On The Eighth Day Of Advent We Attempted to take Our Christmas Card Photo

I made my famous breakfast for everyone the next morning.

Now she's famous for her hash!

Yup. Hash has replaced oatmeal.

Meadows all over any food that is pale in complexion.

We weren't in a rush to get home so Blake suggested we hike Ely's Peak. I was thinking it was farther north somewhere, but it was right in Duluth. He explained we would be climbing that giant hill in the background.

I was like, "Is that safe with a baby."

We started by walking along the Willard Munger State trail. We may have to come back in the summer to bike this.

I think we'll have to attempt that bike ride all the way from Hinckley.

Blake asked if we wanted to see an old train tunnel first. After circling the woods for a half hour he realized he didn't remember where it was.

I quickly realized I'm in the worst shape in years.

We also made Blake carry Meadow. Which in hindsight was probably good idea considering how many times Scott and I fell.

Every time we'd hit a new outlook I'd take a picture. Blake would drag us along further.

We kept going higher and higher.

Are we there yet?

It was nice that the trail evened out in between the climbs.

There was some semi-serious hiking in here.

Getting closer now.

And then we made it.

I guess it was worth it despite my whining.

We thought this would be a good Christmas card photo spot.

We later decided against this one even though it's a nice photo.

Good view all around.

Right around here I nearly fell, but grabbed a stick and it pulled out of the ground. Now I had a walking stick which made it much easier for this klutz.

It was a lot easier going down.

Back at Blake's he got a package in the mail from Sinterklaas. So much candy.

We decided to order VIP Pizza for lunch before heading home.

This is some of the best midwest pizza around.

Comments

Campervan Vacation: San Francsicso, Northern California and the Great Redwoods Forests

Day 1 Minneapolis - San Fransisco And we're off again. This time on an actual planned vacation. Somehow we managed to all get up and eat breakfast despite a relatively early flight to San Jose. Travel Theo is so cute. He didn't remember the last time we took a flight back in 2020 , so we let him sit at the window. He was interested for about 5 seconds. He was more into the movie choices on the back of his seat. Brooke, Meadow and Theo sat on one side and I got to sit with strangers. Unfair. Meadow coordinating as usual. We flew into San Jose despite wanting to start our journey in San Francisco. After debating Caltrain, BART or renting a car, we just took an uber. Not cheap for one person, but basically the same price as our other options with the four of us. An hour or so later we arrived at the Hotel Triton in what I guess is simply called Downtown. Fortunately for us our hotel was right at the gateway to Chinatown. Perfect as we were hungry for lunch. I...

Backcountry Camping with Kids in Theodore Roosevelt National Park

Day 1 Back in May I stumbled upon Theodore Roosevelt National Park. I had no idea there was a National Park in North Dakota and that it was the northern end of the Badlands. Usually our summer vacations coincide with Scott's work trips. Since he didn't have any this summer I thought we should take advantage of actually taking a vacation. What, my workcations are always classics? I suppose a second real vacation this year wouldn't hurt. We definitely have more time than normal. As long as we took Covid-19 precautions and avoided people. We finally settled on a time to go. Blake joined us so we borrowed our dad's van so we could ride together. Scott had just driven from Michigan the day before. Blake had met my parents in Wisconsin to get the van and then drove from Duluth to pick us up. I offered to drive since I literally only drive twice a month. I was still pretty tired from a long drive home. Since we were near Fergus Falls we had to stop by the abandoned state ho...

The Sunday Circular

We stayed out late the night before for our friend Jose's birthday party. This time Scott had more to drink than me. So we slept in. Apparently Peanut also had to much too drink. I woke up to this mess. Of course he's licking the plastic bag in this picture. He loves licking bags -- reminds him of his alley cat days. Scott's hangover comfort food is pancakes and syrup, that would be last thing for me. I tried to cheer him up with emoticon mini pancakes. My stomach was just not having it. This might be the first time I've left pancakes on my plate. Ever. Off to work I went, hungover. Damn you Best Buy! While he went to his job, I worked on getting the chile-braised pork shoulder ( from the latest Bon Appetit ) ready for our epic meal . I got a strawberry plant from the back of someone's pickup truck while Scott was in California. Thanks to Emma for finding it on freecycle . He planted it for me...

Search This Blog