Vacation Day 4

On Monday we drove to Split Rock Lighthouse, which was a bit of a drive. Split Rock Lighthouse is currently celebrating its 100th birthday---so needless to say--busy! Not to mention expensive. For the 5 of us, it would have cost around $35 to tour the light house. Like the kids really would be that interested--well Rauan maybe, but not the other 2. So, we hiked the trails and I took pictures from a distance. Hwy. 61 is being rebuilt too--so there was blasting going on while we hiked. Every once in a while we felt quite the vibration shaking through our feet.

That pretty much covered our whole day, except of course to return to our wonderful cabin to enjoy the waves and look at the beautiful full moon.

Vacaation Day 3

So, on Sunday we woke up to a lovely sunny, cool Minnesota summer day. With nothing on our minds, we drove north to Grand Portage National Monument--aka, less then 10 miles from the Canadian border. There we went to an encampment where the children learned about furs, smoking fish, Native American tribal games, and tepees! I think they were grateful for their own modern beds! We then proceeded to the highest waterfall in Minnesota! Isn't it beautiful? After a full day of hiking and exploring, back to the cabin for cooking out and enjoying another night of a full moon over Lake Superior. And a full night sleep for mom--something I haven't had recently!

Vacation Day 2

On July 24, we woke up to Chewie's birthday. Breakfast at the hotel, then on the road. First stop, Two Harbors where we toured the beach, watched boats, checked out the lighthouse, and Ted dunked Chewie in the lake. We stopped to get a bite to eat--where poor Ted ended up getting first cold root beer and then hot coffee on his lap. And because I was laughing so hard, the poor waitress that knocked those onto Ted started laughing too--which lead to Ted and the kids laughing hysterically too! Couldn't help myself--it was just too funny! Then stopped at Gooseberry Falls--so pretty! We played for a bit in the falls, but then it started raining. There was a bride there getting her pictures taken--the photographers' assistant was assisting with an umbrella! Returned to the van and proceeded to Tofte to get the key for our cabin. Stopped in Grand Marais to buy food --where I promptly had a heart attack over the prices! Onward to spot in the road Hovland to our cabin right on--literally--Lake Superior. We cooked out, played on the beach and fell asleep to the sounds of the waves lapping on the shore. Heaven!