We had a different kind of family adventure this summer; we went to a cabin directly on Lake Superior!
Over the winter, my parents' lake cabin had a lot of damage from freezing. We don't know exactly what happened because no one is there full-time, but at least one toilet pipe cracked and water destroyed floors, walls, maybe furniture . . . it was a huge surprise and a huge mess, but my parents have been diligently working with their insurance company to get it taken care of.
We didn't want to neglect our time together, so we found a beautiful cabin and rented it!
The couple of weeks before we went, Minnesota had very bad air quality because of wild fire smoke from Canada as well as our own wild fires in the Boundary Waters.
We were concerned that perhaps we wouldn't be able to be outside, but thankfully, the air improved quite a bit. We were all much more sleepy than we usually are, so it may have still affected us.
It was fun to see the Canadian Border coming closer and closer.
You can also see the wild fire smoke.
The house seemed modest from outside when we arrived.
But it was beautiful with a gorgeous view!!!
There was a lot of room to spread out and there were video games in the basement!
I really do not enjoy video games (or most games, though I feel that admitting that makes me a bad person!) but Greg and the girls enjoyed them.
It was still a bit smoky that evening and I think it affected us all a bit because we were all more tired than usual. But it was MUCH cooler and very peaceful!
In the morning there were snuggles.
Look at these sweet little toesies!
Esme decided to help me with my hair style. The lighting is terrible and I'm getting a bit elderly, but I like the hairdo!
We couldn't swim in the lake, even though it's gorgeous, clear, and clean, because it was 46 degrees F! The girls were sad and had a little trouble entertaining themselves. We missed our cabin and our nice warm lake!
But there were benefits, not just sad things.
Look at this beautiful path filled with wildflowers!
And the view was fabulous. Also, it felt like being at the ocean because there were LOUD WAVES.
I love that sound. I have the blessing of living on a small body of water, and I don't want to move anywhere, but I think the sound of running water is one of the few things that would make my home more peaceful (this is why I added a fountain to my front patio this summer, but it's completely silent - oops!)
This is my cute brother, Mark, Dad to the best girls ever.
Greg's mission was to SWIM in Lake Superior, but we thought the temperature of the water would be in the 50s or 60s, not the 40s! It was not safe for humans to be immersed in water this temperature.
We did wade, though!
We stacked up rocks into towers to see how long they could stay up in the waves!
And we saw a family of ducks!
An eagle sat on the rock later and we were concerned for these babies, but the eagle flew away without eating anyone.
It's rare to see Greg's feet!
Look at that gorgeous view and the wild water!!!
Oh no! A tower fell!
We also gathered up some of the prettiest rocks we found.
Cora decided she wanted to decorate her room with this "tree".
We loooooovvve these girls!
There was more video game playing . . .
And Mark is on the couch under that hoodie!
Both he and I were very tired on this trip. We both deal with regular chronic fatigue, almost narcolepsy (falling asleep uncontrollably at weird times), and this trip we both found it hard to stay awake. I think it was the bad air quality. Everyone else was also affected, but didn't seem to need naps the way we did.
Cora is now a crocheter! She was making a cute lion.
Amazing - look at all the pretty wood and that stone fireplace!
Plus that beautiful family (heart eyes).
The wild flowers here were obviously part of a garden at some point that have rewilded themselves.
Mark, Cora, and Esme paddle boarded out to the ROCK.
And then Cora came back to get me and I got to enjoy the ROCK, too!
And then Mark picked up Greg.
This is the closest Greg got to swimming! No one else was in up to the knee, though I was close when a wave washed up.
I like to be silly in photos sometimes and I like to lick these girls. Ha!
And Mark decided to join in the munching fun!
And Greg, too!
Look at the clear cold water and colorful rocks!
Here we come back again!
In the afternoon, we decided to try out a nearby hike to some waterfalls.
My cute parents!!!
We found a nice person to take a photo of us all together!
But of course silly things happened.
We hiked down to the water.
Mark did not fall into the abyss.
Then we climbed back up again!
A couple of years ago, the girls and I stuck googly eyes on all sorts of things at the cabin. Greg's water bottle has one eye still hanging on by a tiny piece of tape. It was really funny sticking out his back pocket!
Cora started her crossing the river adventure!
I was very sad and disappointed not to be able to join her, but my weak ankle had gotten really tired wobbling on rocks the previous days, so I couldn't safely navigate the wobbly rocks to cross this stream.
Maybe next time!
Cora crossed the stream, clambered across this log, and made it to this huge boulder!
And Esme did, too! What brave girls.
As the sun was setting, Mark and Cora headed out "to sea". I followed them later.
The setting sun was in our faces.
The next day, we headed home. We did a great job cleaning up and getting out of the house on time.
We decided to stop at Bridgeman's in Duluth. There used to be more Bridgeman's restaurants sprinkled around, but all the other ones closed. Their chocolate malts were one of my Mom's favorite foods ever. She was happy to be able to have one!
After a day of rest, we gathered at my parents' house and celebrate Faux Day! This is when we celebrate all our birthdays together at the same time! We exchange gifts, have a delicious meal, and eat birthday cake!
This year, the girls made us very special gifts! This is me, made by Cora.
Cora made a felt version of every one of us and Esme wrote our names and the meanings of our names out with drawings and pretty handwriting. I decided these are so special that I framed them with lovely background paper and everything. We will give them to each part of the family at our Fall Festival in October.
Here are Grandma and Grandpa:
Here I am with Greg!
And here are Mark, Jillian, Cora, and Esme.
Esme also was behind this adorable little smoothie cup! It was her idea to look for a tiny wee little cup in my favorite color (blue!) What thoughtful and talented girls!
Even though it was different from most years of being away together, it was still a wonderful special time full of memory-making with some of my very favorite people!
Come back soon to celebrate the end of summer and beginning of fall with me!
