Duluth / Two Harbors Weekend

We were able to go up north this past weekend. We had actually planned it some time ago, long before our previous invitation to Lutsen (thanks again Sarah and Luke!). So we headed up north again, just a short 3 weeks after our last trip. We stayed at Superior Shores in Two Harbors and played around that area.

We stayed in a lakefront condo, which was very, very nice. We were right on the lake. There were spots you could stand in, where you could not see any shoreline, so there were times it felt like you were on a boat. The weather was overall nice. And the lake was open, free of ice. This was new from the 3 weeks ago when we drove past last, and it was frozen solid then. Now it's open and ships were traveling in the distance.

The kids loved the view. Andrew kept saying 'splash, spalsh' when the waves would crash outside of our window. He also loved seeing the birds and loved the big whirlpool tub in our condo. Cailin thought the big swimming pool at the lodge was swell as was their hot tub. She would have spent the whole weekend with blue lips traveling between the pool and hot tub.

We went to Gooseberry Falls (above, flowing fast under the ice, it was loud) and into Two Harbors a few times (hey, Pamida has great toys to play with in case you didn't know...) We also stopped in Duluth on our way up and way home so we got to spend some time hiking around Canal Park.

We had an amazing sunrise on Saturday.

We all had a blast and happy to say we have another 'trip' under our belts. We love to travel and are thrilled the kids do too!

wow, that's a lot of snow!

We got another wonderful snowstorm last week. It was swell. Not to say that our lawns were clear of snow and it was really looking like spring. Mother Nature had something else in mind. Nice and wet and heavy too. Swell.

The only thing about March snow storms that is nice, is that it's generally gone pretty quickly.

Geez. blasted snow!

Reading the paper

It is common in our house to have the newspaper sitting on the dining room table. Especially on the weekend. Cailin loves to read through the Walgreens ad (yes, it's true) to see what fun stuff they have on sale. Daddy likes to read the Menards, Home Depot, Lowe's ads and such. Mommy usually reads the actual news sections. So then Andrew had to get on board. So he decided he wanted to read about food. Not shocking to anyone that knows him. It was quite a site, the whole family looking at the newspaper at once. I was only able to capture Andrew still reading though, even after everyone else was all done. Hey, he even has it right side up this time!

What's even funnier is that neither Mike nor I have many books or spend a lot of time reading. The kids must have gotten some mutunt gene or something. Because they both LOVE to read!

Easter 2008

This year, as with most holidays and birthdays, we had several different Easter celebrations. The first one was actually held on Palm Sunday and the Lechelts house. There was a big group and there was an Easter egg hunt in the yard. It was little chilly and the snow posed a few obstacles, but none the less everyone had a blast! Plus the candy was super yummy, or so I'm told.

The next Sunday, the kids woke up and the first thing Cailin wanted to do was to look to see if the Easter bunny had left a basket for her. Which, sure enough he had. Andrew got one to of course.
Then we were off to Pine Island to visit Grandma and Grandpa Friary. We played with the puppies too - including the new puppy Bullit. The kids had a blast. There were Easter baskets there too and the kids played and played and played. They got soaked playing in the sink and then played in the tub. Hey, who needs real kiddo toys when you have water and tubs to play in I guess.......

Field trip

Cailin went on a field trip with her ECFE (early childhood family education) class on Friday. We went to Richardson Nature Center in Bloomington. We met at the school where we have class to meet up with the bus. She was a little nervous about riding the bus, but got on board and sat very quietly. Then as the bus got going, she got more comfortable and turned to me and said "mommy, I'm riding a big yellow school bus!". It was super cute. I actually found myself a little misty at the fact, seeing her, looking so grown up and all. I wondered what had happened to my little pipsqueak of a baby. Goes quickly!

Here, the big girl on her first big bus ride!!

She had a lot of fun. The purpose of the trip was to learn about how to make Maple Syrup, so the kids got to learn about trees and the maple syrup making process. It was quite fun. A little chilly, but overall pretty fun!

Cailin's favorite part of the trip was drilling into the tree and pounding the spiggot into the tree. She thought that was pretty cool.
Here, she was sampling some of the homemade syrup. Yum, she wanted more, more more!

Andrew got stuck at daycare that day, but had fun. He was a little confused as he left with Daddy and mommy and Cailin were still at home. But we picked him up after daycare and got Shamrock shakes (which he polished before we even got home....) and then went to the mall for haircuts and dinner.

Lutsen Weekend

Our neighbors and new friends, Luke and Sarah invited us up to their family cabin outside of Lutsen this past weekend. It was our first long drive and our first vacation with both kiddos. It was sort of a trial run, but we were very excited for our trip. Luke and Sarah have two boys, Caleb, who is almost 3 and Dawson, who is 9 months old. The kids had a blast together and the adults did too, if I do say so myself!

This is Cailin and Dawson. Cailin and Andrew were very taken by him. Although Andrew did get very, very jealous if mom paid any attention to Dawson.

The cabin was beautiful and Caleb was kind enough to share his toys with Cailin and Andrew. The kids had a lot of fun playing. We went to Lutsen Resort and went swimming in the pool and hot tub and then back there for dinner. We also hung out at the cabin quite a bit and enjoyed the wildlife. It seemed that there were constant deer visitors the entire time we were there.

Here, one deer was hopping on it's back legs to eat the bird food. There were times when we had six or so deer right outside the dining room window!!

We had great food and great company!! The trip back was also uneventful. Made Mike and I feel almost like 'regular' people again. Getting out, traveling - we haven't done that in a few years.

One of the kids' favorite games was a foosball table - that they called the 'soccer ball game'. All three of the bigger kids (Dawson would have played, but he was busy doing other things....) really enjoyed playing that pretty much non-stop.

Caleb and Cailin were busy with lots of games. Caleb introducted Cailin to Veggietales and Cailin suggested she and Caleb build a Duplo tower bigger than both of them together.

Thanks again to our neighbors for a wonderful weekend!!!

Playing with the Laundry Basket

With the cold winter days, we still are creating some fun games. The kids found the laundry basket and we took 'rides' in the basket all around the house. Big fun!!

Boy, are we excited for warmer weather!!!!