Duluth Vacation Day 3

Finally to day three of our mini vacation!  Up nice and early again for breakfast at the hotel  We didn't want to do anything else in Duluth but we did want to go up to Goosebury Falls.  The kids stayed awake during the drive and we had a fun time hiking to the falls!  Megan was so excited because she had never seen a waterfall before but also was cautious of anyone getting too close.  We hiked to the both the high and low falls.  The kids had fun splashing in the water and stepping on the uneven rocks.  Megan stepped on wet rocks once and slipped, getting her pants wet.  Luckily they quickly dried and we were back in business.  John and I just enjoyed the waterfall's beauty.  Wow!

 

 

 

 

 

I guess she's tuckered out, huh?

Look closely.... we had one not-so-happy camper!

This next picture is for you, Great-Grandma and Grandpa!  My grandparents gave us directions to the big locomotive in Two Harbors and that was our last attraction of the trip.  We had a picnic lunch here, walked around and then hit the road.  Megan had to ask how old the locomotive was and we discovered it was younger that Great-Grandpa Gennrich!  I asked her if she liked the train.  She said she did but Thomas is still her favorite!

 

We left Two Harbors after 1:00 and it didn't take long until we saw this in the backseat!  They slept almost the whole way home until we had to make a pit stop just out of the cities.  What a fun mini-vacation!  We'll have to go back to Duluth sometime because we didn't get to climb on the rocks along Lake Superior.  I'm sure we'll make good travelers out of these two yet!

Duluth Vacation Day 2

Second day in Duluth was a blast and we were on the go the entire day.  We started out with the hotel's complimentary breakfast and then were off.  Since the train rides didn't start until after lunch we went down to Canal Park first to watch the big ships and the bridge.  We had perfect timing because as soon as we parked the car the Aerial Lift Bridge was going up.  We made it just in time to watch this big ship go underneath.  Wow, was it big!

 

 

 

 

After the bridge went down we walked across and then walked down to both of the lighthouses.  Owen loved watching all the seagulls!  As we were walking across the bridge to cross back to where we started we heard a warning that the bridge was about to go up and we had to hurry up.  Uh-oh!  Luckily we made it across just in time!  We waited around for the ship museum to open and then spent some time in there before going back to the hotel for lunch.  This cutout was literally right outside our hotel room and the kids had to pose every time we went to the room.

Time for the North Shore Scenic Railroad ride!  Of course with the train ride leaving at 12:30 Owen was beyond tired.  He was fussy and squirrelly for the first half of the ride before we decided to open up the stroller and let him sleep in there.  We all sat in the car without seats and watched the scenery that way.  We thought the ride was only going to be 45 minutes but that ended up being one way so it was after 2 when we finally got back the depot.  A long ride but still fun.

 

 

 

When we were at the ship museum earlier that day we learned that the Lakewalk Festival was that same day.  It were lots of local businesses or organizations that setup booths along the sidewalk that goes around Lake Superior - starting by the Aerial Lift Bridge and went at least until the Memorial, so at least a good mile.  Everyone participating was given a passport and if you stopped at booth you got your passport stamped.  Collect 10 stamps and get a free ice cream cone when finished - best of all, it was FREE.  A lot of booths had some lawn games like bean bag toss or plinko where they won tattoos, candy and stickers, but some places were very creative.  The kids went in a bounce house, painted rocks, went into a chalkboard house and John's favorite was the station where you made your own s'mores!

Back at the hotel and we cleaned up for dinner.  We tried eating at a nicer restaurant but the kids weren't having it so we ended up leaving and eating at home.  After dinner we decided to take in more of what the hotel had to offer.  First we played mini golf.  The course wasn't that great but it was perfect for the kids to put around on.

 

 

Finally, we tried out the arcade.  Owen got a kick out of the motorcycles and other things with steering wheels.  Of course he didn't get to actually play the games but just sitting on the seats and steering was a treat for him.  Megan and John played several games, including the "whack-a-shark" game as you see below.  At the end we got enough tickets so Megan could get a baton, plastic straw and a couple other small things.

 

Duluth Vacation Day 1

As most of you know, John and I took the kids on a mini-vacation last weekend.  From Friday to Sunday we were in Duluth!  John and I both worked in the morning, got home around noon, packed the car and picked up the kids around 2.  We stopped a couple times for potty breaks and made it to Duluth and Edgewater Hotel around 5:30.  Prior to leaving we had told Megan we were going up north for vacation.  She was excited but confused if we were going "on vacation up to Jesus?"

When I made the reservations earlier that week they were going to put us in the building attached by skyway to the waterpark.  We were surprised to find out that when we checked in we were "upgraded" to the main building.  Upgraded meant we had two queen beds and bunk beds.  Guess who was in her glory!  (Our "free upgrade" also meant that we were just steps from the entrance of the water park, steps from the door to the outside pool and activity area and right across the hall from the arcade.)

We had a quick picnic dinner in our hotel room and then it was off to go swimming!

Megan and Owen both loved Tiki Tina and Tiki Tom!

 

This was one cool indoor water park.  We had never been to one before and look down below to see pictures of the 60-gallon bucket that dumped every 5 minutes!  They also had a lazy river which we went around on twice as a family.  The water was so salty and that took a little bit to get used to - at least for me!  Megan was going for an hour nonstop and had the time of her life.  I was impressed that she went down the waterslides all by herself.  I started the kids out in lifevests but since this was an 8-inch depth pool I figured I could trust them after they got used to the water.

 

 

 

 

 

Owen at 16 Months!

What can I say... Is this not the cutest little 16 month old boy around?  

My favorite two things about Owen right now are:

1) How excited he is when Mom or Dad comes home after not seeing us for awhile.  He runs squealing and gives us big hugs.

2) How good he's getting at piggy back rides.  He sure wraps his arms tight around my neck and enjoys the ride.  But he sure lets us me know when he's ready to get off - be careful, little guy!

Owen's last one-year molar came through the end of last month.  I was hoping since the Molar Express rolled into the station that we'd be good for awhile.... Well, the drooling and increased pacifier need have increased.  Perhaps the canine teeth are on the way too?  Poor guy sure has a hard time with these teeth.

Some new words for the month are: Dog, Juice, Eye, Ball, Bird, Button, Ding Dong.  He loves pushing the buttons on the microwave saying "button, button" and also pushing the doorbell.  Unlike some other things he says, it is actually coming as two separate syllables.  Hopefully soon he will start putting words together soon but we shall see.

Owen's found a new fun activity - spinning around in circles.  In fact, big sister Megan even loves it that Owen has taught her the new activity too!

Bathtime... I'm learning that I've gotta get hair washed and get Owen bathed right away instead of letting him play.  He seems to bore easily lately but also loves to climb the shower wall if we're not paying attention.  Oh yeah, he also has an interest in drinking the bath water... Yuck!

As I was gathering other cute pictures of Owen to include in this blog post I realized that most of them revolve around food.... see what I mean?  This kid loves his food and when it's meal time he means business.  He even loves to help me get ready for dinner.  Yup, if it's dinnertime and the table isn't set he will open up the dishwasher and start bringing dirty utensils and plates to the table!

 

 

 

 

First Day of Pre-K 3!

At last, the much anticipated day was here!  It was time for Megan to start Preschool!!!  You have NO idea how much she had been looking forward to this.  Although, I think she is a little surprised that she is going as often as she is.  She goes Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8:30-11:00.  Typically Tuesdays she will go to the Waconia Christian Child Care Center (WCCCC) and hopefully John won't have to work most Thursdays so he can do drop-off and pick-up duties.

Megan was up late the night before so we made a little preschool sign that she decorated herself.  Minnie backpack on and she was ready to go!!  Unfortunately the sign did not come back home with me - Megan decided to give it to her teacher!  I'm starting to notice that with Megan - she won't do an art project unless she has an end plan for it - it has to be for someone... (the second day of childcare she gave an art project to that teacher instead of bringing it home :) )

 

Waiting for the classroom door to open up!

First thing the children do when they get in is have circle time.  For the first few days the kids will find where a picture of them is placed and sit there.  Looks Megan is really enthused about story-time, huh?

I'm assuming class went well but I didn't hear much about it from her.  I'm sure after a few weeks she will open up more.  After childcare she came home with a report card from her 5 hours there.  She cleaned her plate (pizza, peaches, green beans... not too surprised), rested quietly during nap time, and had very good table manners.  Way to go, Megan!

We both learned a few things after the first day of school that will help us out in the days going forward.  Megan wants to wear running shoes to school so sand doesn't get in her shoes at the playground.  I'm going to try and get her to go p**p at home before class so she doesn't have to worry about wiping at school :).  She told me she wants to bring a pillow and blanket along to use during nap time like other kids have.  I'm sure we'll learn more things as time goes on.

For the record - no tears were shed and she was really not that disappointed about not riding the bus.  Whew!

And here is Megan the morning of preschool ripping apart the last link to her preschool countdown chain!!  Hooray!  No looking back now!!