Northern Minnesota Vacation

Last week, Grandma Pam and Grandpa Lee bravely volunteered to join our family on a vacation to explore Northern Minnesota. Here are a few of the highlights of our trip.

Family picture at the MN War History Museum located at Camp Ripley. I highly recommend this! It was not part of our MN History Center membership, but only cost $12 for the family. It was the favorite stop for all of our kids!

Next, we drove up to Lake Itasca to see where the Mississippi River begins.

In order to be considered a true Minnesotan, one has to visit and  cross the Headwaters of the Mississippi River. 

Grandma bought a bag full of shiny rocks for Peter and Haley to share at the visitor center.

Madeline looking on trying to decide if she should take off her shoes and cross - she ended up doing it, too. Benj went in a little too far and got pretty wet. Peter and Lillian actually fell in - all making for soggy, good memories!

Haley made it!

Joseph went over and back twice!

 The next morning, we visited Paul and Babe before heading over to Silver Bay.

The iconic Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statues in Bemidji, MN.

Super cool park next to the Paul and Babe statues.

All the Kraft kiddos on the super safe merry-go-round.

A little Agnes cuteness for you!

This was a great stop on our northern MN tour. We used our History Center Membership and got in free! The visitor center was great. The older kids all climbed the fire tower - somehow, no pictures of that.

Benj couldn't get enough of this!

Eleanor and Peter taking a try at sawing wood like the loggers in the olden days.

Family picture at the Forest History Center.

The Americinn had a 110 foot water slide that the kids could go down 48 times and become part of the "Mile Slide Club". Somehow, I did not get a picture of it?! The oldest 6 kids all got their certificates and have their pictures on the wall.

Benj goes SPLASH! 

Peter on the frog slide.

Todd and Esther taking a break from swimming to pose for a photo.

The little boys taking in the beauty of Gooseberry Falls. They couldn't believe how loud the water was!

The lower falls at Gooseberry Falls.

Me and Agnes - she spent the morning in the baby wrap and eventually fell asleep. What a life!

Lillian and Madeline taking a selfie by Gooseberry Falls.

Family photo in front of the falls.

Another location where we used our MN History Center membership - free admission once again!

The lighthouse - the most photographed location in Minnesota. The things one learns on vacation!

View going down the spiral staircase inside the lighthouse.

Double photo bomb - Joseph on the left and flying Agnes on the right!

We stopped for some over-priced, yet highly delicious, ice cream. We even sprung for double scoops - something the kids had never had...what a treat!

I didn't get the camera out soon enough - the big girls had already eaten most of their ice cream and were taking silly pictures by the time I got over to them.

There was some sort of boat festival in Duluth making it impossible to even find a parking spot, so we decided to just head home. Benjamin helped clean the headlights for a safe drive home!

Grandma Pam snuggling a tired baby Agnes when we got back home after an exciting family vacation!

There were so many wonderful moments! The kids are already asking about where we'll go next summer....and they're assuming Grandma and Grandpa are coming along....hope you're ready for that!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Over the River and Through the Woods

So, we finally made the 500 mile journey to visit our families in North Dakota. We used to make the trip at least once, and sometimes a couple times, a year. But, with our expanding family and Todd's limited vacation time....the trips have become a little more spread out. Our last trip to Minot was for Todd's niece's wedding 1 1/2 years ago. We were due to make the drive!

That's a lot of enthusiasm for a 5:30 am departure! 

After a few hours of driving, we stopped in Fargo to burn off a little energy at Lindenwood Park.

Because there are so many of us, we divide up between the grandparents. The big girls and Benj stayed at one house and the rest of us crashed at the other. Benjamin quickly became grandpa's best buddy!

The grandparents took the whole crew out to breakfast at the Homesteader after Sunday morning Mass - what a special treat!

Benjamin playing at the playground of my old elementary school.

Aunt LuAnn brought over some super yummy treats for us. She even brought supplies to make these ultra festive red, white, and blue drinks!

Esther was so excited to catch one of the parachutes! Minnesota law doesn't allow for fireworks that shoot up into the air, just the lame-o ones that shoot sparks. So, it was super exciting for the little girls to chase the parachutes, as they had never done that before!

The little girls were in horse heaven when they got to feed the horses their special treats!

Smoke bombs...need I say more?!?

A beautiful North Dakota sunset.

We met up with  my sister and her kids at Planet Pizza for lunch and some video games. Here's a picture of the cousins with grandma and grandpa. I think it turned out pretty well, actually!

Aunt Patti took the oldest 7 kids to Finding Dory complete with popcorn. They also had various other treats and game time with her and their cousin...so...much...fun!

All good things must come to an end...this is what the last 30 minutes of the 500 mile drive home consisted of!

We all had a very nice visit and look forward to our trip to North Dakota next summer!

God Bless!

Heather :-)

Thankful

I have long admired Jamie and all of her Thankful posts.  I read them and think how nice it is that she takes the time to document all that she has to be thankful for and think, I really should do that, and then don't. It seems that I am dealing more and more with children who are not seeing all that they have and tend to be focusing on all the "stuff" they want....soooooo, I figured perhaps it may be my lack of example in praising the Good God for all that we do have.

In no particular order, here are a few of the many, many things that I am thankful for!

I am thankful for being 26 1/2 weeks pregnant with an almost 2 year old and 4 year old who still think they are my babies!

So thankful for the family vacation we took a few weeks back to Wisconsin Dells.  We had fun in the indoor water parks, went bowling, played games and shared all this fun with another family we brought along with us!

Thankful for this big sister who helped out a pregnant momma by going on the water slides with her daring little brother!

Thankful for this big brother who puts his little brother down for nap time!

Thankful for a $2 box of Fruit Loops and the hours of entertainment it has brought for the younger girls in the house.  I mean, all of the stringing practice to develop their fine motor skills! :-)

Thankful for messages written in the snow!

Thankful for the snowy hill in our yard that the children built a "bob sled" track on.  They love sledding and then coming in for hot chocolate with marshmallows!

Thankful for little boys and remote control trains.  The best part is the "choo-choo" sounds he makes while driving this Thomas the Train all over the kitchen.

Thankful for my crafty girls. This is Madeline modeling one of the hats she has crocheted and has for sale in her etsy shop.   More to come on that in a later post!

Thankful for birthday celebrations with friends!  My wonderful husband celebrated a birthday last week and we had some friends over for supper and Dairy Queen ice cream cake - a perfect evening!

Thankful for little boys who think they are big boys. Peter will eat just about anything as long as it is not cut into "baby bites".  He prefers to push a chair up to the island, pick it up whole, and chow down!

Thankful for big sisters who spoil their baby brother.  I left to run a few errands and came home to find this picture on my camera.  Madeline and Haley got Peter his blanket, a bowl of M&M's and mini-marshmallows, and put Thomas the Train on television.  That boy has quite the life, don't you think?

This really is just the tip of the iceberg.  I am going to try and do this more often and really focus on all that I have been blessed with.

Have a blessed week and remember to take some time to count all of your blessings!

Heather :-)