Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Minnesota Trip.

We stopped of a picnic lunch on the way to Itasca.

Grandpa helping Emmy towards the car.

So happy.

My wonderful parents - 37 years and counting.

A highlight was seeing Grandpa Vernon and Grandma Joan. Its been three years.

Uncle Mitch and Abrianna "braving" the head waters of the Mississippi.

Love... Crossing the mighty Mississippi. 
Cousins by the dozens. Well... almost.

Get that boy! The 5 year olds.

The oldest and youngests.

The 7 year olds.

Babies.

One of the most fun things? Frogs everywhere. 
Wow, check this out!

Jubilee Lake- a family adventure.

Four little cherubs.

Ready to take on the lake...

Or play horsey on daddy's tummy...

To watch the ducks on the little island...


While baby sister quickly slips into the lake fully clothed...

So everybody else joined in the fun.( Emmy was blue lipped, shivering, and having a blast.)

Facing life with no holds barred. 

 Our little "nature" girl, likes water on her terms.
Doesn't it look idyllic? Don't be fooled. 

We fueling up with roasted hot dogs we sett out. Stopping to take pictures.( We'll just pretend that my angry 3 year old didn't intentionally poop in her pants right after the first photos.)

 At our second stop, Abby fearlessly attempted to catch a huge frog. ( she caught a lot of them in MN last week)

We leisurely spent time climbing up the hill picking and eating huckleberries. Both of us thought the other was watching Emmy. (whoops!) I saw something out of the corner of my eye tumble down off the edge of a short bank. Fortunately she was none the worse for wear.

We stopped to visit with some church members,  watching some teenager boys swing out and plunging into the lake.

On the home stretch, we stopped for the kids promised "swim." I pulled off Emmy's shoes and handed her to daddy so I could take a picture of the duck island. He took his eyes off for a few seconds and was surprised to see she had waded into the lake fully clothed. She was so nonchalant.. for a few seconds. Then burst into tears holding her arms and hands out of the water. That quickly stopped  as she happily (shivering and blue lipped) splashed and played. Abby swam in her birthday suit. Lucas took off his shirt so Emmy could have something dry to wear on the rest of the walk. Abrianna managed to come out dry. Not sure how that happened. 

We finished the day off with some ice cream on the way home. Overall some good memories made.