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!