Watermelon Day

We always love visiting Stanhope for Watermelon Day in July!  It's such a great opportunity to see both sides of my family, and the girls especially loved holding the babies this year!  Norah also loves the opportunity to get a can of pop at the pop toss.  Such a fun day!

Waterfalls and ice cream

For our third annual waterfall/ice cream day with my friend Kaysie and her daughter Addy, we went to nearby Nerstrand to see the falls.  We have had such a dry summer so far that it was mostly dry, but the girls had fun anyway.  We hit up The Blast in Northfield on the way home for some tasty ice cream!

Beaver Creek Valley

Our annual family camping adventure took us to SE Minnesota this year--Beaver Creek Valley State Park.  We spent the night before in Rochester to break up the drive and drop Sadie off.  Plus, the weather on Monday morning was rainy and we didn't have access to the camper cabin until 3.  We ended up getting to the park just a little after 3, unloaded the car, and headed straight to Big Spring, which was just a short walk from the camper cabin.  We had fun walking across the rocks and dipping our toes in the ice-cold water, and Dave and Norah ended up walking through the deeper part that was waist-deep for Norah.  The girls decided to put on their swimsuits so they could play a little bit more in the water.

Before supper, we decided to go for a hike--we hiked for about an hour up through the woods to a ridge with some great bluff views.  Abby and Norah didn't appreciate the heat and muddy, slippery trails, but there were great views and we even saw a raccoon cross the trail up ahead of us.

After the hike, the girls and I showered while Dave started the fire.  For supper, we cooked hot dogs and s'mores over the fire.  Abby and I did some biking to explore the campground/playground/trailhead area a little bit more.  Dave and Norah walked down to check it out as well.  Before bed, we ended the night with a game and everyone reading in the bunks (Dave in the screened-in porch).

The next morning, we had breakfast and decided to get in our hike before the heat/humidity of the day really kicked in.  We hiked the Beaver Creek Valley Trail, which was more of a flat woodsy/creek/meadow trail instead of the hills from the night before.  

Since it was already getting so hot, we decided to spend the afternoon in Lanesboro.  We had a picnic lunch at the park, then enjoyed cooling off by tubing down the Root River.  Biking would have been fun if we had had the time (and if it had been cooler).  We had been watching the weather, too, and decided it would be better to pack up at the camper cabin and head back to Rochester for the night.  It was a quick trip, but we really enjoyed the park!

Savanna Portage adventure!

This summer was our 9th annual adventure with the Clarks!  Tiffany booked us a camper cabin at Savanna Portage State Park, which was about a 3-hour drive for us.  The first thing we noticed when we parked by the office was the swarms of bugs outside of our car.  By the picnic area at Loon Lake, they didn't seem too bad as we ate lunch and the kids played a bit.  We hiked around Loon Lake, which was a quick 1-mile loop.  

After our hike, we rented a canoe and a kayak and had fun paddling around the lake before a storm rolled in.  

Luckily, when it was just starting to rain, it was time to check in to our camper cabin.  We waited out the rain a bit, then decided to hike to the bog boardwalk.  This turned into more of a jog, as we were trying to escape the swarms of mosquitoes...they were so terrible!  We ended up heading to eat after this short hike, and had a blast at Zorbaz.  The weather was perfect, there were no bugs, and we enjoyed the beach volleyball area while waiting for our food and after eating.  In hindsight, Tiffany and I wished we had ordered a half-size of the Macho Nachoz that were half-price on Monday nights.  They were delicious, but way too much!  Somehow, though, everyone still had room for ice cream after a yummy meal.

Back at the camper cabin, we were proud to start our first-ever fire together.  It did help a little bit with keeping some of the mosquitoes away!

After a good night's sleep, we had breakfast and packed up in the morning.  We always have some sort of memorable adventure on our trips together, and this year, we will definitely remember the BUGS!  It was a beautiful park, though, and always a fun time when we adventure with the Clarks.