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

A 250th 4th of July in Three Lakes

A couple of weeks after we were last up at the cottage, you say? Not soon enough, we say. We assumed dinner would have already been done by the time we arrived so we stopped to eat at Culver's in Rhinelander. While we were eating, I got a text from my dad saying he was in Rhinelander with Chelsea at Urgent Care. I guess Viola had taken a hard fall. When we got to the cottage Daniel was just starting dinner. We hadn't seen Viola since Christmas, she's a little girl now. She was super shy around us at first. She did also just get back from the hospital. I'm not sure if I approve of fireworks the night we get there, but due to scheduling conflicts that's when Three Lakes got in their fireworks show. 2nd of July fireworks would do. The next morning Blake made us croissant breakfast sandwiches for breakfast. Then Viola and I played down by the dock. Theo would have made a good big brother. Chelsea gave her boys haircuts and even trimmed my neck hair. Every boat we own ...

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...

Japan Family Trip - Part II: Exploring the Shrines and Wilds of Nikko

We had originally planned on taking the bullet train down from Tokyo to Kyoto for a day or two. While being epically fast, it was a bit spendy for the four of us. After talking to Brooke's coworker we settled on a two day trip to Nikko and its World Heritage Sites to break up our week in Tokyo. This turned out to be an amazing decision. The town is teaming with beauty from ancient shrines to epic waterfalls and some of the best meals we had on our trip. Kyoto didn't seem all that appealing to me when I started researching which location to go to. I too am glad we chose to head north to Nikko. When we booked our Tobu Nikko Spacia X tickets I upgraded to the premium seats thinking that we'd be sitting facing one another. Instead we ended up with 4 individual seats, two in the first two rows and two in the last two rows. It turned out just fine with the kids sitting in front of us in two groups. Meadow and I were seated at the front of the car. Once in awhile we'd pas...

Search This Blog