All the kids

This picture was kind of a challenge to put together! 6 kids 8 years and younger isn't an easy task. But, it doesn't matter- my parents are so proud of their grand kids and existed to finally have a picture of them al together!

Meeting Henry Thomas

Poor Megan.

This post should be all about my sister's family's new home and all the beautiful things about it.

But it isn't.

Only because WE GOT TO MEET BABY HENRY! It was such a big deal that we didn't take pictures of the house, although it is very very nice.

Each of the kids got to hold their new cousin and there was quite a line to get hands on him. You can see by their faces, they are very proud of be the big cousins!

Next stop: Gaedke's

After enjoying a little of the sate park, we hit the road again, this time to the twin cities to spend a little more time with my best friend and family. We ate dinner, the kids played, and we chatted with our friends. It was delightful. The kids were especially charmed by getting to hold baby Cal again- he is really the sweetest little guy!


We love getting to spend time with these friends, but we had an ulterior motive. My sister-in-law was in town with our newest cousin.

This auntie LOVES a new baby and has been trying to patiently wait to get our hands on this little guy!

My sister graciously offered to host lunch the following day at her new home in Minneapolis. The baby would be coming for lunch song with his mother.

WPA architecture

After our short foray into the forest, we came back to find a WPA era lodge and small museum.

Duluth day #3

The third day in Duluth we only had a short time before we had to leave. We looked at all the options and decided on a nearby waterfall/hiking adventure at Manitou Falls park.

The falls were a quick walk from the parking lot and beautiful. The kids had fun and we enjoyed getting out in the forest a little. Until one little person had to use the restroom!

Water park

The pool was an indoor waterpark! When we came back to the hotel and although it wasn't as big as other places we have stayed , the kids still had a lot of fun.

Kids at the beach

They didn't even swim and sand was EVERYWHERE.

A boy and a stick

Words are even necessary.

Sea gull run

When we arrived, this wall was covered in seagulls. They were everywhere. It took William 2-3 seconds to figure out how fun it was to run along the edge and make them fly away....

Duluth day 2- another lighthouse

After watching the barge go under the bridge, we walked back towards the car. The walk took us right back to the aquarium. Our day passes were still good, so when the kids asked to go back in for a minute, we were happy to indulge them.

When we left the aquarium, we had to walk by the playground and of course, you can't just walk by the playground MOM.

While standing at the park, John pulled out his phone and conducted a little research about our next destination. What did we do before smart phones?

We took a quick drive to the Wisconsin side of the lake and found this isolated gem. It was pretty, it was free and the kids were DELIGHTED at the opportunity to play in the sand with a stick again. They loved the beach. Loved it. We could prob lay do a beach only vacation and they would be in heaven.

The biggest boat

Initially, I was worried we wouldn't get to see the bridge in action at all. Luckily, we caught it going up and down multiple times during the day. This was the most exciting. We were walking back to the car and the bridge went up. Way, way up.

Of course, we needed to see what was coming. Or John did at least. The rest of us were not as captivated by this point. It really was very impressive. The bridge went way, way up and let through this giant barge.
It was so big, it was unbelievable.

--------

On the trek back to the car, we walked quite a distance along the lake front. We had been walking most of the morning and I was tired. The kids were tired and starting to squabble. Someone drove by with their windows down and music blasting. The 80's tune "Girls just Wanna Have Fun" was playing. All of a sudden, Gemma was dancing. She dropped my hand on the and stopped walking in order to focus all her attention on the dance. She threw her hands in the air and kicked her leg out to one side.

"Mom!!! Listen!!! It is a party! You need to dance!! she yelled at me.

So pronounced was her reaction, the people in the car slowed down to yell out that they thought she was pretty awesome. They danced for a heartbeat with her from the car window before moving on.

At the same time, there were other pedestrians walking the sidewalks coming towards us from another direction.

When Gemma's dance party started, they were just about even with us and had to stop and wait as Gemma's dance party took up the width of the sidewalk. The people on the sidewalk took it in stride and as I hustled her slightly to the side to make room, the boogied on by.

"You can't NOT dance at a dance party!" they laughed as they were finally able to pass us.

And just like that the dance party was over and everything went back to normal. Except for my face because it had a huge smile. These kids. These kids bring joy in ways you could never have predicted and at the times you least expect it.

Canal park group picture

It seems like if you have a sparkly lake and a lighthouse behind you, you should take a picture. Usually, I pick the best ones, but let me tell you, there weren't many to pick from on the trip!

More bridges

After the aquarium, we walked to get some pizza. It can be hard to find pizza in St. Louis, so we were delighted to find an old Chicago pizza restaurant within walking distance. We admired the bridge as we walked. After lunch, we decided to take a closer look at the bridge and we were able to walk over the bridge and back as well as check out Canal Park.

Our kids were troopers. They ate their body weight in pizza and were ready to go again. We didn't bring the stroller with us, so Gemma did a lot of walking. Mom and dad did a lot of carrying as well. We were very impressed with all the kids and their stamina!

More aquarium

Our other favorite from the aquarium was this albino painted turtle. He was so cute!

There was a fascinating map of the Great Lakes and ocean with temperature information. Lake Superior is a chilly 42 degrees!

Aquarium

I'm still plugging away at July. We had so much fun on our trip, I'm committed to getting it all down here. Even if it is almost October.

-----------

The aquarium was fun. They had a interested otter habitat and some impressively giant fish tanks. The real star was a huge model of the Great Lakes system, including the lock and dam system. Kids could see all the 5 lakes and their size comparatively as well as their depth. You could grab a little plastic boat and start in Lake Superior and travel all the way to the ocean through the lock and dam system. William in particular was In love. He couldn't get enough. John and I would stop to read a brief sign and turn around to find William long gone. This is always where we would find him. After the first 10-12 times of losing him, I quit worrying. He was ALWAYS back here again. Gemma, Amelia and John also liked this area a lot too. Just not as much as William!

IMG_0503.MOV.mov

Gemma is humble. Or honest.

Boats under the bridge

Here is the boat going under the bridge. Fist warning, there is a loud boat horn in the video, so if you have your volume way up, it is going to be LOUD.

Day 2, Duluth

The moral of these pictures is if your mama tells you to put on a jacket, you should listen. These pictures crack me up. You can see William is a goofball. Gemma is a ham. Amelia is our rule follower at the moment. I asked the kids to look at me and smile and that is what she is doing. In every single picture.

The second day in Duluth, we drove roughly down to the Canal Park area. There was a special bridge we were hoping to see. I/we really had no other specific plan except the bridge. When we got close to where I thought would be a good place to view the bridge, I spied a giant playground with a giant parking lot. We were early in the day and the lot was empty.

The kids were delighted and played for awhile. We finally coaxed them away to walk the short distance to the waterfront, which is where we took the pictures. The waterfront had great access for walking and picture taking. Everyone but William was enjoying themselves. If only he had listened to his mother! We were excited to watch a boat go under the special lift bridge within a short time watching.

Just behind the waterfront was the Great Lakes Aquarium. The kids saw the sign and were super excited. I was not planning on the aquarium. The weather was nice and there were lots of things outside to see.

As I didn't really have an alternate plan, they wore me down pretty quickly and we went to investigate the aquarium.

Beach fun!

Beach fun

Kids picture.

Sometimes you get lucky. Most times I don't. Getting all 3 kids to stop their exploration was impossible!

More beach fun

More beach

Beach!

Well, it wasn't a white sand beach with palm trees, but it was a beautiful beach on Lake Superior. The lake was about 42 degrees and the air temperature was about 65 degrees, so it wasn't really swimsuit weather.

Guess what?

No one cared.

The kids were delighted to find rocks and sticks and play in the sand. They threw rocks in, dug trenches and designs in the sand. Amelia couldn't wait to wade in the water which meant that Gemma wasn't very far behind. No one wanted to leave. When the grown ups decided we had to leave, it was like herding kittens. Or turtles. Or squirrels. The kids didn't want to leave the beach.

We would get one or two up to the sidewalk, turn around and find the third kid in the water. John or I would go down and grab that kid and find one of the other two had wandered back to lay down in the sand. It probably took close to 45 minutes to get everyone off the beach. It is a sign that everyone was having fun!