Skip to main content

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

Popular posts from this blog

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...

Work Trip: Carlinville, Illinois and a St Louis Walk on the Hill

Every few shoots for my main client I end up somewhere I'd never heard of before. This time it was Blackburn College in quaint Carlinville, Illiniois. Apparently famous for it's chili factory and its parlor. The family friendly chili parlor faces the town square, meanwhile the Anchor Inn faces the street behind it where the chili is also served alongside beers and rail drinks.  I was informed the chili comes with a kick and that was no lie. Knowing this fact I went with the chili mac and I'd do it again. Even though Carlinville is much closer to St Louis, the Anchor is definitely a Cubs bar. This town rules. After my shoot at the tiny Blackburn College I drove back to St Louis, where I'd flown into, for dinner. Well, one of the inner ring suburbs that's more urban than parts of Minneapolis. Anyways, Balkan Treat Box may have been the best meal I've had all year. After dinner I drove over to the Hill, an old Italian neighborhood of St. Louis. I don't know wh...

A Weekend of Bike Rides

With the kids finishing up school we had to treat them to Sushi Train. They picked the downtown location, which meant a family bike ride.  Theo asked why we don't go to this location anymore. The other location is more convenient but we agreed to go the one downtown this time.  I swear we did in fact eat sushi. We seem to always miss strawberry picking season. This year I was determined to go. Afton Apple was the first place I found that was open for the season.  One of their old fields that they were ready to retire was producing a lot of fruit this year.  Luckily today turned out to be a cooler day.  I treated the kids to strawberry shakes.  Then we drove over to Prescott to pick up some food for lunch and ate at Point Douglas Park. Then we did some hiking at Carpenter Nature Center to do some geocaching. Later Scott and I bike through some rain to Northeast to go to the soon to be closing Bauhaus one last time.  Gonna miss you Bauhaus. In the mornin...