UP 2013 Wrap Up

After a quick night's stay in the Soo, we headed further north.  We made a stop for lunch at the UP Vruggink's house then were off to Muskallonge Lake State Park where we spent 4 nights.  It was great to be able to unload and know we were there to stay for awhile.  We had an awesome camp spot looking right over the lake.  Just a short walk across the road led us to the shore of Lake Superior.  I don't know what it is about that lake, but every time I stand on the shore and look out on the horizon I am amazed. It's beautiful.

 

Our summer home ;)

Notice the black smudges?!  Some pesky raccoons paid us a few visits during the night.  They were everywhere!

Just waking up by the fire.  With 'coffee' of course ;)

We found a new way to cook the bacon!  And yes it was that cold to wear a stocking cap!!

Grandpa is always the best camper cook!

 It just wouldn't be camping without s'mores.

Exploring the shoreline.  There is something about this picture that makes my heart melt.

Always on the look out for the best skipper rock.

On top of the saw dust piles left over from years ago when the area was logged.

Everyday, the guys went out for a ride on the trails.  This day it was very dusty!  You can see where Torrey's helmet was not covering his face and believe me, Haiden's was just as dirty.  Along with everything else ;)

The boys braved it one day and put on bathing suits to play in the water.  This was as far as they got.  On the look out for minnows.

 

One night after dinner we were walking along looking for more rocks and we dared Cameron to take a dive in the lake.

He did. A quick one. But it still counted as his bath.

Haiden was contemplating.  He opted for sticking his face in only.  That counts as a bath, too, right?!  Only while camping I guess ;)

The lake was great for fishing, even from the shore.  Cameron caught 2 fish that were big enough to cook and eat!  Not sure what Haiden was up to in this picture.  Kind of looks like he was about to punch the fish.  Nice.

Yum!

 

The last full day we were there, we went on some two tracks out to some of the burn area and also to find Crisp Point Lighthouse.  We could climb to the very top of this one!

Playing a game waiting for the light drizzle to pass.  We even got some school work in!

For two nights we 'camped' by the UP Vruggink's.  For some reason we did not take many photos when we were there! 

 

  Levi and Cameron were determined to get in the pool as soon as it was up.  They just weren't quite sure how to go about doing it as the water was freezing from the hose!

While we were there, we hit up the fish fry, the lumberjack breakfast, some rally racing and had a fun party to celebrate Levi's birthday.  When we left the UP on Sunday, it was rainy and cool.  We weren't sure if we were going to stop for our last night or not, but, about a half hour after we crossed the bridge the sky cleared up and the temperature rose almost 20 degrees!  So we made the stop at Burt Lake State Park.  The lake is awesome for kids as it stays shallow for SO long.  Haiden thought he was out deep even though he could still touch ;)

 

Our final homestead of the trip.  It was HOT.  We finally were able to wear shorts and t-shirts.

The boys surprised me with a little birthday donut(not many cake places near the bridge!), some ice cream and a few presents the night we were there.  We would be traveling home the next day on my actual birthday.

No rhyme or reason for this picture.  Just totally a Haiden moment with a bungee cord, farmer's tan and his boots.

The last morning we packed up and made it the last few hours home.  SUCH a great time with family and more sweet memories.

UP 2013-The Beginning

We're Back!

And we love the UP ;)

We made our 3rd annual trek across the bridge this year.  And after all the excitement of getting to cross the big bridge, Haiden was asleep.  Both ways.  If I would take the time to download pictures from my phone I would be able to show you.  One of those things I don't remember to do until I sit down to post.

Anyway, we packed up the van and camper and headed out on Friday morning with Torrey's parents.  We originally were planning on leaving Thursday, but Haiden came down with a sudden and severe case of croup which landed him in the ER and a short hospital stay early Thursday morning and into the day.  Again, pictures on my phone!  So, after he was cleared by the doctor, we needed to regroup and let him(and us!) have a good night's rest.  After that he was good to go and no breathing issues at all while we were away!

Finally all packed and ready to go!!

This year the trip was more focused on finding spots where the boys could ride and explore the great UP trails with 3-wheeler, quad and dirt bike.  Cameron took a safety class so he has his legal certificate to ride.  He thought that was pretty cool and would remind us to take his certificate along in case the DNR stopped him ;)
Again, we pulled our camper and Torrey's parents had the trailer with all the extra stuff.  OH, the stuff!!  I didn't think we could seriously pack any more.

 To break the trip up and explore more campgrounds we stopped half way between here and the bridge at Hartwick Pines State Campground.  We were originally going to only stay one night but the park had so many great things that we stayed for 2.  Each night we went to hear a talk by a Ranger to learn about bats and owls. 

(This was the last time we wore shorts and t-shirts until we came back down at at the end of our trip!)

Getting everything set up.  Grandma and Grandpa had some helpers of course.

The boys found the nearest water spigot and became occupied with water balloons for a very long time!

Then we had to practice our fishing skills. No water needed of course!

There was a neat little hiking trail that led to a floating dock to fish from.  We didn't have any worms so we improvised with bread.  Not a real hot spot but the boys had fun.

 So beautiful and peaceful.

Getting some wood ready for the fire.  
 



The Old Growth Trail led you through an old logging part of the park.  There was also a visitor center that was partly a museum where the boys could get a little hands on experience about logging and animals in the forest.

 The wheels had to be big to haul all the logs!

There are some stumps remaining that are over 100 years old.  Fun to climb in ;)

There were no trails to ride here so the boys had to be content with riding to the dumpster on our way out of the park.  Grandma thought she should go along too ;)

Just up over the bridge we stopped for a picnic lunch.

Last year we were going to visit the Soo Locks but the boys were too antsy to make another stop so we put it back on the list this year.  We found a cute little campground right down from the locks.

We quickly set up so that we could get to the boat tour.  It would have gone quicker except the wind took our awning up and over the camper.  Again.

I had never been to see the boats and Locks so I was excited too!
It really is an engineering marvel, and considering how long ago these were made!

Waiting for the water to fill and lift us up.

Up front to get a good view.

Very inquisitive boys.

The ride was about 2 hours which was a perfect amount of time for the boys.  When we got back to camp we tried to get dinner started.  With those strong Lake Superior winds we had to get creative in getting the stove to stay lit to cook our potatoes.  We did it!

After a quick one night stay, we made our way to our last stop for camping farther north.  We stayed 4 nights there so that deserves a post on it's own ;)

Stay tuned!

From there to Here

Well, hello there.

Yikes. It's been awhile.

Can't really say there is any particular reason as to why I have not been posting.  It's been nice having a break.  One less thing on my to do list and one less thing to come in between spending time with by boys, both big and little.

But now summer(yay!) is upon us and life slows down a bit.  There seems to be so much extra time when I don't have to back and unpack bags, make lunches, set out clothes and try to cram errands, laundry and cleaning all in a weekend....and it's only day 3 of vacation.  ;)

So, just to catch up before out summer fun begins, here are some of the highlights from that last post til now.

Our annual Easter egg hunt with the Vruggink's---the UP Vruggink's are missing but this is the crew ;)

Trying to get a nice Easter family picture---not bad.

Cameron teaching me a new yoga move, the crow.  We would have little competitions to see if we could out hold the other person ;)  He got me most of the time but I did improve!  Just one of the little things his teacher taught him this year. We had the BEST first grade year.

My boys.  Just playing around with my new camera.

Love. it.

And them!

We headed to Chicago via van and bus over Spring Break.  A great little get away.  It's fun to visit city life, but makes you appreciate the little things in our little towns.

Shedd's Aquarium was a highlight!

(Haiden was off on his own, again.  He didn't make it into many pictures with his determination to do things on his own, when he wanted and how he wanted.  Yep.)

Don't even ask about this picture.  This mom was not home.  And yes this is in our backyard.  In the city mind you.

Cameron wanted to give soccer try.  He sometimes seemed to get it confused with football when he was going after the ball.  He walked away with many grass stained knees.

He actually did quite well and really improved.  He was a Spark team.  We will just have to wait and see what he thinks for next spring.  After he watched a cousin play baseball and play it more with a friend(at his very first sleepover!!!!) he now wants to play that again?!

Me and my boys on Mother's Day.  They painted me rocks for our landscaping.  Love their sweet and simple writing.

And this big kid had a fantastic first grade year!  He did SO well and we are proud of the little student he has become.

I can't really say he is a 2nd grader yet--even bothers me to type it!  We just need to enjoy a summer of  'just done with 1st grade' ;)

And just for the kicks of it for you to see our little man's personality.  This was taken by Torrey once we finally opened up the new camera and he was just trying it out, so don't mind all the stuff on the floor and random photo.  But we just couldn't delete this one.  Can you blame us?!  ha!