Duluth October 2018

Last month we were able to spend a few days in Duluth where we ate, shopped, played and enjoyed some overdue family time. We lucked out and scored a room in Canal Park where the kids had a great time in the outdoor rooftop pool! Although air temps were chilly, it felt more like a hot tub than a pool. 

With a recent massive storm, the lakewalk was pretty torn up, but that didn't stop us from exploring every day. We climbed on rocks, did gymnastics on rocks and built with rocks. And let's not forget that Regan taught all of us how to skip rocks, she's quite the pro at it. 

Sidney spends more time upside down than she does right side up on most days. 

She is constantly with her hands on the ground. 

This photo cracks me up. While these boulders look easy to climb on, they are beyond unstable and wobbly. Regan and I were trying to capture the beauty of nature in a mother/daughter photo using my camera timer. She was set up nicely and my job was to set the camera on a rock and then run to pose next to her.....except I ended up stepping on a wobbly rock and went down quickly, flat on my back. See me laying down there below?! 

Regan took full advantage of my mishap and gave the camera a thumbs up just as the photo clicked! Thanks kiddo :) 

Although Lincoln was begging to get out to the lighthouse, when it finally came down to the walk, his legs were suddenly tired and he wanted very little to do with getting out there. It probably took at least 45 minutes to make that 2 block walk.

But he sure had fun chasing birds around along the way.

Ryan took us to one of his former stomping grounds across the border. He scored the most ridiculous sized beer for roughly $5. What?! 

We all giggled when reading the menu saying that children under 21 are allowed to drink alcohol with their parents permission. Don't get any ideas kiddos. 

After a stop at the college, and spending a crazy amount of money on new UMD clothes, we headed over to the Amsoil Arena. My cousin happens to play hockey for UMD so we showed our support cheering her on, and getting some fist bumps from the Bulldog. 

One evening I made a suggestion to check out Enger Tower at night. Shockingly something Ryan had never seen before. When we travel abroad (and even out of state, I have a thing about always finding the highest point in the city for a view). We had never seen this view at night, so it was an easy sell. 

The kiddos were hilarious running around up inside the tower (we had it all to ourselves), screaming about the boogeyman coming to get them! 

Isn't it pretty? 

I have to admit, I was a little scared to be walking around. It was dark up there. Like pitch black dark. And I have a silly mind that always thinks the worst. 

It's not always easy to convince Ryan that we should take a long weekend trip, but whenever I mention Duluth, he jumps on board faster than I can say the dates.
I'm so glad we had an opportunity to sneak away and explore Duluth once again. 

Duluth summer trip

We ventured north to Duluth last weekend, and decided to just keep on driving. It was a quick getaway, one that would be a surprise to the kiddos (mostly because we didn't want to listen to "when do we leave" for the 400th time), but also because impromptu family vacations are fun!

We clued them in a couple of days prior to leaving, so they could have a say in a little planning and allow some time to get excited to head out for a weekend in Duluth. Ryan had some ideas for what he wanted to accomplish (food, drinks and a stop at the UMD store), I had purchased tickets for Lincoln to ride Thomas the Train, and the girls were open to exploring! After taking some time to think about it, Ryan and I can't recall ever having taken a trip to the Duluth area in the summer. So we had a lot of plans in mind!

After a lunch stop at Gordy's High Hat in Cloquet (one of Ryan's choices), we headed to UMD where we spent far too much money before venturing further north to our first spot of exploration: Gooseberry Falls. As we drove, Ryan and I conversed about the last time we had been there, 19 years ago!, and how we hit a deer after having decapitating the poor deer. It's about all that I can remember from that trip to the Falls. Sad, right!?

check out those tree roots!

The falls didn't disappoint this time around. They sure weren't running nearly as full as in the pictures, but that allowed for some great memories watching the kiddos wade through ankle deep water. We were also able to get over to a few areas that we may have not been able to reach had they been flowing any faster.

We took our time checking out all the nooks and crannies, hiking down and around, finding bridges and stairs. I took what felt like hundreds of pictures to the rest of the family. They were clearly over my requests for pictures: I hollered down to 3 of them to turn around and smile; without skipping a beat, Sidney headed left, Lincoln headed right, and Ryan turned around to smile :) Hilariously perfect shot!

Eventually we climbed back into the truck and headed even further north! We looked at the map and realized we were only 7 miles from Split Rock Lighthouse. It was becoming too late into the day to actually tour the lighthouse, but that wasn't what we wanted to do anyway. We pulled off at a Lookout Point and headed down the path in search of Lake Superior, with hopes of finding the perfect location to view the lighthouse. After a 10 minute hike, we failed to find what we were looking for and opted to travel further north. Eventually, we found the right location, and headed out on a short hike. We passed by a sweet gentleman who pointed us in the exact direction we were hoping for: Split Rock Lighthouse. 

Turns out, this ended up being a favorite part of the trip for all of us. Unplanned, adventurous and beautiful. We were all in awe of the beauty in front of us. 

I couldn't help but think of my dad as we were joined by two men who were flying a pretty decked out drone all the way to the lighthouse and back. Lincoln was in love with watching their "copter". 

And then, it was time we headed back to Duluth's very own Canal Park to locate some late dinner. Thankfully I had a nice bag of road trip snacks packed for us to enjoy as we made our way back. Despite the late hour (it was nearly 7pm), we still had a 30 minute wait for our table. The kids took this moment to enjoy Lake Superior from Canal Park and attempted their hand at skipping rocks while Ryan enjoyed a beer from a local brewery. Win for everyone :)

After dinner we finally found our hotel and it was just a quick sleep before we were back in the city center for day two! The whole reason we decided on Duluth for our weekend getaway was because Thomas the Train was going to be at the Depot and we just knew Lincoln would love it. He picked me as his date for the day and we enjoyed some wonderful one on one time as he leaped around from activity to activity, train table to toys and finally heard the train whistle signifying our turn for the train ride.

While he and I had some much needed preschool fun, the girls and Ryan took a tour at Glensheen Mansion. They were so happy to have gone and truly enjoyed learning/seeing all the things the Mansion has to offer.

Another stop in Canal Park for yet more food, more exploring and we were ready to pack up and head home. We made a quick pit stop at another brewery for Ryan's sake before embarking on what would be a very  long (construction and traffic filled) drive back home: 4 hours long! As we drove, Ryan reminded me about a conversation we had not terribly long ago. We commented that there is so much to see in our very own state and we often think we need to get on an airplane to experience a vacation. We continue to learn that this is really not the case and are getting excited to plan another more-local, weekend getaway! Here's to more family time :)