Camping Trip to the North Shore (day 3 & 4)...

Saturday morning we decided that since all the boys really wanted to do was to throw rocks into the lake, we would go find a rocky stretch of shoreline to sit on, eat lunch and throw rocks.Apparently a lot of other people wanted to do the same thing. So we shared our bit of beach for a while with strangers. The boys couldn't have cared less, they were beyond thrilled to spend the rest of the day throwing rocks. They told us they wanted to swim in the lake, we had brought their swimsuits with, but when they felt how cold the water was the deepest they got was up to their knees.

They told us they wanted to swim in the lake, we had brought their swimsuits with, but when they felt how cold the water was the deepest they got was up to their knees. 

Jerimy and I weren't prepared to sit forever so we gathered up the boys after quite a long time of rock throwing. We hopped into the car to drive thru two harbors one final time during our trip to find the flat penny machine there.

Then we drove down to Temperance River state park to hike to the hidden waterfalls. That was super pretty. The falls is down in a gorge. We also found a really cool stone staircase. So fun!

 

After a short hike because Lucius was really tired and starting to get super cranky about all the hiking, we drove down the road to Tettegouche State Park. It was a little farther drive than we thought but it gave Lucius a chance to rest his tired legs. When we stopped at the Tettegouche visitor center we gave Lucius to option to hike to yet another waterfall or to skip it. He choose to hike it because he wanted another medallion to add to our family hiking stick. Daddy was nice enough to give him a piggy back for some of the way which made Lucius super happy.

We got to the waterfall, climbed around on the rocks and then waded into the river up stream. The boys found some crayfish in the stream which was fun. Especially since Oliver studied them last year in school. He was excited to see them in the wild. 

After hiking back to the car we drove back to the campsite for the evening, ate a yummy dinner and then relaxed around the campfire. We made a pile of desserts again, but tonight we dropped one off the cooking rake. Our friendly neighborhood chipmunk thought he would come right into camp to help himself to the dirty banana and melted chocolate dessert. The boys thought it was awesome that the chipmunk got so close to us.

Sunday, after a good nights sleep, we were up earlier than we thought. Since we were already up we decided to pack up our things and start the journey back home. We stopped at the beach at Cascade River State Park to see the fog over the lake. Of course the boys couldn't help throwing even more rocks into lake Superior.

Then we drove till we arrived at Gooseberry Falls State Park. It was a perfect time to get out, use the restrooms, and hike to the falls to explore a bit.

 

Then it was off home again. I think we manage to see a vast majority of North Shore waterfalls during our weekend camping trip. I am so glad we pushed through the crabby attitudes to see all that we could see. I took far too many photos- these are just a small handful. But it was a fantastic trip and I'm kind of bummed we don't go camping more often. Someday...

Camping Trip to the North Shore (day 1 & 2)...

The middle of August we shoved all our camping equipment and luggage into our small SVU to drive up to the North shore for a long weekend. With two boys, a dog, a couple bikes and a LOT of stuff- I can tell you that our car was quite full. Every spare inch of space was occupied with something.

We took off on Thursday morning and made a few stops along the way. One was in Duluth to sit by the shore line and eat lunch. Afterwards we went out to the light house at the end of canal park. It was fun and I'd never been out there before.

After exploring around canal park, we drove up to Cascade River State Park and set up camp for the weekend. I'm glad we were able to bring the bikes along as the boys liked riding around the camp ground together instead of always being at the campsite. Elska came with us and the boys did a fantastic job taking her on walks with them.

We hiked to the falls later that first evening. It was exciting to see the gorge and the multiple water falls from this vantage point.

Friday we drove up to Judge CR Magney State Park to hike to the devils kettle waterfall. There were quite the stairs to get there but we all agreed it was worth the hike.

Afterwards we drove to Two Harbor to find lunch and walk around a little. The boys just wanted to throw rocks into the bay area ALL DAY LONG. They literary could have done that for hours. We convinced them that we could throw rocks more later and took them exploring around the island at the end of the shoreline. It was really pretty on the island. I didn't even know you could go out there.

The boys and I played with the pano feature on my phone camera. I guess it's called pano- dashing to get yourself into one picture multiple times. We almost got it down. I think we'll have to try it again on our next adventures.

Then we headed back to camp to make dinner and relax a bit. The boys and I played a few camp games after dinner.  Once the fire was going we all made smore's or buttered sugar roll-ups over the fire. Basically all you can eat desserts were had by all. Soon it was bedtime, or so the boys told us cause they really just wanted to hangout in their tent.  This was our first camping trip where we had two tents set up, one for the boys and one for us. The boys actually did really good in a separate tent and since both tents are fairly small, it gave everyone a little extra space.

To be continued...

Quotable: no free will...

“I have no free will. You always try to control me.” - said by Oliver on the morning of August 29, 2018.

I believe he was upset cause he is trying to give Legos away, Lucius told me about it, and I said Legos will not be given away.  He said every time he wants to be generous I take that away from him so he can’t give stuff away. Then told me he had no free will.

Our Neighbors...

The boys love that we have neighbors that are about the same ages as themselves. Their mom also has the summer off, so they are around a LOT. My two are outside waiting for the neighbors to come out most days and have a hard time leaving the house to do an activity just the three of us when there might be a chance to play with their friends next door. It's awesome and complicated at the same time.

Anyways, here's just a few things we've enjoyed doing this summer with our neighbors.

We even took a trip to Maple Grove Central Park playground and splash pad together:

I keep looking for the kid in pink with long hair and forget he’s got short pink hair now.

 

 

Butterfly rescue...

Oliver came inside one day with a large monarch butterfly on his hand. He said "Marmee, you HAVE to help it!!" He told me how its wing was injured and he had watched all yesterday in the neighbor's yard and when he check it in the morning it hadn't moved very far. Oliver REALLY wanted me to fix the broken wing so it could fly to a safe place. I told him I couldn't fix the butterfly and he broke down. His empathy for injured creatures large and small knows no bounds, it broke my heart. We figured what maybe if we put him outside on a flower in a safe spot it could relax there. That seemed to calm Oliver, even though he would have prefered to keep the butterfly indoors, make it a butterfly house and nurse it back to health. Thankfully he understood that we had no milkweed, so the butterfly would have nothing to eat.

Quotables: shopping...

I love shopping with Oliver. I was on the fence about a top and asked him what he thought. He said “Its your self-expression in a dress”. Yup, I bought the top/dress.