Category Archives: My Family

History, Museums/Events, My Family

This is my normal and Pawnee Bill Ranch

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We went to the “Fall In Love with Pawnee Bill Ranch Festival” this year. They had a blacksmith work the event and he was amazing.

Several of my kids could have stayed and listened to him all day. He was a great teacher. Some of the things to do needed tickets but they had free activities also, including a wagon ride! The wagon ride took us right into the Bison and Longhorn herds! We had actually just dropped my husband off at the airport for a work trip and my mother in-law was with us.
I struggled with needing to have her come and needing extra help while Nick was gone but decided to accept it as what our family needs and that it is normal for us. Sometimes it is hard when you feel like your family is not “normal” but it is normal.

 

Just a different kind of normal 😉

I heard someone say that on instagram and latched onto it.

The last time he went was a bit of a disaster but this time went so much better. I am so thankful for lots of fun events and places to go like this one to help the days go fast! I had not been to the Pawnee Bill Ranch before, it was smaller than Woolaroc but still a fun stop and the fall event was a great distraction! The boys really embraced the “lookout” part of this tower 😉 I would really like to attend a Wild West Show at the ranch someday.

They hold it every spring and I think it would be so much fun!

    Do you feel like you are not “normal” sometimes also?

Know that you are not alone.

My Family, National Forest, Parks

Kabetogama State Forest and Voyageurs National Park ~International Falls, MN

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We camped at the Woodenfrog Campground in Kabetogama State Forest in northern Minnesota. The girls loved all the deer at the campground(the boys stayed with their grandparents).
This was dry camping and I have to admit the vault toilets were chilly, especially at night but it was not bad at all! With his girls. Voyageurs National Park does not have any land access campgrounds so we stayed at the nearby Kabetogama State Forest. Nick and I have canoed out to the National Park to camp before though! The campsites at the Woodenfrog campground were beautiful! And there is a trail right at the campground that was beautiful as well.

You could just walk this beautiful campground road.

So pretty.
We borrowed Nick’s parents camper.

We kept nice and warm inside the camper even without hookups 😉

Used power from batteries(recharged with generator during the day) to run fan for furnace and the gas furnace.

Kept it a little chilly to make sure we did not run out but it worked great. This was the campground trail. Amazing. You can access some of the Voyageur trails by driving.

The Echo Bay Trail was near the campground and was beautiful.

Trying to not share all the pics but it is so hard to choose! It was magic. Something magical happened while we were up there also…

It snowed! We found this road on the side of the road by International Falls. We stopped though and big beautiful flakes started to come down! The twins were not sure about the cold but Little Bit was as happy about the snow as I was! We walked on the Kab-Ash Trail for a little bit but it was really wet and it kept switching to sleet instead of snow so we did not hike long. The next morning we woke up to…

me squealing.

Because of this!!!!

There was a bit of a concern about being able to get out but we made it!

We stopped at the Echo Bay Trail on the way out and I took some snow pics before we headed back to his parents. Thanks for showing off northern Minnesota!

My Family, Outdoors, Parks

Maplewood Leaf Days

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1st full day up in Minnesota we went to the Maplewood Leaf Day’s(I may have planned the trip around it)!

My mom liked to make apple cider so I don’t find the apple cider press as interesting as other people…

Ha

It is only fun for the first few batches 😉

They made these bird feeders with shortening so my twins could do it(peanut allergy)! This is our second time at this event and the people are always so nice! I love that with just our two families we bring a crowd. There were so many fun activities to do. It was pretty cold but everyone was a good sport about it.

Some of mine wait too long and end up with hurting hands before they say anything though.

So many great learning opportunities! Home Depot donated these kits! These rag dolls were cute and a great lesson about what toys used to look like.

Brave man… Again, brave man. My oldest loved to watch him cut these wooden figures out.
Next we drove around the park while everyone warmed up. I did manage to talk them into a short hike or two. And I of course tried for a family pic 😉 The leaves were beautiful! Truly my happy place. My youngest boy told them to say “girl power.” He got beautiful smiles. Nick and I took the boys back that night to a different part of the park. Do you go north to see colorful leaves?

I would like to spend a whole fall up there.