Family Fun with the Nelsons

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Nelson summer vacation part 2: Lutsen etc

When we left Duluth on Sunday 7/14 we headed farther north. We stopped at Gooseberry Falls to snoop in their cute shop and hike over to the famous falls. Not a sunny day, but they were still pretty!

Then we drove to Agate Beach in the same park... Love it there but didn't have time for the long hike down there and back. Built some rock towers and enjoyed the lake edge. Still super cloudy though.

Onwards to our drive up to Lutsen! It is a pretty drive and went fairly fast. We arrived to Eagle Ridge about dinner time and checked in and got our stuff to our condo. We were in 255 in Building D which is the pool building so that was convenient.

Had dinner at the restaurant on site with the lovely views. Papa Charlie's. the first evening was spent settling in and of course some swimming.

Monday 7/15 we mostly stayed around the resort during the day, it was sort of grey and drizzly. They closed the Alpine slide due to rain but we were able to do the gondola up to Moose Mountain in the afternoon. Such pretty views! And they have Bridgeman's ice cream at the chalet there at the top of the mountain by the gondola station!!

After that we were going to drive to Grand Marais to check it out and find dinner. Such a cute town. Picturesque by the water (I am obsessed by that Lake so it doesn't take much. ;). The guys found some good skipping rocks to toss too.

We decided on a whim to keep going north to Grand Portage to see the US/Canada border. An adventure for all of us. We hadn't been that far north yet.

We stopped for gas and Snacks at Grand Portage and then saw this beautiful sight of fog "ribbons" we hadn't seen anything like it before.

Noah was excited to see the border even if we couldn't cross over (hadn't brought our passports). Here is pic of welcome to MN sign (we see the one coming from Wisconsin often but this was more special). We hit a quirky local gift shop Ryden's on way back that was filled with souvineers as far as eye can see.

Coming back through Grand Marais on way back we are at Sven & Ole's pizza...cracked me up... Swedish pizza shop. ;)

To be continued ...(part 2 of 4)

(Full set of Pix will eventually all be uploaded to https://nelsonpix.shutterfly.com/)

Nelson Summer Vacation 2013 part 1 -Duluth

This year's family summer vacation was MN bound. We decided to stay within the state but to necessarily a "staycation".

Minnesota's prime season is short so we wanted to fully enjoy it without leaving. We left on Saturday 7/13 after a lovely morning I service with Ben and Daphne Strawn and Jaklynn. We drove up to Duluth after finishing some errands (Not without stopping at Toby's in Hinkley on the way up- "tradition").

We had our first night reserved at The Edgewater in Duluth. A place we had not stayed at before but looked fun for Nosh too. It has an indoor water park as well as lots of activities including mini golf etc. we had a water park view room. Nicely redone rooms.

Noah and I played at the water park for the evening. It isn't huge but had a lazy river that made me happy and water slides and activities that made Noah happy too.

we got a new camera that goes underwater too... ;-)

We all had pizza down there for supper then outside pool swimming for the rest of the night, including them showing The Lion King movie projected on the outside wall of the hotel over the pool. How fun! And roasted marshmallows over the open fire pit. Yum! Poor Noah scrubbed his chin on the bottom of the pool while swimming underwater this night...you will see it in the upcoming days on pics...oops.

In the morning we had their included continental breakfast and got ready to check out and then played mini golf outside before we left for the next leg of our adventure farther north.

To be continued... (part 1 of 4)

(We had 2 cameras this trip... Full set of Pix will eventually all be uploaded to https://nelsonpix.shutterfly.com/)

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Summer! Part 1

We had such a cold wet snowy spring (snow in May??!) that summer is much appreciated this year. We kind of got some spring like weather in summer too, but we will take what we can get for warmth. School is out and Noah has been enjoying a more relaxed pace. Not our typical summer, no beach days yet even.

Sam is moving, so the boys spent some time together at the start while they could still ride bikes between houses etc. they are still in town (staying at a friends' house) til Aug so I am sure there will be more fun days.

Noah had his first #3 talk on 6/18. Another nice spiritual milestone. He did do well. Lots of beaming faces in the audience.

We are gearing up for a vacation week next week, so that will be refreshing. Staying in MN but not exactly a "staycation" either. After service Saturday we are driving to Duluth for an overnight at The Edge water park/hotel, then onto Lutsen for 4 nights to chillax in the "mountains" by Lake Superior. We stayed there a couple if years ago and loved it. I am sure there will be lots of pics to post from there. Then 2 days at ValleyFair so we can take our time and do what we want without cramming. It will go fast I am sure, but looking forward to family time.

Some random shots of fun times so far. Stay tuned for more...