We just returned late Sunday night from our last trip to MN of the summer. What a trip it was! I'm STILL tired...but have the last load of laundry in the dryer as I type and 99% of our travel paraphenalia is put away. Sigh.
First stop on our trip was Elk River. Brian and Amanda were kind enough to drive up so we could FINALLY meet Baby Cal. What a sweet, sweet boy.
He is such a content little guy, hardly fusses at all. Here is #1 holding #4!
Another version of the 4 kids....little trouble, big trouble, no trouble and ?????? :)
I had so much fun just holding my little nephew and trying to memorize him. He doesn't seem to be having as much fun as I am however. I'm sure the next time we see him he will look completely different!
The kids love it when we roll in to Erin's late at night. That way they get to surprise Celia in the morning when she wakes up! You should have seen her face...especially when she saw Nelson! Celia loves to copy everything the big kids do. I thought this was a sweet moment.
I'm a bit behind Erin in posts...here is a picture of her with the kids at the concert we went to downtown Elk River. Old news I know.
We all had fun watching Celia splash in her pool and even more fun watching Erin FREAK out when she'd go in face first. hee. hee.
Cracks me up how Cece wears her sunglasses everywhere. We sure had a fun visit with my siblings and their kids....then it was off....
...to the great Northwoods for our annual camping trip at McCarthy Beach State Park with the Maras family. Kids couldn't wait to get their fishing in. Tony and our nephew Drew did a good job of catching numerous little sunnies off the dock.
Most nights we head to a little store outside the park for ice cream. It's a tradition and we rarely miss a night. No matter how full we are, we ALWAYS have room for ice cream. In case you are wondering who that little girl is on the left - Olivia's 4th grade class was penpals with Joanna's 4th grade class in Mt. Iron last year. Abby was Liv's pen pal and Jojo arranged for her to come visit while we were camping. She is a sweet girl and they had so much fun together! Thanks Jojo!
Our little naturalist has a thing for ferns. He just LOVES ferns, loves them. We have promised that some day when we have a house with ample shade we will plant all the ferns he wants. Imagine his delight when we went to the beach and saw this truck!!! I'm quite certain that the Iron Range is the ONLY place you'd ever see a truck like this. Quite certain.
My niece Elizabeth, Liv and Abby having fun at the beach.
My cousin Shelley and her little boy Joey took a ride out to visit one morning while we were camping. Joey had fun exploring the campground and picking up various rocks and sticks just like a good little boy should. What a couple of cute blondies!
One of the highlights of our trip each year is getting out the seine (not sure on the spelling). Basically it's a big net stretched between two hockey sticks (again, only on the Iron Range). You haul it out a bit then drag it back to shore. The kids (and adults, let's admit it) LOVE seeing what gets brought in! They all giggle and scream as they pick up the fish and throw them back in. This year Chris caught his first Muskie - yay Chris! (too bad it was only 4 inches long!)
Silly Tony and Drew having fun on the dock.
The kids and I found ourselves alone one rainy day while Chris and his dad participated in a fishing contest. We ventured to nearby Chisholm for lunch and a visit to Ironworld. For those who don't know, Ironworld is an interpretive center that highlights the origins of the Iron Range and it's mining history. Above is a picture of part of a rock collection donated to Ironworld by the Burgess family. Albert Burgess was my great-grandfather on my mom's side. The kids and I were excited to see it, being the rock hounds we are, and it was pretty neat since it came from our family.
Despite the occasional shower, we enjoyed taking in the beautiful grounds and various ethnic displays. The kids really did a good job of reading and asking questions...I sure could have used Chris! :) It's amazing that I grew up there and know so little. It was definately worth a visit!
We took a trolley ride while there and snapped a picture of this old mine pit. I was behind a window and wasn't able to capture the beautiful shade of blue the water is - still a stunning view.
That night while the men were still "fishing" Jojo, Nancy and I took the kids to eat at Bimbo's Octagon - a ramshackle pizza joint across the lake from the campground. It's a local institution and the kids love going there to play video games and eat free popcorn! What's with the thumbs Tony?
Papa John let us take out his boat one day to do some real fishing. They weren't biting so went exploring a bit around the lake.
Livie is a turtle NUT and was pumped to see these little guys sunning themselves. Chris of course was determined to get close enough to catch one.
Gotcha! Poor little turtle didn't see it coming and what you can't see if me freaking out because EVERYONE IS STANDING UP IN THE BOAT!!!!!!
You can see by the smile on her face that this was a highlight of the trip for Liv. We had a great week in the woods, framed on either end by visits with Jo's family. The cool temps were pleasant for sleeping and THEN we came home to HOT and HUMID Nebraska...ick. School starts in just 16 days......we'll see if we can squeeze in another adventure or two before then! :)
First stop on our trip was Elk River. Brian and Amanda were kind enough to drive up so we could FINALLY meet Baby Cal. What a sweet, sweet boy.
He is such a content little guy, hardly fusses at all. Here is #1 holding #4!
Another version of the 4 kids....little trouble, big trouble, no trouble and ?????? :)
I had so much fun just holding my little nephew and trying to memorize him. He doesn't seem to be having as much fun as I am however. I'm sure the next time we see him he will look completely different!
The kids love it when we roll in to Erin's late at night. That way they get to surprise Celia in the morning when she wakes up! You should have seen her face...especially when she saw Nelson! Celia loves to copy everything the big kids do. I thought this was a sweet moment.
I'm a bit behind Erin in posts...here is a picture of her with the kids at the concert we went to downtown Elk River. Old news I know.
We all had fun watching Celia splash in her pool and even more fun watching Erin FREAK out when she'd go in face first. hee. hee.
Cracks me up how Cece wears her sunglasses everywhere. We sure had a fun visit with my siblings and their kids....then it was off....
...to the great Northwoods for our annual camping trip at McCarthy Beach State Park with the Maras family. Kids couldn't wait to get their fishing in. Tony and our nephew Drew did a good job of catching numerous little sunnies off the dock.
Most nights we head to a little store outside the park for ice cream. It's a tradition and we rarely miss a night. No matter how full we are, we ALWAYS have room for ice cream. In case you are wondering who that little girl is on the left - Olivia's 4th grade class was penpals with Joanna's 4th grade class in Mt. Iron last year. Abby was Liv's pen pal and Jojo arranged for her to come visit while we were camping. She is a sweet girl and they had so much fun together! Thanks Jojo!
Our little naturalist has a thing for ferns. He just LOVES ferns, loves them. We have promised that some day when we have a house with ample shade we will plant all the ferns he wants. Imagine his delight when we went to the beach and saw this truck!!! I'm quite certain that the Iron Range is the ONLY place you'd ever see a truck like this. Quite certain.
My niece Elizabeth, Liv and Abby having fun at the beach.
My cousin Shelley and her little boy Joey took a ride out to visit one morning while we were camping. Joey had fun exploring the campground and picking up various rocks and sticks just like a good little boy should. What a couple of cute blondies!
One of the highlights of our trip each year is getting out the seine (not sure on the spelling). Basically it's a big net stretched between two hockey sticks (again, only on the Iron Range). You haul it out a bit then drag it back to shore. The kids (and adults, let's admit it) LOVE seeing what gets brought in! They all giggle and scream as they pick up the fish and throw them back in. This year Chris caught his first Muskie - yay Chris! (too bad it was only 4 inches long!)
Silly Tony and Drew having fun on the dock.
The kids and I found ourselves alone one rainy day while Chris and his dad participated in a fishing contest. We ventured to nearby Chisholm for lunch and a visit to Ironworld. For those who don't know, Ironworld is an interpretive center that highlights the origins of the Iron Range and it's mining history. Above is a picture of part of a rock collection donated to Ironworld by the Burgess family. Albert Burgess was my great-grandfather on my mom's side. The kids and I were excited to see it, being the rock hounds we are, and it was pretty neat since it came from our family.
Despite the occasional shower, we enjoyed taking in the beautiful grounds and various ethnic displays. The kids really did a good job of reading and asking questions...I sure could have used Chris! :) It's amazing that I grew up there and know so little. It was definately worth a visit! 
We took a trolley ride while there and snapped a picture of this old mine pit. I was behind a window and wasn't able to capture the beautiful shade of blue the water is - still a stunning view.
That night while the men were still "fishing" Jojo, Nancy and I took the kids to eat at Bimbo's Octagon - a ramshackle pizza joint across the lake from the campground. It's a local institution and the kids love going there to play video games and eat free popcorn! What's with the thumbs Tony?
Papa John let us take out his boat one day to do some real fishing. They weren't biting so went exploring a bit around the lake.
Livie is a turtle NUT and was pumped to see these little guys sunning themselves. Chris of course was determined to get close enough to catch one.
Gotcha! Poor little turtle didn't see it coming and what you can't see if me freaking out because EVERYONE IS STANDING UP IN THE BOAT!!!!!!
You can see by the smile on her face that this was a highlight of the trip for Liv. We had a great week in the woods, framed on either end by visits with Jo's family. The cool temps were pleasant for sleeping and THEN we came home to HOT and HUMID Nebraska...ick. School starts in just 16 days......we'll see if we can squeeze in another adventure or two before then! :)
6 comments:
so glad you had such a great time..I can remember those rocks in a glass case up front in the garage. I wondered what happened to them. Wish we could have seen you. If you get a chance look at our blog. Steve finally mastered it!!
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Cool pictures - Looks like you guys had a great week of camping. We sure had fun having you at our house. Celia can't wait until the next time she wakes up and she has two cousins, an auntie and a dog in her room!!
Glad you had a fun time!
Love, Auntie Ernie
hope everyone is now rested..cause we now are making reservations for next year...we had fun with the kids & they all enjoyed themselves..even though the parents are all pooped out...great times & memories..thanks..Love Mom & Dad
hi guys. good pictures. looks like another whirlwind summer is coming to an end. yeah, bring on the cool fall breezes and colors.
tony, ferns?
uncle brian
Great pictures! Chris, you might want to work on the 4 FOOT size instead! Try under our dock! Looks like you had a great time! Auntie B
What great memories! Lauren and I loved that picture of C in the pool! She is such a fashionista!
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