Minneopa Falls

Saturday morning the kids and I went to Minneopa State Park just south of Mankato.  Even though the area had 5+ inches of snow the day before, we sort of expected the paved trail to the falls overlook to be plowed (we know now that it is not plowed, though the parking lot was).

The hike to the falls overlook is somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 mile....it was a little difficult for Lex, we moved slower than the boys would have liked.

The bridge over Minneopa Creek, between the 10-foot upper falls and the 39-foot lower falls was completely replaced (trust me...it needed to be) last fall.  In my mind it is safer now, the boys can't lean over the railings of this bridge.

While the boys were off throwing each other in the snow, Lex took some time to actually look at the falls.

Eventually I was able to get the boys over so I could get a picture of all three kids.

I took two pictures of Luke, Lex, and Kieran together by the falls -- I have no idea how both of them turned out okay (no one mad, crying, blinking, hitting another, etc.).

One more picture of just the lower falls, because of the dry conditions we've had since the middle of last summer, this creek has been mostly dry since at least September.  It wasn't much of a surprise to see the falls  without much ice.  The little bit of snow that we have isn't going to make much of a difference in the ground moisture when it melts, especially if it all runs off when the soil is still frozen.

Altogether, we spent a couple of hours at the falls, until the kids were soaked and cold.  Trust me, the moment the kids realize they are cold occurs almost instantaneously....