Camping Trip 2010

This was the 2nd bi-annual (every two years) camping trip for our family with the Karlsson family.  Two years ago, Brian, myself, Jason, and a pregnant Emily went to Ninemile Lake in Superior National Forest for a week long camping trip.  This was my first official camping without showers/running water trip in my life.  Very rustic for me, but I embraced it and loved it. 

The following year we both had babies under 5 months old, so we opted out. 

This year, our babies are just over a year old and we decided it was time to go again!  So we did!

It was a great trip; we took lots more pictures this time.  But the trip was a little shorter than last time. 

Just to warn you, this post might have the most pictures I have ever uploaded at one time.  It may take a while to read through. 

Friday after lunch, Brian, Anna, and I packed into the car to begin our journey...and by pack in, I mean SQUEEZE everything we own into our trailblazer and we were off. 

Here's Anna packed in...

We had to put her in before the cooler.  That's how packed we were! 

Where's Anna!?

Five years ago we went "up north" on our honeymoon and have a similar picture when we left...so we thought we should take one at the beginning of our family trip "up north" five years later.  This year, we needed more luggage.

We got to Rush City to say "hi" to Jason and he decided our car was too full and suggested we continue on our journey like this:

Anna wasn't too sure she wanted to ride back there...

Don't worry, we didn't ride like that.... :)

Friday night we ate at Betty's Pies...best pie ever.  And then stayed at a great bed and breakfast, The Inn at Palisade.  We really lucked out finding a place to stay on such short notice during busy season.  It was a great little bed and breakfast right on the lake.  We stayed there Friday night and then Jason, Emily, and Aaron were going to meet up with us Saturday morning to head the rest of the way north to our campsite.  We thought getting an early start on Friday would save us from the traffic and/or early morning on Saturday. 

Some pictures from our B and B: 

Anna in the little bay window in our room. 

Cute girl in her jammies. 

Climbing the rocks by the beach at the B'n'B.

Look how high she could go!

She loved it!

Careful, that's a big jump!

ROCKS!  Anna learned that she loves rocks.

They feel really cool.

Throwing rocks with Mommy.

Anna realized that she couldn't throw the rocks very well or very far, but that Mommy could.  So she would fill up my hand, and then hit it when she was ready for me to throw the rocks.  She did this over and over and over...and of course giggled every time they splashed in the water!

More rocks.

Throw them Mom!

Yay!

Anna and Mommy.

Our Bed and Breakfast.  The house is on the left...every room has a view of the lake.  Gorgeous.  And we had a great breakfast in the morning. 

More climbing with Daddy.

Daddy was going to throw Anna in the water!

She thought that was awesome.  I think she would have loved to have gone in, but it would have been chilly!

Exploring.

More rock digging.

Lounging outside of our room while we were waiting for Jason, Emily and Aaron to come!

While we were waiting Anna spotted a cricket.  She thought he was pretty cool so she chased him down and he kept hopping away.  At some point he hopped onto her jeans and then through her legs.  She was bent over reaching for him and when he hopped behind her, she lost her balance and SQUASHED him.  It was too funny...and then she walked around with squished cricket on her butt...of course we took a picture. 

Cute butt...poor cricket.

She kept running up and down the front of the building, each room had it's own entrance, and she liked talking to the other guests.

Yay!  Aaron's here!  They played with toys for a little bit before we headed north for the adventure!

After a fairly sleepless night (Anna sleeping perpendicular to us in a king size bed--she didn't fall asleep until after 11:00 and possibly after us!), she conked out in the car minutes after starting off again.  She fell asleep reading!

Getting the tent set up.

Going for a little walk to check out the place.

Walking with Daddy.

She was obsessed all weekend with pushing her own stroller.

Our tent set up. 

Our camp...complete with rain shelter that was VERY necessary on Sunday night.

Anna headed to the water to go on her first boat ride.

Let's go!

Anna and Daddy on her first boat ride.

Pretty much the entire time her face looked very serious like this.  Shortly after the boat ride she took a nap, so we're not sure if she wasn't too fond of it or if she was just tired.

Playing at camp.

Giant flashlight, silly face.

The path to the water from our campsite.

At the end of the path...

a cute Daddy-Daughter moment...throwing rocks :)

If you look closely you can see the scratches on Anna's nose from her first face-plant while we were camping.  She just got a few little scratches and it only amounted to one little scab, but there was some crying involved.

This picture shows the bruise under her eye she got from her second face-plant.  Anna wasn't quite as well balanced as Aaron and took many falls.  Camping was not kind to Anna.  She was a trooper about it and loved every minute of being outside and playing in tents, but she definitely didn't walk away unscathed.

We all kind of started getting scuzzy...especially the babies after all the bug sprays and sunscreen, so we made a make-shift bathtub for the babies.  Anna loved it!

Bath!

Aaron gearing up for his turn in the tub.

Anna's all done! Warm fuzzy towel.  Too bad for the rest of us, we had to remain bathless.

Sunday night it rained and rained and rained and rained and rained.  Monday morning we had to shake the rain off our tents, air them out, and hope that it didn't rain again.  Anna thought it was funny to help shake the rain off the tents. 

Playing in the tent.

Squishy face.

Monday, Brian, Anna and I spent the day in Grand Marias.  It was only a short drive further north and it's a fun place to go.

Checking out the water in the bay.

We got some bread to feed the birds (which apparently you aren't supposed to do) and we were flocked with lots of birds.  Anna thought it was awesome.

She even ate some of the bread herself.

The birds.

Anna thought she wanted to chase them.

Anna and Mommy and some of their bird friends.

Riding Fred the Moose.  She wanted to stay on him all day.

At one of the little shops they had a kids area with lots of stuffed animals for sale that they could play with.  Anna loved putting as many animals as she could into the stroller they had and then dumping them out. 

Her friend Squirrel.

Playing near the water.

"Hi Dad!"

Daddy was wearing Anna's hat!

That's better!

Family photo opp!  This was right after we had some amazing custurd.  YUM.

Anna's Oreo while camping....

Stuffing it in...

What a mess!

Anna brought her chair with camping and loved moving it around everywhere.  It's just her size and she loves it.

Cute close up.

Putting dirt/rocks on her chair.  She found this hilarious, especially when we would wipe them off.

She loved playing with the rope hanging from the clothesline. 

She would pull on it and then walk away and when it slipped out of her hands she would get confused and go back for it again.

PULL!

Clap your hands!

Kick your feet!

The wheels on the bus go "round and round" (her newest trick is to go "round and round" with her arms).

Kisses for Daddy.

Upsidedown!

More kisses.  She loves giving kisses.

In the screen tent with Aaron.  Aaron was pretty much scared of Anna, mostly because every time she came near to him she took whatever he had.  Eventually, when he saw her coming he would either run away or just hand over anything in his hands. She was kind of the camping bully.  But she was good about giving things back after some training. 

Sitting in the big chair.

Group shot.  Five years ago there were four of us, now there are six...and one on the way!

Anna and Mommy.

Playing at the playground with Aaron.

Up high!

Sliding!

Wee!

Swinging with Daddy.

Anna liked swinging but every now and then it would get a little high for her and she would get her scared face.

Playing at the park.

Driving the wheel.

Swinging like a big girl.

She was very focused and determined to swing like a big girl with Daddy's help.

Slide!

Loving it!

FUN!

We headed home on Tuesday and made our way slowly back down the north shore.  We stopped at one of our favorite places, Gooseberry Falls.  We had stopped there on our honeymoon and hadn't been back since so we thought we should take Anna for her first time. 

Feeling the water.

She wanted so badly to go in the water, but that wasn't going to happen!

In this picture she's finding a mossy puddle that she really wanted to play in...

Hiking with Dad.

There are lots of stairs at Gooseberry...good thing Dad was in charge of carrying...I had the camera :)

We got home on Tuesday night, and Anna was thrilled to be back in her house.  She did a great job camping and had a lot of fun, but she was really excited to see her house again (I think we all were--especially to get clean again!).  She ran from room to room, getting out lots of toys and checking everything out.  She was excited to see the kitties and they were excited/scared to see us. 

It was a wonderful trip, full of lots of new memories, stories, and pictures.  Next year will be even more exciting, Anna will be a year older, and much more stable walking (hopefully this means less falls) and there will be two Karlsson kids on the trip!  It keeps getting more exciting as our families grow together.