Camping at Tettagouche

We had a great time camping at Tettagouche State Park last week. We were about 200 yards from a beautiful beach on Lake Superior and hours of rock fun. We hiked to the highest waterfall in Minnesota and had fun relaxing on the beach watching the boys play. The boys love all parts of camping...hiking, roasting marshmallows, playing in the dirt, and exploring around the campsite. We usually camp in September to avoid bugs and the crowd, but with Charlie starting school this week we went in August. The weather was perfect and the bugs were minimal. We had a wonderful time....and even have made plans to camp in October. We're thinking of trying a camper cabin!

Charlie's favorite part of North shore camping is the "Banging Wall". He's been asking all summer about camping at the banging wall. He can bang the rocks for hours!

Sam's favorite part of camping on the North shore is the rocks! He loves throwing rocks into Lake Superior and even into the woods. If there is room to throw a rock, he will do it. If he's not throwing rocks, he's probably hunting for rocks to throw. He did take some time out from throwing to talk on his "rock phone" and eat marshmellows. "Hi, Pa."

" Really Mom...I won't put any rocks in my mouth."

Ben was either in the backpack or eating rocks the entire camping trip. He has been a good sport about camping all summer. He really seems to enjoy being outside. We're hopeful next year will bring a little self control when it comes to rocks....we'll see.

Geocaching at Split Rock

We had fun geacaching at Split Rock on the north shore. It was our first time using a GPS to try and find coordinates hidden around the park. The final "cache" was in a special box and contained animal cards and trinkets left by other geocachers.

Charlie found the second coordinate. He was very excited and ready to continue on the adventure!

Looking for the final treasure box.

Found!

Charlie, Sam, and Chris enjoyed geocaching so much they went again already to Fort Snelling State Park.

Rain Drops are Falling....and Falling...

Sam and "the mower".

We have had a week of rain and storms. The boys have done lots of lego building and I've tried to do lots of organizing. It was fun to take time out to go for puddle walks.

The Fire Station

We visited the fire station near our house with friends yesterday. The boys loved seeing the inside of the station and the fire engine. Fireman Matt did a wonderful job teaching us all and making our visit fun.

Teaching the kids to yell, "HERE I AM" if they ever see a fireman during a fire.

No trip is complete without sirens and lights!

The Fair

We went the Dakota County Fair last week. The boys loved the John Deere area...even Ben had to try out a Deere! The cotton candy was also a big hit! The only animals we saw were cows...all the boys wanted to do was see all of the equipment and tractors. It was a fun day!

Cabin Fun

We had a wonderful time at the cabin with Jen, Kate, Nana and Grandpa at the beginning of August. The kids had fun playing all day long....boating, swimming, hiking, "camping" in the basement. During one of the camping sessions in the downstairs tent, it was decided Sam and I would be kids and Charlie and Kate were the mom and pa. "How old are you Kate? I'm 40...no how old is pa? I'm 41 and you're 38 Kate. I need to go to work. I'm making my lunch and going to work." It was so cute how serious Charlie was about it all.

Ben loved all of the new things to suck on at the cabin. He worked hard all week to try and crawl but didn't really figure it out until we got home. He loved the water even though it was cold. He also loved watching the big kids play!

Sam had fun playing with his cousin Kate. He pretended to not want to get kissed but giggled the entire time!

Sam loved getting spoiled by Nana and grandpa. Thank you for such a great week of fun everyone. Can't wait to do it again next summer!

Ben's first crawl!

This morning after breakfast Ben figured out crawling. He was getting close yesterday so I thought I'd tape him. Here is his very first time crawling. I love how his hips and legs are all over as he's trying to figure the crawling thing out. By tonight he was crawling to things he wanted very slowly but with better body control. He's also started clapping and is big into feeding himself with much more proficiency. It's amazing how quickly babies learn things.

Crawling is one of the cutest baby stages I think. Chris and I smiled all day as we watched Ben crawl around looking for things to explore. Watch out Charlie and Sam....here comes Ben!

Family Reunion

We had a great time at the Tripp (Bigelow) family reunion at the YMCA at Snow Mountain Ranch. It's near Winter Park on the west side of the Rocky Mountains. There were 60+ family members from Chris' family. The two youngest are pictured below. Ben and Luke.... in three years they will be running around with the rest of the pack!

The craft shop was a favorite stop for the boys. Charlie and Sam spent a couple hours painting and embellishing their wooden trains.

Charlie said the best part of the reunion was "playing with my cousins". Sam became a part of a new family at the BBQ. He loved being old enough to run around and try to keep up with all of the bigger cousins. The reunion was a fun end to our adventures in the Rockies this summer.