The Great Outdoors

Has it really been that long since I updated? How the heck did I ever keep this thing updated at one point in time? Okay moving on...

We traveled north the third weekend in July to go camping for two nights. This year we tried out Spirit Mountain Campground just south of Duluth. The campground is very near a ski area and is located higher than the rest of the area. There were some great views right outside the campground!

We drove up north Friday afternoon and headed straight to Canal Park to eat yummy greasy food (mini donuts *my favorite!*, fried cheese curds, hot dogs for the girls as well as snow cones). Oh yeah, we were not planning on keeping a healthy diet on this trip. We also threw rocks into the water on the shoreline, saw the Aerial Bridge go up and down, and shopped in the little touristy shops. Then we headed to the campground to set up the tent and settle in.



I swear this little wagon has been here for YEARS, decades even. It was in the exact same spot when I was a kid.

Lily the rock conductor!

Andrew giving the Aerial Bridge a little help on its way up. :-)

We LOVED our campsite this year! It was in an absolutely perfect location. It backed up to the woods, was slightly higher than the campsites on either side, and there was a good amount of space between the sites. AND, it was close to the restroom, but not too close.

There were a few kids in the campsite next to us so Ella and Lily had a great time running around and playing with them until dinner time. We made pudgie pie grilled cheese and pizzas for dinner. Then s'mores and toasted marshmallows over the campfire.



We actually slept really well in our tent. We brought the aero-bed this year which helped immensely. We got up in the morning and cooked eggs and sausage for breakfast and then headed more north. We drove along the scenic route of the North Shore for an hour to Gooseberry Falls National Park.



I used to go to Gooseberry Falls every year with my dad when we would go camping. I was sooo excited to bring Andrew and the girls there. I have very distinct memories of this area. Okay, admittedly it's been probably more than 20 years since I've been there. But the whole area looked soooo different. There was a new visitor center and parking area (which actually reminded me of the parking/visitor area at Old Faithful in Yellowstone...much smaller, but very commercialized. I was so sad it wasn't so rustic and natural like it used to be.

We walked around by Middle and Lower Gooseberry Falls. This is awesome! You can walk right out to where the water is coming down because there are all kinds of boulders and rocks to step on. On warm days, you can wade in the water. The girls had a great time doing this and thought it was so fun to be right by the water.

I couldn't quite tell from their map where the old trail was located that my dad and I used to take. It appeared that we were going to have to take a paved trail there. WHAT?! No walking through nature, climbing over tree roots, and eating wild raspberries on the trail? How could it be?! But it turns out the original trail was still there, parts of it had been planked and whatnot, but it was there. We made it down the trail (about a mile) and ended up at Agate Beach on Lake Superior. This "beach" is all rocks. I used to love looking through the rocks as a kid, finding perfect agates to treasure.


I love this shot of me and Lily. :-)


We had the little digital camera with us too so Andrew had that one. It was nice because there are actually photos of me on the trip! This is Andrew's shot of me on the left and then the photo I was taking on the right. That's the Falls waaay in the background there. So you can see how much ground we had to cover to get from the Falls to the beach.


Ella entering the beach from the trail. And one of my favorite photos of Ella and Andrew from the trip.


After our hike and time on the beach, we headed back to Duluth for dinner at a restaurant in Canal Park and then back to the campsite to relax and have more s'mores and toasted marshmallows.

Sunday morning, we woke up and headed to Perkins for breakfast and then back to the campsite to pack up. We started south toward home stopping at Jay Cook State Park (another old stomping ground for me and my dad). We did this last year as well, and this year we had so much fun! The girls really enjoyed hiking through the woods. They wanted to keeping going, going, going. But they didn't quite realize however far we hiked out, we had to head back that far to get to the car.




After exploring Jay Cooke, we headed back home and crashed early for the night. It was such a fun experience for all of us! So nice to be away from everything (housework, job, television, computers, toys, etc). We had fun as a family and we told the girls some exciting news as well! First here's a picture for you:

The question Andrew poses in this photo will be answered sometime the end of January when we welcome the newest member of our family to the world! Many people who read this blog already know the great news, but I thought I should get it posted here to record it officially. :-) The girls were extremely excited that we were expecting another baby and still are. They bring the baby up all the time and cannot wait for "the baby to come out of Mommy's tummy after Christmas!" :-)

And as if that's not enough photos for you, here's a slideshow of a ton more: