The Women Take the Kids Camping to William O'Brien State Park

Scott had to work this weekend, which kept us home for once. Seeing as this is my first summer in 8 years that I don't have to work weekends I couldn't just stay home.

She just can't. Sorry Minneapolis friends.

We thought maybe we could go camping for the night on Saturday. I suggested we see if any friends could go with us. Anna said yes, but it would be just her and the kids. So, I suggested we just have a mama-baby camping trip.

Saturday afternoon we squeezed everyone into our Insight and headed to William O'Brien State Park.

Scott kept saying it was going to rain all night. Were we really still going to go? Of course.

It rained cats and dogs the whole way there. We set up the tent as quickly as we could, but there was still a lake in the middle. After hanging out in the tent the rain stopped and the clouds cleared. Oops I guess we could have waited.

We walked around the campground and the kids played in puddles. Everything was soaked already so why not?

I fixed our tarp in case the rain came back.

More puddle jumping.

Then we walked along the river.

The kids had fun throwing every thing around them into the river.

Lydia just wanted to jump in.

Eventually we made it to the flooded beach, had dinner and went to bed.

In the middle of the night we heard a loud cracking, a bang and then the tarp fall down. I thought maybe I had tied the tarp to a tree too tight causing it to snap. Anna and I got some flashlights and investigated. It turns out a large branch the size of a small tree fell down taking out one side the tarp and nearly missing our tent and car.

Meadow is a good helper.

After breakfast we explored the vistors center and of course I forgot the camera.

With everything wet and no where near drying, we packed up camp and headed back.

When we got home Meadow had a belated birthday gift waiting. She had received a doll bike basket for her bike. As cute as it is sadly we are going to exchange it. I'm too afraid Meadow is going to drop her bike and its going to shatter into pieces.

Comments

Chicago Chrismukkah + Michigander Xmas

Before heading out on our trip we let the kids open their Christmas gifts from us. A knitted sweater for Theo and a kitty dress for Meadow (I fixed the straps for her) both made by me. I wanna a sweater. Scott got them new compact sleeping bags. We all got smaller sleeping bags this year and we'll now have a lot more room in our car. This year we had talked about hosting my family at the cottage. Then meeting up in Milwaukee, then meeting in Chicago. But in the end we made stops in Chicago and Lowell this Christmas. We left on a Sunday which was nice to have a few days to prepare. On the way down to Chicago we stopped at our favorite roadside restaurant, Foster Cheese Haus. We had plans to break up our drives so we didn't have to rush like we normally do. We had made it just before the cheese haus was set to close for the winter. Just not enough folks stop here in winter and snowmobile season is becoming shorter and shorter this far so...

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...

Search This Blog