Lutsen

Becky, Liz and I headed to Lutsen this past weekend for some girl time. We stopped as Gooseberry Falls on the way up and got our first taste of nature for the weekend. It was beautiful. I'll warn you - I had waaaay too much fun with my camera - and decided to take a lot of "artsy" shots...bear with me. The roots on all of the trees were spectacular. They were almost as pretty as the falls!Liz "falling" off of the cliff. Too bad you can't see the 40 foot drop from the angle of the photo!The view from our resort. Becky got us a really great deal on a room at a resort by the water. Our room had a view of the parking lot, but we didn't mind - we hadn't planned on spending much time in the room anyway!Playing with the automatic timer on my camera...

Our first adventure was hiking at the Cascade River State Park where we trekked along a winding path to see the falls. It was the first peak of sunlight we had seen all day - most of my photos from the day turned out over-exposed - this was my only good shot. We spent the remainder of the night playing board games in the lobby and sitting in the hotel hot tub - what a rowdy bunch we are!
The next day we went kayaking. None of us had ever even touched a kayak before, let alone actually been in one. It was pretty cold and windy out, but other than that it was great! It was much easier than any of us had anticipated. We were supposed to go sea kayaking on Lake Superior, but the swells were 3-4 feet high and I guess the max for kayaking is 1-1.5 foot waves, so, we went out on Caribou Lake instead.
We all looked super hot in our wetsuits. I think I am going to get myself one to wear to work.

On Saturday night we headed to Grand Marais for a "night out on the town." Too bad they rolled up the sidewalks at 7pm. Oh, well, we got some beautiful pictures out by the lighthouse anyway!Like I said, I had too much fun playing with my camera settings...Liz being macho.

Here I am stepping over a crevasse - I felt pretty brave. Not really.Oooh! Faked you out, didn't I? Wow. That's all I can say. Wow.Liz sporting her new sparkly blue hat.Santa??? Santa lives in Lutson?

On Sunday we paid $8.50 to check out the "Alpine Slide." It was fun! I wasn't a big fan of the chairlift, but the sliding part was great!

On our way home we stopped at Temperance State Park to see some more waterfalls. It was actually sunny out on Sunday (coincidence?) It made for great hiking weather. Here I am climbing up the side - yes, there was a path, but this looked like way more fun.

Becky and Liz being squished by a rock. The answer is "yes." We do think we're funny.

Getting our feet wet. As expected, the water was cold!Me and Liz sporting matching outfits - no, not on purpose. We both just have a great sense of style...Liz apparently eating a tree limb. I guess we should have stopped for lunch.

I saw these con-trails on the way home and though they were cool. X marks the spot!

It was a great weekend! I really missed my boys while I was gone, but it sounds as if they had a lot of fun without me! They did a lot of fishing together and had a good boys bonding weekend. I am glad to be home, but I also can't wait until next year's trip! Thanks for a great time ladies!

Last bit of summer...

The Red Wing pool closed down for the season last Sunday, and since the Men were away at their Fantasy Football Draft party, Katie and I decided to take the boys out for a swim. The weather turned out to be beautiful and Noah and Evan had a blast!
Evan attached himself to Noah for the day, and Noah was very patient with him! It was great - he even got Evan to "swim" with his water wings on! Way to go Noah!
Evan loves the water and isn't afraid to get his head wet!

The "after" shot.

Noah coming down the water slide.

On Wednesday I came home to a sick cat and a sick baby. Baxter had to be confined to the bathroom, which he was quite unhappy about. I went out to get a picture of the sunset and could see this sad sight from outside. He was incessantly meowing. Poor kitty.

So, what happened when you forget to turn off the flash to take a picture of a cat at night? A possessed kitty. That's what happens.

And poor Evan asleep on the couch. He caught the flu, or some virus, but at least it only lasted a day and a half.! Poor baby.

Gone Fishin'

Jeremy's parents bought a new fishing boat this summer, and they were nice enough to let us use their old one yesterday. We all went out together for a relazing day on the river.

They have a great fishing spot on a beach, and Grandpa showed Evan how to fish! He let him help reel in all day long - and the fish were really biting! Evan got lots of practice.

Evan's first fish!

Grandma caught a Sunfish!

Jeremy's first fish of the day (and year, actually!)

The Big Kahuna! This carp was at least 15 pounds. All catch and release, my friends - perhaps we'll see him again some day.

It rained every day this past week - during a short break on Wednesday we headed to the playground for Evan to wear off some energy. (He's at the top of the metal slide, Becky is at the bottom.)

I am constantly amazed at all of the things Evan can do! These "floating" steps move around and twist in all directions, and Evan can go all the way across them without falling off or losing his balance, which is more than I can say for myself! He is such an amazing little boy.

Evan and his new trike. It has a bar that steers the wheels while I push. He's stronger than me (I blame it on the leverage) and likes to run us into curbs a lot.

The inlet was all misty and spooky and I thought it would make a good picture. What can I say?