Minnesota Vacation, Part 2

My parents picked Noah and me up on a Friday afternoon to head up to their cabin. They have a cabin on East Battle Lake in Clitherall, MN. This was our last summer there since they are about to close on a new lake house much closer to their home in the Twin Cities area. We're all looking forward to a shorter drive, more space, and two bathrooms in the future! Anyway, we all had a great time and it was so nice to spend time with my step-dad Ed. When he was on full life support in February, it was something I wasn't sure we would ever get to do again. So yeah, pretty grateful! He is definitely still recuperating from his quadruple bypass so his energy level isn't what it used to be, but he said that he consistently feels better and better. As a result we did a little less fishing than usual, but this was also a shorter trip than usual so I didn't miss it. 

The first night it was just me, Noah, my mom, and Ed. Brian stayed in the cities to see an uncle who was visiting and a friend from college. Noah immediately found a pair of binoculars to play with and looked like a little goof romping around the yard staring at things. We also set up a bee game with Grandma Cheri which provided some entertainment for the evening. That night, Noah got his first experience with a "big boy bed." (Yes, he was still in a crib at home, and Grandma Wendy had a crib at her house, too.) We lined some chairs up around the side of the bed so he wouldn't fall out, and he did great! This finally convinced me that he needed to be done with his crib. Expect a post about that soon!

The next day Noah did some fishing with Grandma and Grandpa while I showered. He caught some big sunfish, and one fought hard enough to make Noah drop his fishing pole in the lake. Oops! Amazingly nobody swore and my mom quickly retrieved the pole, fish and all. But after that, Noah was less enthusiastic about fishing and asked me to do it for him. He told me fishing was "too tricky for me, Mommy." Poor kid!

Brian showed up later in the day and we finally took a spin in the boat. I love being on the water, and I'm so glad that Noah seems to be, too. Otherwise we'd have to trade him in. ;)

We also took our annual family cabin photo, and Noah spent a lot of time playing in the pea rock around the fire pit. My mom, Noah, and I used water shooters to have some afternoon fun on the dock, as well.

Saturday night we made a fire, ate s'mores, and played with sparklers for the first time. Noah had a lot of fun with all of it! It was nice to be somewhere that isn't in a perpetual drought with strict fire restrictions.

After our cabin weekend we headed back to the cities to spend time at my mom's house. She lives fairly close to the Mall of America so we took Noah there one day to try some of the rides at the Nickelodeon Universe amusement park. A lot of the rides were pretty tame, which is just Noah's speed. However, Brian did trick Noah into riding the flume ride by asking him if he wanted to ride the boats. The look on Noah's face as they descended the summit was pretty priceless!

We also tried out the park near my mom's house one afternoon. It didn't have a lot of stuff for little kids, but Noah still had fun.

Up next, the final installment of our trip - a side trek to Wisconsin!