww.hwardmiles.com.

Young woman in a colorful striped sweater holding a small abstract painting at an outdoor art festival

I also really liked these very local artist creating location pieces. Maybe I could get one of them to participate in a future year of the 612 POAP Challenge. 😊

We grabbed some switchel from Hobby Farmer on our way heading back home!

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Got a recursive selfie while collecting the Grain Belt Sign for the 612 POAP Challenge with the family (see moment).

Favorite quote from Mazie @mthingelstad : “Why is this actually kind of fun?” Love it. 😍

Man takes a selfie on a teal bridge railing while two others behind him photograph the iconic Grain Belt Beer sign overhead.
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Collected POAP 7371441 for Grain Belt Sign — 612 POAP Challenge.

Circular badge with pixel art Grain Belt Sign logo in red, yellow and blue, labeled 612 POAP Challenge

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Collected POAP 7371432 for Hennepin Avenue Bridge — 612 POAP Challenge.

Circular badge with pixel art of Hennepin Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis, labeled 612 POAP Challenge and Hennepin Avenue Bridge