Fireworks (around the Fourth-ish)

It felt like the summer started off slow with just a few small camping trips here and there but July has been non-stop summer packed full of events and friends and summery things to do! Marengo hosted a Family Day in the Park the weekend after the 4th, complete with food trucks, bands and fireworks.  Since we were camping we didn't get the fully on firework show that I so love.  So when we figured out that Marengo was doing it the following weekend we quickly penciled in a sleepover for the kids and a plan to go see the fireworks with the Brackemyers.

It was like the night was made for me!  The band was a country band and they played a handful on 90's country, there was a beer tent, it was a 7 minute drive from the house and we ended the night sitting in a field in our chairs watching fireworks.  I mean, I don't know if I could have dialed up a better night if I'd tried.

We gave the kids a phone and let them wander around as a little girl gang.  They went on a few rides and jumped in the bounce house (all free, which was amazing) while use adults sat and watched the concert.

The fireworks were great and the kids loved their campout in the back yard.  We just checked so many things off the summer bucket list!  Which, it's a good thing because the summer is starting to fly by.  But I'm not going to start down that path just yet - we've still got plenty of summer to enjoy!

Summer Race Track

 

Last summer we took the kids to the Sycamore race track on an adventure to find something new to add to our summer repertoire.  It was such a success that we went back a second time dragging some friends along to show them our new summer event.  So, we knew we'd have to get a date on the calendar to go this year too - turns out, the date we picked was Monster Truck weekend meaning we didn't see the traditional dirt track races but it was just as fun as we remembered and we've got a second date on the calendar for later in August. 

We all packed up some quarters for the kids to use to bet on who would win (and to fund their "can we get a snack" snack bar runs.  It's such a fun way to spend a summer evening doing something a little different.  Plus, the people watching is amazing!

We have no idea who won or how the thing is even scored but we had fun cheering!

4th of July + Hazel's Birthday Party

After being gone for 10 days camping we figured, in a very McGrath way, that we should host a party at the house on the 4th.  We're so often gone on the big holiday weekends that it seems like a special treat to be home for the 4th.  We took it as an opportunity to have a small party for Haze's birthday with some of our closest friends and a pool party with our friends.  

A few weeks before her birthday Hazel told Erin that she was hoping she'd make her a wolf cake.  Erin always delivers for these kids - and it the most thoughtful way.  She came out and spent a few nights at our house before we even got home and then she joined us on the bunny pick up.  While she was here working she baked an amazing homemade cake and then expertly decorated it, per Hazel's dream.  

The kids played with Ned, had water balloon fights, did fireworks and jumped on the trampoline.  The adults swam, ate a brat platter, drank cocktails and beers, had lots of laughs and it was the most perfect way to spend the holiday and our last day of vacation before it's time to head back to work.  Wah wah!  Never lasts long enough :)

1 Family x 12 (July)

 

We love a good summer pool party and this year is no different!  Happy Birthday sweet Hazel.

Welcome Home, Ned

 

We got home from camping on Monday, July 3rd.  After a 4 hour drive and a few hours at home unpacking and putting things away, we loaded up the whole family in the car and drove down to Naperville to pick up Hazel's birthday present, Ned.  I'm here to say that he's very sweet and a fun new addition to the household.  

It was a little too much driving for one day, but the look on Hazel's face as she snuggled him the entire ride home was priceless.  They say bunnies live 10-15 years so it's quite possible that Ned will be headed to college with Hazel some day.  We'll see, if I'm honest, I really love him a lot myself.  It's been a few wild weeks of work since we got him, so I haven't had much alone time with just him and I at the house, but I see lots of co-working hours in our future - once we can get him potty trained that is.  That is the only part that has NOT been going well.  I think we've made zero progress on the litter box front, but we'll get there.

Ryan even came up with an insta-account for him: Nedflixandchill.  Which, you just might see happening here at some point.  I mean, that's pretty cute guys!

Voyageurs - Lake Wissota

 Our last stop on the 10 day trip was to the Chippewa Falls/Eau Claire area where we camped at Lake Wissota State Park.  Making our way back down south and 4 hours closer to home also meant we left the rain behind us and started to travel back to the warm temperatures and sunny days.  

Because the mosquitos were so bad and the rain and burn bans in northern Minnesota we didn't really get a chance to do all the normal camping things like hiking, campfires, s'mores etc until we got to Lake Wissota so we really crammed it in during the 3 days we were there.  Abby hosted lunch one day by making Tonka pizzas for the entire group (she was very proud of this).  We spent two days in the lake though, I think if we had it to do over again we might have tried to rent a boat on this lake too.  It was a big lake and the swimming beach area was a little mucky and shallow to really enjoy fully but it didn't stop the kids!

Mom and Dad hosted an outdoor movie night complete with Papa popcorn.  We watched the new Super Mario Brothers movie which was packed with nostalgia for me (and had me busting out the Nintendo switch the next day at the beach to play a little Mario - which, I should do more often!  It brings me lots of joy!)

One of my favorite memories from this part of the trip was the small hike we did one morning because there were SO MANY geocaches for the kids to find and they were so easy for the kids to be successful with.  Some family hid a series of minions around the trail and it was so enjoyable for the kids to be successful finding them.  They were hidden for kids, not impossible to spot, easily identifiable (they were old canned good cans that were cleaned out and painted like little minions).  Ryan and I have been talking about hiding a geocache for a few years and after finding these I think we'll take some inspiration from the family that hid these and do something similar.

You know what we did on our last morning together at the campsite?  We started planning a trip to Acadia for next summer, 2024!  Yep, even after nearly 10 days of rain we're already starting to think about how we'll spend our vacation next year - hauling our camper across the country, collecting state stickers and stopping at national parks along the way.  

Now this guy - we've got some work to do with him.  He's the best dog - as long as we aren't forcing him to go camping.  There's something about being in the camper solo that he just hates.  We knew it was an issue last summer but we've spent all spring working with a dog trainer to figure out how to get him more comfortable being in the camper.  We haven't quite figured out a solution just yet, but after 10 days together, we've got a new plan and we're going to see how it goes at the family reunion in the Dells in a few weeks.  

Voyageurs - Lake Kabetogama

 

After leaving Ash River we traveled a short distance (less than an hour) to the most western side of the park about 30 minutes south of International Falls.  Our campground was called the Pines of Lake Kabetogama and their website boasted that it was a nationally ranked campground which of course has us all wondering just what exactly it would be like.

As is our way, we'd booked our campsites a year or so out (the moment they became available to book) so we landed some really good premium sites which as it turned out was exactly the right move.  The campground was build on basically two levels, the water level and then maybe 20 or 30 sites up top on a ridge of sorts.  The path up was nearly straight up and down depending on if you were driving or walking but the view from the top was amazing!  Our three sites were positioned right on the point and looked out to the lake.  Mom and Dad's site even came with a golf cart to get around the campground and up/down the big hill.  It sure came in handy for moving people, chairs and coolers!

In addition to Mom/Dad and Dan in their campers Tom and Carolyn also rented the "glamper" that the lake had onsite for people who didn't own campers to use.  Turns out the glamper site was right next to Mom and Dad's site so we had all 4 of us all lined up in a row.  It couldn't have worked out more perfectly if we'd have planned it (which, we did...lol!).  The only thing we wish we could have changed was the weather.  

If we're all really honest with you, the weather on this trip sucked!  It rained every single day we were in Minnesota.  We lucked out to get one good boat day while we were at Ash River, but even that evening it rained.  The weather was no different at Lake Kabetogama and it really made us get creative about how we were going to spend our days.

Our one boat day at this campground couldn't be refunded so we took the pontoon out in the rain and took it across the lake the the Elsworth Rock Garden (pictured above).  The place was totally empty when we arrived (probably had something to do with the rain) so we had the entire place to ourselves to explore.  We saw signs at the local gas station that the National Park charged $60 per person to ferry you over, give you a tour and take you back home again.  If that's the case, our boat rental was totally worth it!  I'm here to say don't spend $60 to go if that's your only option to see it.  We went, we saw, it was ok...not worth $60 per person though.  Our return boat ride was less enjoyable than our way out.  Our way there was drizzily, but the way back we were in a full on rain storm and we all looked the worse for wear because of it it!

But, you know what the rain is good for?  Fishing!  And, thanks to all that rain, Abby caught what she'll probably always remember as her first fish just as we were pulling into the dock to go and dry off and get warm again.  Tom was trying to dock the boat, there was a lot of commotion going on, and all of a sudden I heard Ryan yell that Abby had a fish on the line.  It turns out she caught a 18inch (or so) Northern.  It's a fun fish to catch because they fight and pull on the line and dive deep to try and get away.  Ryan was able to net it and Abby was so proud of herself for catching the ONLY fish our group caught the entire trip.  Ron and Carol caught 2 other fish at Ash River, but for a place known for fishing, we didn't catch much.  Though, we weren't really there just to fish and we probably didn't try hard enough to be truly successful.  

We celebrated Haze's 8th birthday while we were on vacation - complete with a perfect "camper cake" that turned out a little higher on one end than the other because the camper wasn't totally level.  Mom and Dad organized a special birthday scavenger hunt for the girls, that ended with Hazel coming to me to get her birthday present from the entire family - a bunny!  

Hazel has been relentlessly hoping for a bunny for 2+ years now and after 2 very successful hamsters we decided we'd give a bunny a try.  His name is Ned and he's a baby holland lop.  I'll do a full blog post to introduce him later but so far he's been a great addition to the family.  

We had to get pretty creative with how we spent our days while we were here because of the rain but we did what we could when we could get outside and away from the mosquitos.  We played cards and games and figured out how to watch Netflix in the camper for the first time ever (thanks to campground wifi) - the kids loved that!  We visited International Falls and spent an afternoon looking around their local town museum (not the most fun for the kids) and a museum for Bronc Negerski (a former bears player and maybe the only famous person from that town.  

That day in international falls DID lead us to a fun restaurant/bar where we got light beers on tap, listened to a juke box, at cheese curds and tater tots and watched the kids put too many dollars into a claw machine.  A good ol' "Wisconsin" afternoon.

The rain stopped us from exploring a little bit, but this summer has been filled with draught and burn bans and fires in Canada whose smoke travels all the way down to Chicago and New York so, in the end, the rain was good for us all.  And, it led to some beautiful sunsets (when we could get them), a first fish story that Abby will remember for years and lots and lots of cocktails and card games!