Friday, July 30, 2010

North Shore (Part 3)


The last two state parks that we visited were so incredibly beautiful that I feel each needed its own post.




Tettegouche State Park

This park had so many amazing trails and places to explore that I wish we would have gone there first. We were kind of running out of steam by day 3. We were amazed by the way the Baptism River met up with Lake Superior. The color of the river water was similar to a strongly brewed iced tea. Lake Superior was a deep blue.


Rocks everywhere!


Six happy kids.


Baptism River




More places to climb. And Aaron didn't fall.


Somebody's booty.


I don't think there was a bad view in sight.



Aaron considered climbing this.
We all said, "NO!"

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Big Announcement


I would like to announce that we are officially done with diapers.
(Well... technically Micah still uses one during sleep... just in case).

This is huge. This is the first time in nearly 13 years that we haven't had a child (and often we had two) in diapers. I still can't believe it! Micah has been faithfully using the toilet, mostly without reminders or help, for about 3 weeks now.

It was worth every single Tootsie Roll he consumed.




Tuesday, July 27, 2010

North Shore Trip (Part 2)


I didn't mention that we stayed at an Americinn in Silver Bay. While it wasn't "fancy", the pool area had a big water slide for the big kids and a little water slide for the littles. Perfect for them. Oh! They had a great breakfast for the kids, too! Make your own waffles, biscuits and gravy and all of the usuals. What more could they need?




Two Harbors, MN

Lots of things to look at and see in Two Harbors. Unfortunately, I got very few pictures. I ran out of camera battery so I asked the chick in the gift store if I could use her outlet to charge the battery. At least I got a picture of Micah with the train. He was thrilled.


There are a few tunnels that you have to drive through in this area. My kids do a little thing where they all hold their breath until we reach the end of the tunnel.

Apparently, this is how Micah holds his breath.





Split Rock Lighthouse

Split Rock Lighthouse is a fascinating and beautiful place to visit. The weather was perfect and the kids loved seeing a lighthouse, up close and personal.

View from the top.


We were not able to manage to get all six kids to stick their heads through a hole at once. Glory couldn't stay still. Caleb wouldn't stay in the picture.

And Micah. Well, he didn't quite get the idea of the shot.




Friday, July 23, 2010

North Shore Trip (Part 1)

We recently took the kids on a a 3 day/2 night vacation along the North Shore. It was the first time in a loooong time that we had stayed in a hotel. In fact, we had to have two rooms, due to the size of our family. That was actually a blessing because then we had two bathrooms, two microwaves, and two fridges!

Our goal of this trip was to visit MN state parks and let the kids explore and create memories. That is exactly how it worked out. It was our first experience sans stroller and we had a blast.




Moose Lake State Park

At this park we hiked and had a picnic by the lake. Of interest, but not pictured, was their agate center. The climbing tree was a find too!






Jay Cooke State Park

This state park is absolutely beautiful. I definitely needed to cling on tight to some little hands, but it was so worth it. Aaron and a couple of the bigger kids hiked up the muddy trail to the waterfall area.

(The suspension bridge took a little getting used to. Some of us were a little uneasy on it.)
(Love this picture. But I could do without the cleavage.)






The Beach

This area doesn't have a name, but we found a quiet rock beach near our hotel. This was actually our favorite part of the entire trip and we returned a few times. The kids love throwing rocks into Superior, climbing, and playing in the little pools of water.


)Kids are loveloveloving the rock beach here. See the big climbing rock in the background? My husband decided to climb it. And then he lost his footing and fell...almost from the top. We all watched in horror. Thankfully, he only strained his ham string. )



Palisade Head

This rock formation was definitely worth a stop. We weren't there very long...dangerous with the kids. The pictures cannot do justice to the bright blue water and amazing view.


(Don't drop the baby!)


Thursday, July 8, 2010

Sometimes a Little Crack is Fine



3 year old boys that no longer wear a swim diaper have the cutest little bums.