S'more Memories

A warm camp fire on the beach, sticky little chins and fingers, burnt marshmallows, crackling birch logs, the smell of smoke, breaking Hershey bars to fit graham crackers.  This is what we were doing a week ago tonight.  I miss it.

Stayin' Cool

When we were in Minnesota it was HOT, so this is how the kiddos stayed cool...

The Mall of America, Of Course!

I used to think of the Mall of America as just a great place to shop.  In fact, when I moved back to Minnesota after grad school and started teaching, I'd usually land at the mall every Friday night.  Once we had kids, it became something much more, and of course, we can't take a trip to the MN without a stop at the best mall in the land and all its attractions.

Lego Land!


Liam

...And his sisters found their favorite Lego sets to buy.

Amusement Park!


Jon and Liam's first ride was the Log Chute.

Here's how the girls reacted to seeing Daddy and Liam soar down the hill, splashing water everywhere.

Liam and Daddy ride the big roller coaster.

Marin loves Blue's Clues,

So this ride was a hit with her!

This one was fun, too.

Favorite Character Meet and Greet!

Ellery almost lost her mind when she saw the Wonderpets.

Notice that Marin is missing from this picture?  Not a fan of characters, she was very happy to look from afar.

Marin and Markers

One night at Grandma and Grandpa's house...

This is what happens when Marin encounters a Sharpie when she was supposed to be fast asleep.

Little Kitten

We've been back at my parents' place for a couple of days now, and I still have lots of pictures to post of our fun little family vacation, but when we returned Grandma had a special treat for the kiddos.  A family friend has four kittens that were born to her cat a few week ago, and the kittens were here to visit for the weekend.  Our Ellery loves this little kitty, and I'm afraid she's going to have a hard time saying goodbye tomorrow...

Canada Day

Thursday was all about our friendly neighbors to the North...

We spent the morning at Old Fort William, a former French trading post in which the workers remain in character throughout the experience.  Come on now...who doesn't love that?!?  It's not every day you can chat with a French fur trader from 1815.  Liam loved it!

And we spent the rest of our time in Canada shopping and eating.  There was no way we were leaving without a visit to our favorite Canadian food establishment--Tim Horton's.

Gooseberry Falls

Our first stop on Wednesday was Gooseberry Falls.  We took a hike down to the falls and then explored the nature discovery and visitor center.  Even after seeing the falls so many times--repeatedly since birth--their beauty never becomes familiar.

Before GPS...

Before GPS there was this light.  Liam is a little nuts about lighthouse in the past several months, so there was no way not to stop and take a tour of Split Rock Lighthouse as we were driving up the shore.  Jon actually took him on the tour while the girls and I had a picnic, enjoyed the view, and met some new friends.