Brainerd

On July 1st, we packed up and hit the road for a lake resort near Brainerd, MN. This was a last minute addition to our trip and we were happy to have grandpa, grandma, Megan and Z with us! More people is always more fun!

We stayed at Craguns resort on Gull Lake and enjoyed ourselves very much. I won't say it was relaxing, because there was a lot of running around as there were many places to run around to at this location.

I'm not exactly sure how to describe this, but even if it wasn't relaxing, the lake was very restorative or soothing to my soul. The water laps on the beach, birds call, kayakers float/paddle by and the leaves whisper in the wind. There are also screaming kids running up the beach, the smell of exhaust from the motor boats and someone has to go to the bathroom.

Overall, we had a lovely time.

The first picture depicts a form of Minnesota beach wear that one would don when it is chilly in the morning.

The second shot is out the window upon our arrival.

I attempted to make a pretty picture with writing in the sand. The waves had other ideas!

Grand forks

Just a few more pictures I came across from the grand forks portion of our trip. It's been so busy around here with fun things happening. I hope to catch up soon!

More North Dakota

William enjoyed the North Dakota joke book very much this time....hopefully he will have forgotten all the jokes before school starts again.

All the kids enjoyed grandma's dominoes. The big kids built all kind of creations and Gemma worked hard to knock them down.

Of course, the weather was cooler than I was expecting...I never get the packing right for the cooler summer weather in North Dakota when it is 100+degrees here.

Guess who...

Can tie their own shoes?????

She is so proud of herself!!!

Sleeping arrangements

Starting in Grand Forks, our family of 5 shared a hotel room. I was pretty worried about how this was going to work out as if one little person doesn't sleep, no one is going to sleep.

Even though they were bed hogs and slept in crazy positions, the kids did so well! They went to bed fairly easily and slept past 7:30am most days!

Grand Forks

We made the trip to Grand Forks last week to visit my grandparents. The great grandparents adore their great grandchildren so we try especially hard to visit at least once a year.

We have some top favorite things to do in Grand Forks and we were able to get to most of them this time.

The kids all love "digger park" with the scooping toy to dig with.

Mom and Dad love the Mexican restaurant, La Capana. It is so delicious, it doesn't even matter to me that we are far, far from the Mexican border.

Amelia loves when great grandma Nona reads the special Mickey Mouse book to her. If Amelia had her way, poor grandma would read it over and over again.

I always like to walk or drive by "wobbly park" at least once to remember playing there when I was growing up.

Occasionally we stay in a hotel and have access to a pool. Everyone is a fan of waking up and jumping in the pool!

This time Gemma was a daredevil. She loved to jump in and discovered she loved jumping in backwards and head first. She jumped without holding my hand or checking to see if I was ready.

When those tricks got old, she starting taking off. I would out her on the side of the pool to jump in and she would sprint away from me towards the ladder into the deep end. It didn't matter if I was there or not, she was going to jump in. Luckily, grandpa and grandma ran interference on the side of the pool which kept her out of the pool before we were ready.

This is a good reminder about why I will not be going to the pool by myself with all 3 of the kids.

William really started to put things together with the swimming. All of a sudden, he can swim. He was thrilled to be able to show off to the family his new skills. He was even able to prove he was able to swim back and forth unassisted in the deeper end of the pool where he wasn't able to touch. Last week, that wasn't possible! Great job William!!!

June 30

We set most of this day aside to spend with Grandpa Heidt. It is so convenient to have him in the same town as my parents. We always enjoy spending some time catching up with him!

This fun day included play time at Grandpa's house, eating lunch at a restaurant, a trip to the park, an adventure to the riverside to hunt for rocks and some treats.

Somehow, the only picture of all this fun from my phone is of the kids playing at the park. This toy is perfect for 3 kids or even 4. I thought I might get a decent picture of all 3 kids smiling....think again!

At the park, William attempted to play tag. There weren't any other tag aged kids playing, so he decided to play with Mom, Dad and Grandpa. I think William was VERY surprised by how speedy his grandpa was while chasing him. He might be a grandpa, but he can still sprint to keep up with my first grader!

After the park, I took Gemma for a nap and the kids went on another adventure with Daddy and Grandpa. When they got home, the kids had lots of good stories to tell:

"We hunted for rocks by the river!"

"The river was SO full! It was going very fast!"

"They told me not to go by the river, but I didn't listen, mom. I just wanted to see better. It was fine, mom."

"We got to b right by the river! Daddy said it looked flooded. We weren't supposed to go any closer, but later we did."

The look on John's face was quite funny as he heard what the kids took away from this particular adventure. It should also be said, that I know Grandpa and John wouldn't put the kids in a truly dangerous position.