Duluth, MN...

After leaving Jay Cooke State Park, we had some time to kill before Bentleyville would be open.  I thought that we'd head up to Gooseberry Falls for the afternoon, but Lukie wanted a change in plans.  His suggestion was to go to the Great Lakes Aquarium, so we did.  I hadn't been in there for a long time and Lukie/Lex had never visited...

The day started with making waves (very similar to what they've done at the Science Museum)...

And Lex loves to pictures like this...Lukie tolerates it okay...

We saw an electric eel...

Lukie got up close with a lamprey...we had a nice discussion about jawless fish and how this fish feeds...

There was a pool were you could touch sturgeons...that was a hit...some were pretty big...

They love to find something that they can manipulate...

Lex cannot turn down the chance of seeing 'what's your wingspan?'  She does it every trip to the zoo too...

She's really hoping these show up later this month...

Lukie loved touching the jellies...

Lex wouldn't touch them, even though it was explained to them that their stings don't penetrate human skin...Lukie was touching them for almost ten minutes...

They had three alligators ready to roll...

This was a tank demonstrating the fish living in the St. Louis River, which we camped by the night before...

We caught a predatory fish feeding presentation...the kids loved watching it (Lukie didn't want to go, but really enjoyed it)...

The main tank is one that demonstrates the fish living near Isle Royale...the fish separate themselves largely on depth...

The most cool aspect for me was the interactive area that allows kids to discover how ships navigate the lock and dam system to get from the ocean to Duluth.  This is Lukie and Lex having a ship leave Lake Ontario heading for the ocean...they took it all the way from the St. Louis River to the Atlantic...

After the aquarium, it was time to eat...of course we went to Little Angies...

We spent some time at the Maritime Museum and out by the lake (but it was getting cold)...

After warming up (and waiting for the sun to go down), we were off to Bentleyville...

Jay Cooke State Park...

We were up north this weekend camping in a Camper Cabin by the DNR at Jay Cooke State Park, it's heated and has electricity, it's nice for cold weekends....

Though, when we got there was were completely aghast at the state of the forest floor...apparently no one has been faking the forest floor to prevent wildfires...good thing winter snows are coming soon...

Meals are spent inside, though we have to cook outdoors depending on the meal...

After a quick lunch, it was time to head to the St. Louis River...

And the view from the swinging bridge is always cool...

And when you look at the bridge from different angles...it's just as cool...

Lukie loved when he recognized that water was flowing down the crack above his right shoulder and freezing when it left the rock to make this frozen waterfall...

The bridge is cool...this is shortly after they were busy throwing things off the bridge...

The bridge is good from any angle...

We cooked dinner over the fire outside...

And then captured 'fire whips'...

In the morning, we checked out the river again...

Upon leaving, we took our usual picture at the sign...

But we stopped quick at an overlook on the St. Louis River before leaving Thomson...

 It was a great weekend...

Bentleyville...

We spent the past weekend up north and our final stop was Bentleyville...this was our third consecutive year going to the display of lights...

First stop was 'Dino Land,' it happened to be on the way to Santa...it's a favorite for Lukie...

The gates open at 5:00 and we were there when they opened.  We could've gone Saturday night too (it was certainly warmer), but we were hoping to avoid the crowds...

The first stop is to always get inline for Santa, it was a 10 minute wait this year (we've waited over an hour before)...we saw him quick...

After we got a picture with him, I jumped in...

It's our third year at Bentleyville, but it's the 15th year overall (the past 10 years have been in Bayfront Festival Park)...

You have to see Mrs. Claus if you've seen Santa...

Lex loves the 'Flight School' display...you have to train those reindeer to fly!

Lukie likes the viking ship...

This was by far the least crowded night we've ever gone to Bentleyville...if it wasn't for the 25 mph winds screaming from the north, it would've been pleasant...apparently the four days prior were a zoo...

I love taking pictures of Lukie and Lex together (Lex loves it too...Lukie, not so much)...

This is a great tree that changes color often...

We also love Duluth...but our favorite places are farther up the shore...

Tried to get a shot of Lukie and Lex with the aerial bridge behind them...Lex went for a hug...Lukie wasn't liking that...

After he pushed her off (and some onlookers laughed a little), he agreed to a picture if she kept her distance...

The last picture we took was a celebration of the Team USA's curling gold medal last winter...

Shortly afterwards, both Lukie and my phone shutdown because they were so cold...so we missed about 45 minutes of pictures...oh well, it was a good time...

We barely reached the hill out of Duluth before both were asleep...we stopped for a later dinner, but they just wanted to sleep...three hours later, we were back...a good night.