A mini vacation to Duluth

We decided on Wednesday to head up to Duluth for the 4th.

We left around 6:00 am and Matthew was pretty excited that we let him have a hot dog from the gas station for breakfast.

This is the look he gave me when I told he he had to let me take pictures or not fish.

When we got to Duluth we ate at Grandma's. A cute place on the boardwalk. The waitress asked us if we wanted to eat upstairs where it was "Seat your self" Mike was totally confused in why I said yes. When we got up there he said "all they have is Cesar Salads?" I about died laughing! No, dear "Seat yourself!"

They had a bunch of old signs hanging up and I was trying to get a few of them in the background.

Mike and Matthew were horsing around all the way to the lighthouse.

The wind up here was so strong. It was funny watching Matthew's hair go all over.

That is a ship wreck back behind Matthew.

We stopped at these falls on the North Shore drive that Mike and I were in awe over. Not a good awe either. There were people climbing all over these sharp. slippery rocks! High cliffs, and little kids everywhere. We had to leave quickly. As a mother I just knew it was a good place for someone to get seriously hurt. Mike agreed that is was rather insane that they would allow it.

This is Mike and Matthew standing above the second falls, looking at the first falls. I realize now that I should have taken a few pictures of the craziness.

Mike's uncle John has a series of pictures of tree roots like this that he just loves. When we saw this tree at suicide falls(my name for it) I had to get some shots.

Our first fishing spot. The water was amazingly clear. That is one thing I had heard about Lake Superior. So clear in fact that you could see that there were no fish!Our second try at fishing was at Dumbell Lake. It was about an hour off highway 61 and seriously in the middle of nowhere. Mike said at one point during our drive that it was the first time he had ever felt "alone" in Minnesota. We had a few visitors show up while we were there and I seriously wondered if they were going to rob us. I could honestly hear banjos playing!

Matthew was so excited to fish that he picked up his tackle box without it being latched and dumped it all. I threw everything in the top for him so he could get to fishing.

Mike spent a few minutes trying to fix Matthew's line. In the mean time he caught this little fish without even knowing. The only fish they caught the whole trip.

I don't know why but I am fascinated with the carvings on the dock. I loved seeing Mike's name. He was less than impressed.

Matthew catching a giant dragonfly.

Matthew being himself

I have to say that the beach was the absolute best part of our trip. We had a blast. It was cold and muddy and incredible. Loved every second of it. Matthew found this snorkel. He was so excited. He said "look! I can just wash it off" No!!!! Then later he dropped his drinking straw and was horrified that we told him to just wipe it off.....????

Mike's Oh My this is COLD face!

Only in Minnesota do you have to swim with your sweatshirt on.

Are you all saying "wow" she really was there!

look at how dirty those feet are.

At first I thought "yeah" this is not my tub! I don't have to clean this mess. Then I realized that I needed to use it the next day, and there is no way I could leave this mess for someone else.

When Matthew puts these on he askes us to call him "Goggle boy" :-)

Outside our hotel in the morning.

French Silk pie for breakfast....lucky kid.

Before leaving Duluth we stopped at the Aquarium. It was a huge waste. If you ever go up there save your money. It was $40.00 for the 3 of us and another $5.00 to park!!!! Seriously...I bet they had 10 displays. I will say Matthew loved it. Too bad Mike and I were so disappointed.

Petting Sting Ray's

After leaving Duluth a day early we decided to go to a Twins game on the way home. It was cute to see Matthew get so excited over home runs and his favorite player Joe Nathan hold on to a win for them.

The bull pen was right below us.

Home run!

Twins win!!!!

I hope you are all still with me...that was a lot of pictures! You should see all the other ones:-)