Sunset Cove Vacation

On Aug 9th we left for a week long vacation with Nana & Papa to Minnesota.  We packed a lot.  But luckily Papa was AA Gold status, so we didn't pay baggage fees!

 

The MSP airport has a cool underground tram to get to the rental cars that the boys liked.

  

After getting our cars, we ended up at a place called Egg & Pie Diner for lunch.  Cool Riley liked it!

 After lunch we had time to spare so we walked to the river and to a malt shop for Chad to get a malt.

  

Then we drove to Hamburg, MN to inter Grammy's ashes in her plot.

We played at a playground as we still had time to spare.  Beautiful skies and beautiful views!

  

The church was also stunning and we toured with the pastor before the interment.

  

We even found my granpa's 1937 confirmation class photo.  Cool.

(bottom row, 4th from left)

  

The cemetery was so picturesque.  Wish we had a place like this in Ft Worth.

The ceremony was just what we wanted: small, simple, touching.  Couldn't have asked for more.

That night we spent the night in Brainerd at a Holiday Inn with a water park.  The next day was Riley's 6th birthday so I took tjhis quick photo of the birthday boy.

At the grocery store he picked out this cake for his birthday.

  

We then drove to the lake and we made dinner for everyone, which included my uncle Dana, his girlfriend Jill; my cousin Ryan, his wife Abby, and their son Eli; and my cousin Tyler and his wife Angie.

The place we stay is called Sunset Cove and this is why:

 

Thankfully, Papa got trucks for Carter so he wouldn't be sad about Riley's presents and they were a hit!  Boy was in the dirt all week!

The next day we went to Itasca State Park and the boys sure were in a posing mood for Nana!

 

We then walked to the headwaters of the Mississippi and then Chad and the boys took off on an adventure through the river!

 

 

  

The boys had a blast all week playing in the water.  This night at dinner we asked them not to get wet.  Look who's head is in the water!!

 

 Grammy's birthday was on the 13th and Chad cooked Grammy Tacos for everyone that night! YUM!

 

 

 

We also spread some of Grammy's ashes in the cove that night per her request.  We heard a loon and saw a beautiful sunset.

  

My friend Josh came to visit us as he lives close to the area and we had fun kayaking with him before he had to head home.  Riley and I were together and he even practiced paddling himself!

 

 

  

The boys were fishing extraordinaires!  Riley caught a LOT of fish.  This first one was within seconds of putting his line in.

They also had fun riding on the pontoon and learning to drive it!

One of my favorite places to go is Paul Bunyan Animal Land.  They have all sorts of exotic animals that you can feed.  It's a zoo like no other!

 

 

 Another must-see is Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe.

 And almost every open moment the boys spent fishing.  Chad bought a net to catch minnows and Riley successfully caught over a dozen the last night.

 

  

Chad even showed Riley how to skin a fish.

Overall it was a wonderful trip spent with family.  I got some real bonding time with my cousins.  We had bonfires a lot of nights and watched the meteor shower.  There was lots of relaxing downtime and the weather was so cool it was almost cold.

Thanks Nana & Papa for this awesome vacation!