Camping!

Camping is one of my favorite things to do in the summer. It isn't necessarily easy and relaxing - although it's simple, which is refreshing. And it is just so fun to be outside all the time. I always loved it growing up and I think I might like it even more now, watching my kids love it. The only problem is that we don't go enough! I will admit that the packing and getting set up part of camping is not all that fun. And it can be a little daunting. But once we get there it's great. Especially with friends. :-)

The second annual Nav Reunion Camping Trip is in the books! I never brought my camera or phone anywhere with me so I only took two pictures! Carl took a few more but didn't always have his phone on him either. So unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the group. But I'll break it down for you. I think we had seven camp sites, 20 adults and 25 kids when everyone was there. There were kids everywhere and it was the best kind of chaos.

So excited to set up the tent!

This picture has a little story...

After we got the kids ready for bed Carl went to another campsite to hang out. We made a big mistake in deciding to bring Aria a toddler cot instead of a pack & play. I'm not sure why we thought a tent would be the best place to try that. She loved it, but she kept standing up in the dark, walking off the edge and falling. So she joined me in my cot right away. Shortly after Carl left, Carsten got off of his cot and climbed in too. He was sharing a cot with Tyler but Tyler fell asleep right away and Carsten was a little anxious. Anyway, the three of us were laying in a pile on a narrow cot when Carsten said he needed to go to the bathroom. So I called Carl. No answer. I texted Carl. No answer. I yelled his name hoping he'd hear me from across the street. No answer. He turned his phone off to save batteries! So I woke Aria up and unzipped the tent in the dark while holding both of them (not an easy task!) I just needed to go to the edge of the campsite to call for Carl so I tried to set Carsten down in a camp chair by the tent. But as soon as I walked away he started yelling, "No Mommy! I'm scared the kangaroos will get me!" He meant raccoons, but I'm so glad he said kangaroos. It was too cute. Anyway, eventually Carl came over and saved the day. Note to self though: Do not ever let your husband leave you in a tent with three kids without making sure his phone is on!

Making breakfast over the fire!

Enjoying our day at the beach.

This girl is not afraid of a little dirt.

Thank goodness for strollers. One year olds are the most dangerous campers!

There was lots of side walk chalking, scooter riding and playing in the dirt going on all weekend.

Why not add chalk to all the layers of dirt? 

This was one of my favorite moments. Look at all those energetic boys sitting so calmly together! Amazing.

These two melt my heart.

The saddest part of these trips is that they are too short! The kids finally started making new friends and then we had to pack up and leave. Tyler and Shara were best little friends that last morning.

These two are always best little friends. :-)

And this right here is the sign of an extra fun weekend. 

Up North! (Part 2)

There was a lot for the kids to do right at the resort, which was really fun for the kids. They had an ice cream social, a penny hunt on the beach (and let me tell you, the boys found a lot of pennies!), minnow races and a train ride.

If you look really closely you can see those poor little fish. It was a tough race. Because they both died. They only finished the race with the help of the resort owner splashing the water down towards the end.

So Carsten "won". But they had their names mixed up and called Tyler up to get the medal. He graciously accepted for Carsten. Although they were both confused about what was even going on!

And then he gave it to Carsten right away so he could stand up there too. :-)

The train ride was fun! Part way thorough they stopped and told everyone we only had one way tickets. And that they needed people to come up to the front to tell a joke or sing a song for the return trip. :-) Tyler was excited to go up and tell a joke. They asked him a few questions and he proudly told them his name and where he's from. Then he told his joke: "Knock knock. (Who's there?) Olive. (Olive who?) Olive you." Aww. :-) Then Carsten ran up right away to do his. "Knock knock. (Who's there?) Olive. (Olive who?) Olive I want to take a bath." Ha. They were both so cute. :-)

Aria stayed back with my mom during the penny hunt. We came back to find her asleep in my mom's arms after she had fallen asleep in her high chair. The next day she fell asleep there again. This girl played hard.

We also spent a lot of time on the beach!

I challenged Carl to a paddle board race because I was determined to try it and he didn't want to. I won't tell you who won. But afterwards Aria walked over to one and climbed on. 

This girl is determined! She did not want to hold my hand. She did not want me to help her with the paddle. She kept pushing my hands off of her. She wanted no help. At all.

I won't lie. She was probably better than me. But I didn't fall off either!

On our last morning we packed up and headed to Nisswa with my parents. Everyone else had already gone home the day before. Anyway, it was our second time there, so we have favorites now. :-) We had lunch at Rafferty's and ice cream at The Chocolate Ox. And we found a new favorite - a cute little coffee shop with The. Best. Scones. Ever. We also went to a little old historic museum and of course, played on the train.

Since the coffee shop with the best scones in the world was crazy busy we hung out on this white bench for awhile. It's amazing how much fun three kids can have climbing on a bench.

Sometimes I get great pictures of my kids. Other times I ask them all to smile because it's a picture perfect moment and this happens before I can click the camera.

Conductor Joe!

Precious cargo.

Love these three!

How can you not do the 10 cent rides! They are a dollar at the mall here!

It's impossible to get them to all look at the same time. But they thought this was pretty funny. :-)

After Nisswa we hopped in the car for the drive home, completely sure that they were all going to fall asleep immediately.

However, we were wrong. These pictures are completely fake. But they sure had fun pretending and proving us wrong!

We had SO much fun on this trip! The boys are already asking to go back. :-)

Up North! (Part 1)

Normally my parents bring their camper to WI every summer to camp and the rest of us join them when we can. This year we switched it up and rented cabins on the lake in Brainerd. We took Tyler and Carsten to Brainerd a couple of years ago and Tyler has not forgotten it. Carsten was only 13 months old so he didn't remember it, but Tyler filled him in and they were both so excited.

And for good reason. It was a fantastic five days! We had one adventure after another and it went by way too quickly. 

Cousins reunited!

Cutie.

Our cabins were very old and quite rustic. But I was in love with life on the lake from this moment on. So pretty.

We started our vacation off right that first morning with our trip to Paul Bunyan Land. This is what dreams are made of for our little boys. :-)

This massive, apparently 6,000 pound ox blew over in a storm a couple days ago. How does that happen?! We're glad we weren't there that day!

Jeff made a new friend. And I don't know why but I really love this picture.

First ride of the day! Samson was not a fan. So they stopped the ride for him and Tyler ended up taking a solo ride when the other two jumped off.

She looks happy now, but the second it started moving she was over it. They had to stop the ride for her too. :-)

She was much happier on the outside looking in.

And in this cute little train.

Riding the train around the park!

Such focus.

A favorite ride.

Uh-oh. Can I point out the gross looking toilet in the back of the jail cell? Ew.

They thought locking Grandpa in jail was the best.

He's kind of big. And he knew all their names when we walked in. :-)

These kids are serious croquet players.

With great teachers.

Did I mention the beautiful lake sunsets?

Sweet cousins.

How cute is she?

The next day we rented a pontoon. So fun! None of our kids have been on a boat like this so they were beyond excited.

It was a perfect, beautiful day for it!

A surprise early birthday party...

For the lovely birthday girl!

Carl also rented a small boat to take the boys fishing. Again, so much excitement! It was Carsten's first time fishing, and Tyler remembered how much he loved it last year!

I was a little nervous to send Carl out in a boat in the middle of the lake with two boys with fishing hooks.

And for good reason! This is the "rescue boat" that went after them when their boat died! They had to lift the kids out...

And tow the boat back to the dock.

And then they got to just keep the pontoon (rescue boat) for the rest of their trip. Can you see the fish they were so proud of? They had so much fun!

To be continued... :-)