Tag Archives: Minnesota

My Family

Boys vs. Girls

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While in Minnesota last month our kids got a chance to play a lot with their cousins up there.

I barely saw my boys, they were either playing video games or out in the woods doing who knows what.

I finally decided to be brave and see what they were doing.

They were attacking each other on barrels…

Probably did not need to see that.

What were the girls doing at that exact same moment?

Learning dance moves to songs…

Cracked me up.


Sometimes they are playing crazy like their brothers but other times they are doing this.

HA



And checking out Grandpa’s fishing tackle.


Riding the mule.


And learning dance steps…

They have been singing the bits and pieces of the song their cousin taught them non stop for a month.

Um, thanks?

Camping, Hiking, My Family

No more steps…

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After driving and seeing a lot the previous day we had a pretty laid back day planned for the next one.

By we, I mean me.

Nick basically just goes where I say on trips. Ha

We headed up North again but not as far.

We basically stopped at all the tourist shops and went on one hike at Cascade River State Park.

I was pretty much done with steps after that.

There are so many amazing waterfalls along the north shore but that means a LOT of stairs…

So after several days of stairs I decided to take it easy on my back and to avoid anymore stairs which meant no more waterfalls.

The town of Grand Marais is such a cute little town right on the water.

We stopped at the Lake Superior Trading Post there and then headed back south with no idea what we were going to do next.

We stopped at rest area on our way back south and ended up at a great beach to look for rocks.

Cut Face Creek Wayside Rest  The kids went crazy looking for rocks and we ended up picking up a book on agates to learn more.

Because you know I can’t pass up on a good educational opportunity…

Only our oldest had really shown an interest in rocks before that so I thought he would be the only one really excited but all the kids liked it. We also ended up stopping at Beaver Bay Agate Shop and I highly recommend it if you have a rock collector and are in the area.

They had some of the most beautiful rocks and even had a little museum!

Someone in a state park visitor center told us about it and I am so glad we went!

Sometimes my girls propensity to strike up conversations with complete strangers pays off!

This was our last day on the north shore, we headed back south west to Nick’s parents the next day!

I know the winters are brutal up there but every time we go I struggle with leaving.

Such a beautiful area!

Hiking, History, Museums/Events, Parks

We went to a different country!

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We decided while we were up on the North shore we should go ahead and cross the border into Canada!

It would be a first for everyone in my family.

First stop was the Grand Portage National Monument! It is right near the border and we had gone several years ago.

It ended up being a great stop because we got the early history of the Northwest Trading Company here and then at our next stop we got the what happened when they moved to Canada. I have been reading several historical novels about fur trading around the time of the French and Indian War and early fur trading in America so I found all of these stops fascinating. The boys looked the part! Such a beautiful area! Next we crossed into Canada and went to Fort William!

It is a giant fort and the tour is pretty amazing.

It was a little long for some of my kids but Nick just took them to walk around some.

The man giving the tour acts the part the whole time and was very interesting! He even had the boys act the part! The twins favorite part was the barnyard.

They let you help with chores!

Chicken lovers.

While at Fort William one of the workers told us about a giant waterfall that we really should go see so we looked it up and went, not really knowing what to expect.The Kakabeka Falls was breathtaking!It was a total surprise and was the biggest waterfall I had ever seen!We did not really have any other plans other than make it back over the border and hopefully stop at High Falls on Pigeon River which is at Grand Portage State Park.

What I did not realize was how close to the border it was!

I was a bit flustered from the border patrol questions and totally missed the park so we had to turn around!It ended up being totally worth it though!

It was a beautiful stop and was another part of the history we were learning.

 This is the reason for Grand Portage, this giant waterfall.

Best field trip ever.