Family Vacation Up North

We had our family vacation with my side of the family this past weekend. We met up at Eagle Ridge, part of the Lutsen compound. When looking for a place to fit all of us, I also looked for places that would be teen and toddler friendly. This turned out to be a great place. Our one bedroom faced Moose Mountain and had a nice size balcony off of it. Loved the view each day. The alpine slide, gondola to Moose Mountain, and swimming pool were all located nearby. All of the kids, plus adults, seemed to have a great time. The weather report had said it was going to be in the 60's and rainy, but we lucked out and had weather in the 70's and only an occasional rain shower. Otherwise, the weather was just lovely. I had brought sweatshirts that never saw the light of day :) Grand Marais, one of our favorite little towns, turned out to be having their Dragonboat Festival that weekend. We went into town Saturday to watch the races in the harbor. Got to skip rocks and watch a few of them. When it started to rain, darn if we did not have to duck into Sven and Ole's and have pizza! That afternoon was our family cookout and we had a beautiful spot by Lake Superior, or Gitchee Gume, as Eric taught Libby to call it. Again, the weather was on our side and we had a fun afternoon of jarts, Frisbee, eating and laughing. Just as we were calling it quits, the wind came up and the rain came down-what timing. Most of the family left on Sunday, but we planned to stay until Tuesday. We took a lovely canoe ride on the Cascade River. This was provided by our hotel for free. Had a young and very funny college student give the tour. Libby did not enjoy it much, but I do not think she liked being in the life vest they provided. It was pretty big and restrictive. However, the next day we took a drive up past Grand Marais and went hiking at Devil's Kettle. Libby was awesome. She rode on Dada's shoulders on the way to the falls, but when we got there, she walked the 176 steps down, all the paths and the 700 feet up to the next observation deck. We were pretty proud of her. Eric had promised her a "magic pic-a-nic" somewhere on the lake, but it was raining like crazy at this point. Found a spot, the clouds parted, we had a lovely lunch, made it back to the car, and it started to rain again. The North Shore is one of our favorite spots and Eric is already talking about going back there next year for another vacation. Gee, I don't even have all the clothes from this one washed and put away yet! :)

We had a great time, but are happy to be home again. Had a call from my friend Colleen, who is waiting word to travel back to China to get their little boy, Shen. The guide that most of us had while in China, Molly, is in the US and they are having her to dinner Saturday night and invited us. We are thrilled to be seeing Molly again. Words do not come close as to how much more than a guide she is to us parents when we are in China. I hope she will remember us and be amazed by Libby. Libby had been the smallest, and I will admit it, most whiny, in our group. She is now so strong, funny, and independent-not the little barnacle Molly would remember.

Trying to get back into the routine of things, and one of the things that makes me saddest is that Libby gets up again at 6:30. The whole time Up North, she got up at 8:00 at the earliest. We loved it.

Aaaaaahhhhh, vacations and the price we pay for them!

Princess Libby

Trying to play a little blog catch up while doing about 100 things. We leave Thursday for a family reunion with my side of the family. We have each rented units at Lutsen's Eagle Ridge complex. It is gorgeous up there and we are looking forward to seeing family and then having a few family days together after everyone leaves on Sunday.

In other news, I had a girlfriends weekend a few weeks ago. It was far too fun and I laugh just thinking about it. Eric took Libby to the Dragonfest that day where they met up with Leeanne, Ron, and Ellie as well as many other families. The pictures with the little girls in it are from this event.

Our friend Michelle's daughter Malia had her 3-1/2 birthday about a month ago and it had a "princess" theme to it. Libby had not known what a princess was, but was quite mesmerized by the dress-up dresses, princess watch in the goody bag and everything else. She still has not seen any of the Disney movies, but points out the princesses everywhere, because, well, they are everywhere. A friend had given us winter pajamas with Cinderella on them and Libby now insists on wearing them every night (good thing it is cold here). She told me at Target the other day that she wanted the princess cake and pointed to the one on the counter. I am just flabbergasted by such devotion to something she knows nothing about. Mind you, I am not rampantly against it, just gobsmacked at how she has glommed to all of them. I guess we are having a princess themed birthday this year :) Thank you to Michelle for the lovely photo of Libby in the Mulan costume.

We had our first carnival on Saturday. Libby, Tenzing and Ellie shared a little car that went around the tracks. Ellie, the thinker in the group, became upset about the idea of the car going off the tracks. I can pretty much assure you that Tenzing and Libby never would have thought of this. Libby smiled as if her face would break in two and waved and waved. I think she is ready for the good ol' Minnesota State Fair that is just around the corner. Thank you Leeanne for the photo of the kids in the car!

July 4 Pics

We had a very fun and low key July 4th, We went to St. Anthony Park for their annual parade. Only locals are in the parade, so it is very, how shall we say it, small town. No big marching bands and fancy floats here, no sirree. There were jug bands, people pushing their push lawnmowers, people riding unicycles etc.. and it ends with the neighborhood kids riding their decorated bikes. We love it. Everyone winds up at a park where old and young hangs out and picnics. We met Tenzing and his parents for the parade and then ran into a whole bunch of other folks we knew. The little blond in the pics is our friends Josh and Sarah's daughter, Nevellie. She is one of the few who can keep up when Libby and Tenzing are together. (She also eats her sandwiches from the inside out) The one pic of Lib feeding Tenzing cake cracks me up. Heather and I just looked at each other when she did it. No, we are holding off on planning the wedding....for now :)

After naptime, we had a great time at a party at our friend Molly's house. Another laid back, but oh, so fun time with friends. Libby now looks at me hopefully each day and says "party tonight?".

Vacation, Part 2

Wanted to be sure to post pics from the second half of our vacation. We spent it in the Foggy Bottom area of Washington DC. Were so happy that we were able to meet up with two college friends of mine, Andre and Al(ice) and their daughter Zoe on Sunday night after we arrived in DC. We had many a good chuckle reminiscing and I don't think Zoe will be going to SCSU. She asked, while laughing pretty hard, "Didn't we have any normal friends in college?" Uhm, no, but we do have a lot of good stories. They gave Libby a Baltimore Oriole's T-shirt and a stuffed Maryland crab, now named Rosie. She loves them both, and wears her tee to bed, when it is not in the wash.

Went to the National Zoo the first day. Let's just say it was a disaster and we would have been better off watching the "little, little ants" in front of our hotel. Libby was a total trooper Tuesday morning at the Smithsonian museums, and check the earlier entry for her observations. We all loved walking through Georgetown and having dinner near the river. Loved DC and had a lot more fun there with Libby than expected. We were saddened by the crash of the metro train, but used it the next day without incident. It is very easy to use to get around.

All and all, a wonderful trip from start to finish with a toddler who fell asleep before take-off and did not wake until after landing-whew!

Libbyisms

Quick little Libbyisms, while I remember them. These are just in the last few weeks. She seems to be coming up with new things all the time that make us laugh.

She insists Caillou's cat Gilbert is really named Yogurt. Therefore, when she got her giraffe from Babboo, she named it, you guessed, Yogurt.

Libby was given a Maryland crab that I tried to name Mary, but she insisted on calling it Rosie. Eric wanted to know where the name came from. Yup, Rosie is Caillou's little sister.

While at Eric's parents home, her Aunt Lennie was telling Libby her cousins names, Alden and Stuart and the other one upstairs, Clayton. When Clayton walked by, she said "hi, other one".

At the National Gallery of Art, her first reaction after looking around was "NAked, NAked". Followed by the observation, "Lots of bottoms to poop". When she saw Paul Gauguin's self portrait, her very strong reaction was "WHOA!"

One of my new favorites is when she does not like something she is eating, be it toast with jam or a grape, and she will tell me "I no like it, too picy". :)