Here we are, the end of August and I am just getting to pictures from the first week in July! We spent the weekend after the Fourth of July at the North Shore with my family for our annual get together. There are way too many pictures for me to even think about trying to get this done in one post, so I'm going to do each day separately.
We left Friday morning from Grandpa and Grandma L's house and (to my amazement) we didn't have to stop until we were just outside of Duluth. It seems like there is always an interesting event on the drive - this time it was a washer, grill and bathtub! Just as we were coming in to Duluth, I was helping one of the boys in the backseat when Nate swerved into the right lane to avoid washer in the left lane. What? So I turned around again to take a look out the back window ( it was indeed a washer) and was then surprised to see that we were heading towards a grill in the right lane! "Look out - there's a grill!" I shouted - only to hear, "I'm trying to avoid the bathtub in the middle of the highway!" And of course, all this was made a little more bizarre when we saw a couple (who may have appeared on "Swamp People"....or maybe it was "Hoarders") walking, not running, towards the debris field on the highway to gather their belongings. I sincerely hope they weren't hurt because I don't know how quickly two people can carry a washer and bathtub from a busy highway to a trailer that is absolutely packed full of junk. It was...memorable. Thankfully, we all made it through without car damage (Thank you, Lord!) and Nate and Grandpa have been turning down offers from Car and Driver to test drive ever since.
The next stop was meeting Uncle Dave, Aunt Karen, and my cousin Mary, and her family at Canal Park in Duluth.
Walter was eager to spend some time with "Uncle David."
Sienna was kind enough to share popcorn with Walter so he could feed the seagulls, too...and I did catch Walter picking up popcorn off the grass and eating it! Aaahhh! Ish!
Henry was as happy as a clam to be climbing on the rocks.
Auntie Karen pointed out that there was a ship coming in...
The lift bridge went up, and the the "Philip R. Clarke" signaled it's arrival (which Walter thought was very loud).
The boys enjoyed waving to those on board the ship and trying to locate the captain.
Passing under the lift bridge.
Having fun with Mimi Erin and Gramps.
The bridge was lowered. I have never seen anything like that before so I'm glad we were there to see it! It made me want to read Paddle-to-the-Sea to H & W.
Back to climbing rocks - can you spot all four of them?
Duluth Shoreline - Nate skipping stones.
A downpour was on it's way, so we cleared out and walked over to Famous Dave's - yum! Henry, Lincoln, Walter and Sienna loved watching the rain come down while we waited for lunch. They spent the majority of the time splashing in the water from the downspout and going 'round and 'round the yellow light pole.
Walter couldn't get enough of the red straws for some reason!
We met up with Uncle Paul and Aunt Karen's family, too, and enjoyed a delicious lunch with everybody. Afterwards, we all jumped into our cars for the last few hours. We were going to stop at the DQ in Two Harbors, but all the twirling around the yellow light had worn the kiddos out - so we kept driving.
"This is so neat. Let's stay here forever!' That was what Henry said when we walked into the cabin. It was a cool, rainy day and in a strange twist, I hadn't over-packed as usual! It was over 100 degrees when I packed our bags at home, and it was almost silly to think about packing long sleeves and jeans or a rain coat...so my children made do for the first night with light pants and their wet sweatshirts.
