Everybody Needs A Little Time Away

 

Photo Dump Ahead

Did you miss me? You probably didn't even know I was away with me being the sporadic blogger I have been as of late. That's okay. Let me catch you up on our few days away last week.


First, I must say that it was a most beautiful time to be away. Even with our little trip happening only due to the fact that poor Reed had a conference out of town, it was a good time indeed. The bonus for us is that we can take the time as a family to go away and be with him when his schedule allows. Thank you, homeschooling.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, we headed out of town on Lily's 12th birthday.

A quick snapshot before everyone was dressed and ready to go.

We were all packed up and ready to head out on the road to Duluth, MN by 8:30 am. If you have ever been to Duluth, you'd know why it's one of our favorite spots. EVER. I've spent many a vacation there throughout my life and Reed and I spent our honeymoon there too. While it's simple, in-state and not exotic by any means, it's just a few hours from home and has always been intriguing for our family visits. 

Conveniently, my grandma lives in a city that we pass through on the way to Duluth. A quick visit was in order as it only seems right, but also because she and Lily share birthdays. We had to let the birthday gals spend a little time together and take a photo or two.

After arriving in Duluth and getting settled in, we dropped Reed off at his afternoon meeting. The kids and I then hit the waterpark for a bit before drying off and finding out all the other cool attractions at our hotel.

We then headed down to where Reed's meeting was being held and met up with him for supper. 

It was the birthday girl's choice where she wanted to eat. 

She chose an exciting place, which is a revolving (slowly) restaurant atop one of Duluth's tallest buildings. It was a meal that was out of our ordinary "plain" Midwestern tastes, but it wasn't too bad. We mainly went for the experience and the memories. The outer ring part of the restaurant revolves slowly while you enjoy the exquisite views. In our time there, roughly 1 1/4 hours, we were able to make one full rotation, to the delight of the birthday girl. 

To add to the adventure of our trip, my parents ended up joining us for one overnight and day. It was planned so that they could enjoy the one full day with the kids and I (ahem, and help relieve mom a bit), while Reed was in classes/meetings that day.

We awoke Monday morning to gor.ge.ous. weather. In Duluth, at the end of September, it is almost unheard of. To plan a trip at that time of year, you seriously could be freezing your little hinders off. No lie. We've been up there in September and worn winter coats! We were blessed with this glorious, 70 degree weather every day we were there. Some of the best weather we've ever experienced in Duluth, especially since a lot of times you get caught in a lot of wind coming off Lake Superior. 

We enjoyed time down in Canal Park walking along the boardwalk, enjoying the views, watching ships far off, searching for agates and throwing rocks in Lake Superior.

Relaxing and Peaceful.

This was created by Jonah, the artistic and creative one. He asked specifically that it be showcased on my blog. I (heart) Jesus.

Sweet boy.

Precious moments and time just enjoying. *bliss*

We spent the rest of the morning walking, playing at the playground, and a having a picnic lunch.

Then we headed to a place I had never been in all our visits, Enger Tower Park.  I cannot believe we've never found this spot. My parents found it earlier in the summer when they were up in Duluth visiting and wanted to share it with us. 

The little girls fell asleep on our drive to the park, so my mom stayed back and hung out with them in the van. The big kids took the adventure up the trail to the tower with my dad and I. 

We climbed up the nearly 100 stairs to the very top of the tower and beheld scenes like this:

With the autumn leaves turning and the blue sky, it was the best time to see the beauty.

Looking at the famous aerial lift bridge in Canal Park.

The park also has some nice gardens and walking trails high up on the hill as well.

And many more breathtaking scenes to behold.

The following day we were just the kids and I again in the morning. We had planned our "splurge" destination while in Duluth for the Great Lakes Aquarium.  (We ended up not spending as much on admission, thanks to our hotel having discounted tickets for us. Score!) We also used it as our "school"/field trip as well. Before the aquarium opened, we headed back to enjoy Canal Park and hang out for a bit in the morning. 

Every trip we are in Duluth, we make a point to consult the ship schedule so that we catch at least one ship coming in or going out. It's kind of a tradition and one of our favorite parts of the trip.

The ship schedule usually has a window of anywhere from 1-3 hours of when a ship may be departing or coming in. If you hit it right, you could catch one. If not, you may have to hang out a while until you do. Ships do not come and go every day. It just depends on what's being loaded and unloaded, if they are on time, etc. 

That morning, we happened to be at the right place and heard the lift bridge announcement before it begins to lift. We were going to see a ship!

This one was coming out and was nearly 1,000 feet. 

Afterward, we drove just a little ways to hit the aquarium when it opened. We were some of the only patrons in there that morning and it was ideal. As we looked at the many exhibits, one corner faced the harbor where the ships dock and load/unload.  It also had an observation deck outside that we stepped out on to see the view. 

To our delight, another ship was beginning to make it's journey out of the harbor toward the lift bridge. 

It was a great vantage point to see the 1,004 foot ship head out. We also had a few other people on the deck with us as we watched. One of the guys who volunteers at the aquarium is from Duluth and very knowledgeable about the ships. The longest ship that comes in to Duluth is 1.013 and this specific one we saw is the second largest. Pretty cool, huh?

Inside the aquarium, they even have a ship simulation. Here the kids can pretend to steer the ship while also seeing and hearing all that a ship captain would when he is in command of a ship. 

That afternoon, we had a picnic lunch with Reed before doing more walking and sightseeing. 

We made an effort to find another place we'd never been, Lester Park. With more trails to adventure on, a playground and more rocks and water to splash in, it was another hit. Again, with warm weather, it made the fun even more enjoyable.

It was a great few days away. We had many things to fill our days, down time in the waterpark, and oodles of free things to explore within a short driving distance. We didn't even hit some of the bigger things like Gooseberry Falls or Split Rock Lighthouse. Those will be for another time, perhaps when the kids are just a bit bigger and daddy can be with us the whole time. 

It was a good time, a very good time, to be away. To reconnect, enjoy, cherish and have fun.

As always, it was good to get back to home and routine.

The Great Staycation: Day 2

 Read Day 1 of the Great Staycation here.

A good night's sleep and we were ready for another day of fun.

And then we woke up to rain.

The final decision was to venture forward and make the best of it, rain or no rain. I was so happy we did because it ended up clearing out and another beautiful day was on tap.

Ready to go, we're off to the zoo!

We headed the opposite direction as the day before, to Wahpeton, ND/Breckenridge, MN.

We decided not to picnic lunch that day and opted for dining in some place. Little did we know that finding a place to eat in either of these towns was like finding a needle in a haystack. Eventually, we found a Dairy Queen, right at noontime lunch hour rush. We rolled with it and survived. 

And discovered Smore's Frozen Hot Chocolate, my new favorite DQ treat! Yummy!

Our destination for the day was Chahinkapa Zoo in Wahpeton.

There were some really neat animals there considering that it is just a small size zoo in a small town. 

The zoo is really well kept and there were visitors there, but not crowds like Como Zoo, another favorite place of ours. Again, with the great weather, it was nice to take our time without overheating and a lot of the animals were out and active.

My favorite of the day:

Afterward, we headed across the parking lot to an indoor (Air Conditioned) restored carousel. This was the little girls' first time on a carousel and they seemed to enjoy it. 

I Some of us get a little sick on things such as merry-go-rounds and carousels, so I they usually take all the photos.

Jonah told me later that it was embarrassing riding a carousel and I told him no one would know he rode it and there was no one else there at the time. I failed to mention that really everyone would know because he'd be featured on my blog.

Hey, does that smile look like he's embarrassed??

Another really good day for the memory books. Another really good day to treasure within my motherly heart.

Best yet, our two days of fun for a family of six cost us $200.58! 

That includes a tank of gas in our van. How sweet is that?

This just may prove that a staycation is best on a budget and with little ones. Everyone ended up happy and content and we all got a good night sleep in our own beds.

Until the power went out.

The Great Staycation: Day 1

In an effort to conserve cash and also my own sanity, we decided that trekking out for a couple days and returning home each evening was a great idea.

The Great Staycation was then the topic of numerous conversations. While we hope to do an overnight vacation later in the summer, right now this seemed like the ideal way to go.

When you live in such an area as ours, sometimes it's hard to come up with family-friendly options that aren't a 2-3 hour drive away.

Enter Kelley Farm. When you have a history nerd buff husband who digs this sort of thing and you want to share it with your kids, you go. You see, Reed worked at this historic farm in the summer of 1996, so he kind of knows the place. While we had been here many years ago, it had been way too long and all the kids hadn't been there yet. How did that happen?!

We ventured out and arrived right around (strategically planned) lunch time. With cooler bag in hand, we found this perfect little shady spot with benches. It also happened to make for a good photo or two as well.

As you can imagine, the farm has animals. Chickens, sheep, cattle, oxen, horses, pigs and cats to be exact. With weather as ideal as it was, it was the perfect place to spend a couple of hours exploring.

Can you guess who was in his glory? He wants to have a farm when he grows up, you know.

One day.

With many opportunities to try out the activities of the 1860's and roam around, it worked out for all the ages of our kids.

One of my favorite photos from the day, unedited. If this is what farm life looked like (in 2013, WITH electricity, thank you very much), I'd say sign us up!

*contentment*

And if this was farm life, this boy would SO be into it. He's got that farmer look down.

The rest of our afternoon included events of which I forgot to photograph for you all. We went to Two Scoops ice cream shop, stopped at a bakery to pick up a box of Reed's family favorite (we call them lady fingers), played at a playground/park and hit up Pizza Hut for supper. Phew.

After that, we made one more stop before heading back home. About an hour away from our house is a summer fun place with a water slide, bumper boats, mini golf and go karts. Due to our volunteer work we do for the diocesan marriage courses, each June they invite all of the families of those who volunteer for a FREE evening out to enjoy all of the attractions at this place.

We try not to miss this event as it is a great outing that we may not normally do as a family due to cost. We also get to visit with the other people we volunteer with and their families. 

Again, with the weather cooperating so well, we were happy to attend even after a long day away from home. 

Even the tiniest tot was still in good enough spirits to enjoy the evening, despite being just a wee bit little to go on any of the rides.

At days end we concluded it had been a good day to make memories. A week later, our kids are still talking about it and reminiscing of the fun we had.

All of that on a budget, no less.

Scenes From A Saturday: Sledding

Saturday mornings are usually bath time for the little girls and I decided to throw in a little hair trim for both of them too. 

As you see, Margaret was thrilled.

But, why must you cut my lovely locks?

Because, they are stringy and you need a little winter pick-me-up.

With the prospect of 50 mph winds that were to blow in for the afternoon, we headed outside this morning while it was in the mid-30's.

Some of us dawdle more than walk, but that's how this girl rolls. And dawdles.

We hit the sledding hill that grandpa worked on with the big kids the other week. The kids have been having a blast on it. I didn't take photos showing the length of this hill, but it goes down the hill/path they made and onto the snow covered icy lake below. It's more of a tapered hill and not straight down, just in case you are worried about the risk factor.

The big kids take turns with Gianna.

And enjoy the competition to see who gets further on to the ice.

Winter landscape offers photographic fun.

Sweet cheeks that belong to child #4 who almost always waits patiently in her cozy sled while the others play.

Another turn down the chute with Lily.

Gianna thinks it's a hoot.

But not so much when she tips out of the sled, which happened with daddy just after I took this photo.

A good time was had by all.

We finished up just as the wind started to roar.

Now it's blustery/blizzard-like and snow is swirling around the house. I'd say 50 mph winds are not impossible as the temperature has dropped in the lower teens.

So much for more sledding. 

At least not for the rest of this weekend or probably next week as we sit in a deep freeze.

I hope you're warm and toasty and enjoying lots of family time during your weekend.