We spent ten fun days on a family vacation to MN. Grandpa and Grandma B were so great to put us up and feed us and entertain us. We also enjoyed visits with all of Chuck's sisters and their families. Below are a few highlights.
We loved riding the Orange Streak at the Mall of America. The Nickelodeon Theme park is right in the middle of the mall and it wasn't crowded so we had free run of the place. In six hours we rode ten times as many rides as we would have been able to in a day at our local theme park. And it was all in the air conditioning! This time on the roller coaster we decided to make goofy faces at the camera as we went by.
For most of the day we split up into groups. Jared and Ruth were with Grandma B. and Aunt Liz. Chaz and Kaitlin were with some cousins and Chuck and I were by ourselves (how often has that happened?!). We bumped into Chaz and Kaitlin in line for the Jimmy Neutron ride. It was my personal favorite.
We spent five days at the family cabin in northern MN. The cabin is on a large lake and has its own beach, dock and boats. Jared took to kayaking right away. This was his first time out on the 'beginner' kayak. By the second day he was using the real one like a pro.
Two of the days it rained. It was so humid (you should have seen my hair. Kaitlin called me Hermione)! One of the days Grandpa B. took us out to his glass shop and let us all choose a sun catcher project to do. He taught us all how to prepare the pattern, cut and grind the glass and a few even got to solder their pieces together. It was very fun to learn a new craft.
All the kids got a chance to go tubing behind the boat. They all had a great time. (I went too but during my turn the boat broke down. Everyone teased me about that. Luckily Chuck and his dad had the problem fixed up in no time.)
On our second day there we went to the Como Zoo. It is a free zoo in downtown St Paul. It is a great little zoo, a little nicer than our local zoo but smaller. We especially enjoyed the big cats and I loved the tropical gardens.
Chuck and his dad took the kids fishing off the dock a couple of times. The fish there were biting, about one every 5 minutes or less. They were small perch and sunfish. Here is one of the larger fish Kaitlin caught. Chuck was taking it off the hook for her when I snapped the picture.
Chaz had fun waterskiing.
One rainy cool day we drove to the Mississippi headwaters. This is where the river begins out of lake Itaska.
