North Shore trip

We try to go to the North Shore about once a year if we can.  It is my absolutely favorite place to be in MN.  I love the hiking trails, trees, ocean waves.  Well, it is lake Superior but it might as well be an ocean because it has the same feel to it.  And the rocky beaches remind me of our trips to Croatia with my family when I was little although it's on the other side of the planet.  Just a cool place to be and I just wish it was a bit closer so we could go there more often. I definitely want our kids to remember our special trips to the North Shore and I would never trade it for any trip like Disney World.  So many people think they have to take their kids to a "cool" place when we have this amazing place right here in MN.

We made a long weekend of it and it was perfect.  Kids had a blast exploring new places and when we were done for the day they still had enough energy to swim and enjoy the swimming pool for a couple hours.  They had a fun curvy slide at the pool but sadly Kason and Ani weren't tall enough and they didn't allow kids going down with their parents.  Kason was not happy about it but he got over it and enjoyed the rest of the pool.  I had to try it for myself and had a blast, who knew? :)  There were a few times I was going down just giggling and I couldn't stop laughing.  Partly, I think I was getting too tired at that point because giggling like that comes when I reach a certain point in over tiredness.  But it was a lot of fun and Kade did the hotel's challenge, he went down 40 some times to make one mile and they put his picture on the wall along with other one milers.  It was a much needed family time for us though and it was just nice to have that time just the 5 of us.  We took around 300 pictures too which is a huge amount for us because we loved every place we were at.  Sometimes the pictures don't give the places justice because it looked so much more amazing in person.

Ehren and I were also really excited when we discovered a couple new trails we've never been on because they came up to the most beautiful views we've seen around the North Shore.  This one trail we came across looked like nothing when we started and we thought this would be a cute little loop for the kids because it had educational information for kids to read along the path.  Little did we know it came out to the lake shore and the most amazing views of it with all kinds of rocks, caves and stuff.  This summer has been very dry so none of the waterfalls had much water but even so it was very beautiful.

The only place both Ehren and I didn't care for at all was the Gooseberry Falls because it was absolutely packed with weekenders, mostly from the Cities and you would not believe how many dogs people bring there.  It was way too crowded for our taste and so we were very happy that every other place we went to was free of people and it felt like we're the only ones there sometimes.  We would come across people, but nothing like the crowd at Gooseberry and I just cannot believe that all those people take their little trip to see that but have no idea about the gorgeous trails they are missing that are just a little bit more to the North of the Gooseberry Falls.  Well, I guess less people for us to worry about when we go there. :)

As I said before we took a ton of pictures so I apologize for throwing them all on here but I can't tell which ones to eliminate anymore.

the crowded place

Going Home

the bus

Finally the day came when all 3 kids rode the bus together.  This morning I sent them off and came back to an empty house.  It's a good thing, part of growing up but sometimes it's almost hard to believe they're getting that big.  Kason was so excited to go on the bus, he felt really left out before when he couldn't ride it.  I just hope he behaves on there because he can get a bit wild feeding off of other wild boys and there are always some on the bus.  The bus comes to our house exactly at 7:15, give or take 2-3 minutes and if our kids are not standing at the end of the driveway the bus won't even slow down, it just passes by.  So if they're not there in time, they miss it and we have to drive them to school, which so far hasn't happened yet but you never know.  This Fall weather coming makes for a great sleeping weather in the morning too so some days we have very sleepy kids. :)  We wake them up around 6:40 and that gives them enough time to have breakfast and get ready to go.  So here's to the new school year!  Kade and Ani are having lots of fun at school so far and both come home talking 90 miles an hour. :)  I know it will wear off soon and Kade will come home with the "nothing" answer when I ask what happened in school so I'm enjoying it while it lasts.

getting on the bus, into the sunlight

 

school is here!

So the first day of school came.  It was probably the first time I took Kade to school on the first day too.  Usually they just go on the bus, but there was no "open house" this summer and we haven't even met the teachers or anything so it was good I got to go with them.  The school was crazy busy with parents and there was nowhere to park either.  Kade who has been so nervous about going back to school was a trooper and was going around his business right away, putting all the supplies away and stuff.  He did great, I was really proud of him.

Then I took our Ani to her kindergarten class and I think it went well.  She could hardly sleep she was so excited the night before and in the morning but I think it hit her that I'm leaving her when she had to sit in her spot.  She started crying that she didn't want me to go.  I felt bad leaving her there but I knew the longer I stayed the longer she'd cry so I quick said goodbye and none of the other parents were there either so I didn't want to cause disruption when they were about to start.

Then as I went to put something in Ani's locker I took her towel out of the school bag (they need a towel to lie on for rest time) and it was soaked.  The new bottle I got for putting juice in leaked all over her bag.  So a friend gave me an extra blanket but then I had to run around the school to find Kade to see if his leaked at all and so it was a bit stressful by the time I got home. :)  Always something happens the first day of school.

But, they came home all smiles and full of excitement.  Kade likes his new teacher and Anika has a great time too.  Then today was Kason's first day of preschool and Ehren was going to take him.  I didn't know how it was going to go because Kason kept saying he didn't want to go but then when I told him he had to pick out his clothes for preschool he was all for it and I think just that got him excited. :)  He was all cool when they got there, no tears or anything, he was just ready to go.

And so our kids are growing up.  It was a strange feeling this morning when I was left at home with my 2 year old "twins" because neither one was my own child.  It was very quiet and I was happy they have each other because they love playing together and when it is just one of them here they really miss the other one.  I also got my big grocery shopping done with the two of them (YES!) before we went to pick Kason up.  He thought he should stay longer because Anika wasn't coming home with us.  I think this year will be the hardest for him because his best friends Ani and Emily are both in school all day and he misses them a lot.  He kept saying the first and second day "nobody is here, mom" because it was so quiet and all the big kids were gone.  So I hope some friends who have kids his age will come and play once in a while.

Ani and Kade on their 1st day

Kade's 4th grade class

Ani's new teacher

a little sad because it was almost time for me to go

Kason's 1st day

preschool boy

our big 4 year old

last summer day

And our last summer day finally came.  It is Labor Day in the US and in Minnesota we don't start school until the day after Labor Day.  So tomorrow Kade and Ani are starting their school.  Anika is so excited, you can really tell now that she's almost a year older from a lot of kids going to kindergarten.  Not because of her height or being so good at things, just her maturity and not being scared of new things like she was just a year ago.  It makes me think about how Kade was so little going to Kindergarten and was the youngest one there.  I kept asking all the teachers at the time if I should hold him back or anything but academically he was ahead of the class so being held back would make him get bored and now that he's going to 4th grade, you really can't tell the difference between him and kids that are a year older in his class.  Kade is still our homesick guy though when it comes to going back to school and every September we go through a stage when he doesn't want to go to school, he misses me and so on.  But I think this year he's a lot braver about it.  He is nervous but that's ok.  He's after his mom that way. :)  Kason starts preschool on Wednesday and I hope it goes well because now he decided he doesn't want to go to preschool.  I think since he can't go to kindergarten he doesn't want to go to school at all.  So I've been telling him he needs to graduate from preschool first and only 5 year olds go to kindergarten.  But I think he'll love it once he realizes how much fun it is and how many kids his age there are.

Anyway, as part of the last day of summer and a day off from work today we took the kids to Grand Forks to do our favorite bike loop around the river there.  It is about 10 miles which is a nice little bike ride for us but it is a big thing for Kason on his little bike.  Ehren and I were both really impressed by him because Kade had done that bike ride on the same red bike when he was about 5-6 years old and there was a lot of crying going on and his legs being tired.  Our Kason was a little trooper though and was having a lot of fun finally riding his bike on a nicely paved road.  That is, until about 3/4s of the way when he got really tired and was getting frustrated that he couldn't keep up with us.  Plus, it was pretty warm by then and his little face was bright red by the time we got done.  But I was so proud of him, he is a really hard worker and wants to do everything Kade does.  He can get really upset sometimes when he can't do something as well as Kade and it doesn't matter when we try to explain that Kade is 5 years older than him. :)

So, it was a great time for all of us and I think it is a huge milestone in our family because it was the first time ever that all of us biked together without using the bike trailer! :)  I was the most excited of all because I didn't have to pull that heavy weight behind me.  Otherwise I would have been worn out by the end.  I'm thinking I'll take Kade there sometimes, just the 2 of us because then we can go faster.  Anika is very close to be able to bike without the training wheels too, she's been biking a little bit with no help at all but she is a bit more scared than the boys but I'm sure by next Spring she'll do it.  She also loves the tandem bike and I don't think she wants to give that up.

Happy first week of school to you!  I am excited for our kids to start and all of us getting into a routine again.

a little rest with a nice view