Gooseberry Falls State Park

So the kids and I headed up to Gooseberry Falls State Park last weekend (we also visited Tettegouche State Park and Amnicon Falls State Park in Wisconsin).  We saw the sights and had a great time...

We set up camp quick once we got there and then headed for the falls...here's our first picture....

After cruising around the falls for a while, we had to take a hike...the boys and I took the same hike last year, but that was before we were part of the hiking club and were looking for 'passwords' along the way...we found it this time...

It's a short two mile hikes that gives some pretty cool views...

It's definitely awesome overlooking the mouth of the river, agate beach and the picnic lava flows as the sun is setting...

How cool is that view?

Even without the kids...still pretty cool...

We had great weather for the trip mostly...the full moon rose Friday night...

It rained pretty hard sometime after midnight, but we were warm and dry in the tent...and we woke to a great morning...

The kids felt they were so strong they could move boulders (they couldn't...nice try though)...

It was a calm and relaxing walk along the picnic lava flow (the boys call it the tadpole place, since they're use to visiting it in late June when every pool is filled with tadpoles)...

No tadpoles this time, but they still had a great time...

I even caught Lex staring off at something in the lake...

Then it was off to breakfast...we ate pretty good that morning (and the weekend..)...

From there we headed back to the falls to see the sites and do the loop around the falls (this is where Kieran started counting how many stairs we went up/down that day --- the total will come the next post)...

I really enjoy the view of the falls from the opposite side of the river, plus you're seeing them from a higher elevation....

But, after walking a while...sometimes the kids need breaks...

I promise you that they were having fun...I caught them at a moment when there were no smiles...Luke noticed before I took the next picture...

From there....we headed to Tettegouche for the rest of our morning and afternoon (that post will be later)...we returned tired and hungry...so we ate and went to bed...

When we woke up, we took our early morning walk and found 6-8 deer just wandering through the campsites....

That Sunday morning was a glorious sunrise over the lake...

Luke decided he would claim the whole lake as his own...

But on the walk, the fog rolled in off the lake and stayed until we had completely taken our campsite down (i.e. the the tent and shelter were pretty damp)...

Here's the picture just after we finished taking the camp down, sunny and dry...

Before we left Gooseberry, we headed back to the falls.  The kids wanted to see the 'castle', the old wayside rest up on Highway 61.  It has a remnant of the old Highway 61 bridge that was replace in 1996....this is the bridge that Pops crossed the river (under the bridge) back when he was 18 or so...Luke says he only has 10 more years till he can do it...

Our last view of the falls before leaving was a pretty good view...

Next post...our day at Tettegouche...

Finally!!! Luke's tooth is gone..

If you haven't read the last several posts (and you should've read the last several posts), you would've seen Luke with a tooth sticking out of his mouth.  It happened Saturday of Labor Day weekend and was attached by one little root.  He's bumped it several times, resulting in a lot of blood.  He's been to the movies and the state fair, eating all sorts of things....but still the tooth remained...

He wanted to lose the tooth at school, because he'd go to the nurse and get a little, plastic, tooth holder.....

Finally, it happened today (almost two weeks since it was dangling out of his mouth)...

He's got another than is going to come out soon....the tooth lost was immediately replaced by the new tooth that was working it's way in for the last few months...

There's the tooth on the left and the tooth holder above....I opened it to get ready for the tooth fairy and found the rock on the right.  I asked Luke "what's the deal with the rock?" and he said "I liked it."  Yep...that's Luke...

I'm glad the tooth came out today.  The kids and I are camping at Gooseberry this weekend and it's harder for the tooth fairy to make deliveries in state parks (or so I hear....)....

MN State Fair

On Labor Day, Luke, Kieran and I went to the state fair....the boys and I were really looking forward to going....it was a great day spent with both of them...

First stop?  We had to hike all the way across the fair to the Twins booth to catch up with TC Bear...

And we took the first of many cutout pictures...

Then we saw some giant pumpkins....which the boys thought would make a great fort...

We went to the KARE11 barn and got some free sunglasses and tried out the chairs from the Voice...

And we ate....(little grubby hands couldn't stay off them to get a good picture)...

The boys played a little Viking plinko....

Kieran tried on a Viking helmet...

We found Curious George out for a walk...

And we caught the last 15 minutes of the 4H Arts In program...

Of course we 'had' to go on the Sky Ride...

Where we got a good view of the giant slide...

Then we just 'had to' go on the Space Tower...

Where we got a good view of downtown Minneapolis...US Bank Stadium is big...

And we ate...

We saw the last princesses likeness getting carved into butter...

And we climbed the DNR's fire tower...

And we drank...

Of course the boys rode the Giant Slide (twice actually)...

And the DNR's fish pond is always fun....

It was a great day shared with thousands of people....great company and great fun...next year Lex gets to come!!!

Friday Night Lights

It's the first Friday night of the school year....meaning we had choices of what to do tonight.  Stay home or go to the Raider football game?

Kieran's vote was obvious....but since we go to the same field for Kieran's football practices every Tuesday/Thursday for the past three weeks, we know the mosquitos have been terrible (wet month with normal or above normal temperatures), so the decision wasn't easy for Luke, Lex and I....

Well....we went to the game (Luke voted yes when he remembered his godmother Pam had given him $$ to buy Raider clothes)....

Turns out the mosquitos weren't a problem...there was a good west wind that kept them and bay....plus the Raiders won, 28-15....(not that any of the three could tell you the score since they were so busy playing....)....

Here's Luke modeling his new sweatshirt courtesy of Pam...and yes he still has that tooth, that refuses to fall out....

First Day of School

After a fantastic summer hanging with these three and there is no one more fun to hang out with all summer than these three....they're off to school as of a few days ago......

There were baseball games, t-ball games, waterfalls, fishing, caves, hiking, zoo trips, sprinklers, museum trips....the list could just keep going....even days we're we stayed in Cologne, these kids were active.

Now our active is just a little different...go to school and then nightly activities like football practice, cross country club, dance, faith formation, high school football games, homework....etc.....but the weekends are still open for those fun activities we've been doing though...

They'll do great....Kieran (5th grade - last year of elementary school), Luke (2nd grade) and Lex (1st grade)...

Luke's Birthday

The day finally came...he's only been counting down for a couple of months...

He's now eight years old...Lukie has a lot of freedom around the neighborhood...his new bike will only help with that...

He's always been one to be on the move....whether it's a bike, scooter, or by walking....

What's new now is his tooth...this little thing is on the verge of coming out...it already sticks out of his mouth...

He had a really busy day (as usual...), but the tooth didn't come out...

How do you finish a busy day?  It's probably similar to Luke...you fall asleep (but maybe you don't fall asleep on dad...)...

He was so tired that he didn't even notice Lex giving him two birthday/goodnight kisses....(he is not a fan of Lex's kisses)....

He fell asleep before we even got to the cake - that had to wait until the next day when the boys and I got back from the fair....

Early action shot....

Oh....so close...

It's always good to be eight...