We set out on Thursday morning after loading our vehicle. I learned from experience that the campground has a fire ring but no grills so I packed our old Weber grill, charcoal, and lighter fluid along with enough stuff to survive in a remote wilderness for a month or so. I did manage to fit all of our stuff in one cooler though – I was pretty proud of myself for that. The things I did ahead of time were to boil a bunch of eggs (mostly for protein for G~ since he is so fussy), boil potatoes and slice them along with some smoked brats to have for breakfast one day, and make the batter from my grandma’s recipe for waffles. AND I even remembered to pack them all in the cooler! We had hot dogs, brats, jelly, ketchup, mustard, relish, G~’s medicine (for another ear infection), the eggs, the potatoes and sliced brats, juice boxes, pop, milk, and chocolate syrup in the cooler. We got it all in the truck along with chairs for each of us, the electric waffle maker, all of our bedding, towels, shampoo, soap, swimsuits, towels and clothing too! Last time we went up there we had Hollywood’s dad and nephew with so we pulled a trailer. This time I just put the 3rd row of seats down in the truck and got it all inside.
We arrived at our campground mid-afternoon. We decided to unload the truck and the kids each laid claim to a bed. We got the bedding all put on the beds and got things set up in a workable fashion. It was warm so we decided to go for a swim in the outdoor pool the campground has. I had stopped at Target on the way up and bought G~ a new life jacket/swim vest thing. The girls jumped right in of course, but he was a little more nervous about the situation. I got him in slowly and then he liked it. There were other kids there too and a little girl had on the same life vest thing in pink. He didn’t like getting too close to the other kids because they splashed a lot (like normal kids do) and he didn’t like it. I didn’t mind keeping him away from them because I don’t like getting splashed either when I have my contacts in.
We swam until G~ got pretty cold and the sun had started to go down. We headed back to the cabin and changed clothes. I started the grill and we made brats and hot dogs. We ate them with chips on the picnic table outside our cabin. The previous renters of the cabin had left some firewood in the fire ring and I had brought some too. I lit a fire as it started getting dark and we all sat around it roasting marshmallows and making s’mores. G~ lasted about 20 minutes and then he wanted to go inside. He hates bugs so I wasn’t surprised. I had our portable DVD player with and had bought G~ a couple new $5 DVD’s to bring with at Target. One is Sid the Science Kid and it’s an episode about camping. The other was the animated movie Planet 51. I got him ready for bed and turned it on for him. I had him watch them on my bed in the front of the cabin where the window was open so I could keep an eye and ear out for him while we sat around outside talking. We told stories and laughed a lot. Then we headed in and played a round of Yahtzee.
The next morning was Friday. My sister and mom had planned to come up that morning. They were staying just one night in a hotel not far from us. While the girls went up to the shower/bathrooms to get ready, I made waffles. There was a note on the map thing they handed out about not cooking in the cabins, but I didn’t know if that applied to electric waffle makers. I took my chances. I had a bit of trouble with them sticking in there since I had forgotten about bringing Pam with. But they worked okay – I used some oil drizzled on it instead. They were really good. G~ opted for cereal. My mom and sister met us early afternoon instead of morning. They drove to our campground and then we headed out in my SUV. We stopped at a place in Cloquet that was featured on the show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. It was called Gordy’s Hi-hat. It’s sort of a 50’s style burger joint. It was really tasty and had great portions. I wasn't prepared for the crowd though. Plus I didn't know what I was doing so I felt a little overwhelmed trying to order. Glad I waited though - even with the crowd it didn't take long and the food was great! I had a burger and some of their home-made onion rings. SO YUMMY!
Afterward, we decided to go to Canal Park and walk down to the lighthouse and check the schedule for the boats coming in. The timing ended up not working out so well but we did see a large ship docked outside Canal Park waiting for the rest of his fleet to arrive. We saw the lift bridge go up a couple of times too. G~ was most interested in the seagulls. We did go through the exhibit in Canal Park. He recognized an anchor and told us all what it was. He watches a lot of SpongeBob so maybe that’s where he learned about it.
We stopped for ice cream/snacks at the little store that looks like a box car there. A storm blew in just then so we headed for the truck. We decided to take a drive up the north shore of Lake Superior. Along the way we stopped at whatever looked interesting. G~ was very excited about this tunnel that he raced through. Hollywood was the official G~ chaser on this trip. I don’t know how great she thought that was, but I liked it.
MK got her picture taken with this roadside rooster (below). I told G~ to let me know if he spotted anything he wanted his picture taken with. So he repeatedly told me that he wanted his picture taken with trees. He said he really liked trees. J I found this Smokey the Bear instead. He was happy.
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| I HAVE NO CLUE WHY THIS WON'T ROTATE THE RIGHT WAY!!! #^&*!!! |
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| WTH???? WHY IS THIS ONE SIDEWAYS TOO???? DUMB!!! LOL |
We headed back to the cabin in the early evening. I dropped my mom and sister off at their car and they headed to the casino. The kids and I decided to head to a nearby town and have pizza at the local Pizza Hut. G~ likes that place and they have a good deal - $10 for a med. Pizza, breadsticks, and desert sticks. Then I bought a 2 liter of pop to go with it (G~ had lemonade). So all 4 of us ate for about $17. The a/c felt so good I didn’t want to leave!
When we got back to the cabin we played a game of Hedbanz which is hilarious. You put the card on your headband without looking at it and then you have to ask questions to the other players to try to figure out what you are. You could be anything from an animal to an object like a hamburger. G~ always looked at his before he put it on there. But it was funny because he would still ask questions like we did. He’d eventually forget what he was and be just as stumped as the rest of us. The other hilarious part was that he could not help but give out clues accidentally. Like he’d name the last time he ate that particular item or he’d say something about us having 4 of that kind of animal or some other obvious (to us) thing that would give it away. So cute how he didn’t quite get it. If the girls called him out on spilling the beans, he’d be like, “Well I didn’t say it was a cat! I said we had one named Natalie!” So funny.
After that G~ got ready for bed and we had another bonfire outside. We didn’t stay out there long because it got late. It was great fun though.
In the morning I made the breakfast potatoes and sliced brats in a frying pan on the grill. It was SO GOOD!!!! We had planned to go to The Depot which is a museum type of place in an old train depot with my mom and sister.
In the morning I made the breakfast potatoes and sliced brats in a frying pan on the grill. It was SO GOOD!!!! We had planned to go to The Depot which is a museum type of place in an old train depot with my mom and sister.
They came to our cabin about noon and we headed out. The Depot also had trains and boxcars on display on tracks in the bottom level. They had a children’s museum part too, but I don’t think it was all open or something because there wasn’t much there. I would have liked to check out the displays more, but G~ was hard to contain. Museums are not his thing, even with the promise of the trains at the end. He liked the trains though and I got some cute pictures.
It was approximately 400 degrees in the train part of the museum since it is open to outside and partially enclosed. As we wiped the sweat from various places on our bodies, we decided it was a good time to go to lunch/supper. My mom had a bunch of gift cards from Red Lobster (my favorite!) and treated us to a meal there. It was fabulous! And cool – the a/c was great!
Afterward we headed back to our campground and my mom and sister departed for home. I took the kids swimming again. G~ took more coaxing to get in the pool than last time, but that water felt so refreshing! While we were swimming there was another girl in there who I assume was adopted. She was Asian and her mom was white. It was nice to run into other families like ours in a place like that. The pool started getting busy since it was a weekend night so we headed back to the cabin. We had noticed posters for an ice cream social at 8:00pm, so we got our 50 cents each, our bowls and spoons, and headed to the lodge to get ice cream. It was pretty crowded and we would have had to sit on the ground so we took ours back to our picnic table and ate there. Defeats the “social” part of it, but was just as yummy for the kids.
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| Hollywood and G in one of the trains |
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| Such a cute picture - just tilt your head to the right to view. LOL |
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| G LOVED this thing. He asked me to start it for him so he could drive it. Scary. |
Afterward we headed back to our campground and my mom and sister departed for home. I took the kids swimming again. G~ took more coaxing to get in the pool than last time, but that water felt so refreshing! While we were swimming there was another girl in there who I assume was adopted. She was Asian and her mom was white. It was nice to run into other families like ours in a place like that. The pool started getting busy since it was a weekend night so we headed back to the cabin. We had noticed posters for an ice cream social at 8:00pm, so we got our 50 cents each, our bowls and spoons, and headed to the lodge to get ice cream. It was pretty crowded and we would have had to sit on the ground so we took ours back to our picnic table and ate there. Defeats the “social” part of it, but was just as yummy for the kids.
We did the same routine after the ice cream – G~ watching DVD’s and us sitting by the fire. The campground had lanterns you could buy to light and set off. They worked like hot air balloons – they were tall and colorful and you set the fire in a ring at the bottom. I assume it had some kind of fluid that burned for a set amount of time and then went out. They looked really pretty – but it scared me to just send a fire off into the sky like that?! We watched them set some off but I didn’t want a hand in it just in case. :o We played Yahtzee after the fire and laughed until I peed my pants (not kidding) and our backs hurt from laughing too.
We had a little visitor before we left that was pretty brave - and I'm surprised he wasn't chubbier.
We had a little visitor before we left that was pretty brave - and I'm surprised he wasn't chubbier.
The next morning we had cereal for breakfast and packed everything back up. G~ asked what we were doing and I told him we were going home today. His response was, "That's what I wanted to do!!" He repeated that a couple of times for emphasis. LOL. He only said that one other time while we were away - he had asked the first day what we were doing and why. He said he wanted to go home when it was bed time, but I explained it to him again about vacations and then he didn't bring up home again until this time.
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| Fun with tape! :D |
We stopped a couple of times on the way home. We ate lunch at the drive thru DQ in some small town on the way back. We got home on Sunday about 3:00pm and it felt really good to be back in our air conditioned house. The girls checked on all their pets (my brother and sister took care of them while we were gone) and all was well. We really had a lot of fun, family time together. I was glad to be able to sleep in my own bed though since the bed I had was really hard. I LOVE my bed.
