Itasca state park

The kids loved this area. Even though 2 of our 3 ended up falling in the water, they loved wading in the water, squishing their feet in the sand, chasing little minnows and examining bugs/rocks. Amelia, in particular, was in love. We finally had to drag her out of the water. She spent most of the rest of the week asking to go back.

We ended up crossing at the rocky divide, crossing the small steam and again on a wooden plank bridge.

Itasca state park

It was a very short walk and we were at the beginning of the Mississippi River. The last picture shows lake Itasca on the left and the Mississippi River on the right.

1st stop: Itasca

It is embarrassing really. John and I were born and raised in Minnesota, yet neither of us had ever been to the headwaters of the Mississippi River. While looking at a map the day before, I spied Itasca state park and realized it wasn't terribly far out of our way. We weren't really in a hurry, so we decided to check it out.

Monday morning, part 3 of MN trip

Can you believe I am still talking about of vacation from last month? We had such a good time, I want to get down as many memories as I can!

Monday morning 8/3, we left grand forks for Duluth, MN.

The original plan was to go to the black hills this year, but the week we had picked out was the 75th anniversary of Sturgis. That made the hotels expensive and the traffic would have been heavy. Maybe next year?

We had 2 very happy backseat riders departing North Dakota!

Camp out

The kids had such a fun time camping with Kaye and Scott! The kids were good with the exception of the time when they wouldn't go to bed.

The kids were up early, went for a hike and caught some critters. A successful camping trip!

Camp out, cook out

One of the nights in grand forks, we were invited to join my aunt Kaye and Scott at their camper for dinner. William and Amelia were also invited to stay the night. This would be Amelia's first camp out and she was so excited!

We grilled and ate some great food! It was so good, I don't have a picture of it!

Gemma loved walking the dog, Ceecee. Luckily, she is one of the best dogs ever and is so good with the kids!

Sweet sisters

The girls shared a bed at grandma's house. It was always funny to see how they would be sleeping when we checked on them. This night, Amelia was off the mattress and on the floor. Gemma is spread out taking up more than her fair share of the bed.