Summer Update

This summer flew by! I don't even know where it went. Here are some of the things that we have done this summer.

We went to the Minnesota Zoo for our anniversary. It was fun to see all of the animals. After the zoo, we went to the Cheesecake Factory....YUM!!

We have als done some more camping. The 4th of July weekend, we attempted to camp for the entire weekend. We made it about 12 hours of the weekend. It was so hot and then it poured the morning that we woke up. We also went camping with my brother and sister-in-law a weekend in August. It was fun to sit around the fire and talk about times when we were growing up....aww the good old days!!

Finally....we have both been working like crazy. So then the weekends are catch up time.

Now it is the first days of September and I'm looking forward to the fun days of fall! Some of the things that I enjoy about fall:

Apples, Pumpkins, changing leaves, campfires, cool nights, fresh air, baking

Tradition

I know, I know....I'm horrible at keeping this updated!! I always say I'm going to get better...but then I never do so I'm not even going to say it this time! Warning....it's a long one!!


This year we continued our Memorial Weekend Tradition by camping at Bear Head Lake State Park. The park is only about 15 miles from Ely (which most of you know we love that town). We had such a great time and enjoyed every minute of it.


We stopped at the International Wolf Center in Ely the day that we got up there. Check-in time wasn't until 4 pm and we were up that by 12 pm. We had 4 hours to waste and David had never been to the Center. I must admit, this visit was by far the beats the last time I was there.

The last time there was only 3 wolves and it was raining so they were all curled up sleeping. This time there were 6 wolves and they were all active. It was a good way to waste time.



We saw many animals at this park. This deer was on wandering on the road between the office and our campsite. It was not shy at all. We also saw a fox on the way into the park one of the days. He had just killed a grouse....you could hear it squawking still. He was only about 20 feet from the car and just sat and watched us....you could say we were having a staring contest.

The lake was only about a 100 yards from our site. It was such a pretty lake. Close enough to the Boundary Waters for me! There were a few loons on the lake and also wood ducks. It was fun to watch and listen to them at night.

One of the best parts about camping.....the campfires!! I could sit around a campfire all day long. I love to listen to the crackling and the flames mesmerize you. All of our meals were done on the fire except for breakfast...which we may try to do next time.

At the park, they rent out row boats, canoes, kayaks, and trolling motors. We rented a row boat and trolling motor to do some fishing. We didn't have much luck fishing...well I should say we didn't catch anything big enough to keep. We caught several small sunfish, perch, and rock bass. We did catch a couple of crappies that we could have kept but 2 wouldn't be enough for a meal. I also caught a small northern. We did however catch a sunburn! *Note to self - you can still get burned when it is semi cloudy!! You would think I would learn my lesson...apparently not!

We had to cut our fishing trip short due to some rain that felt the need to rain on our parade...our campsite in our case. Luckily it only lasted about 45 minutes...just enough to get everything wet...including the fire wood. However we are pleased to announce that the tent does not leak!!!

After the rain, we decided to head over to Orr, MN and check out the Vince Shute Bear Sanctuary. I have had several people tell me how great of a place it is to visit. The sanctuary is a place for wild bears to come and get a good meal. The park members put out food for the bears since there are so many in the area and give the public a chance to learn more about them.

This was one bear that climbed way up in the tree. He was pretty cute to watch. I didn't realize just how far up a tree they could climb.

This bear was a little pig. They put the food on these big platforms and he literally went around to about 4 different platforms and had himself a feast!! It was crazy how many bears would just wander on in and then leave when they were full. I definitely recommend this place to anyone up in the area!

So that was our fun filled camping trip. We enjoyed it so much that neither one of us wanted to leave. We do know that we will be returning to Bear Head Lake in the near future! So if anyone wants to join us, feel free too! *Note - there are camper cabins available for those that don't have the equipment.

Post Christmas

Once again Christmas has come and gone. The hustle and bustle has settled down. Things are back to normal....including my living room. This year I was determined to leave our tree up at least through the New Year. Well....that's not the story.....I was frustrated the Saturday after Christmas so I turned up the music and de-decorated our place....then I did a deep clean....I mean I actually dusted our shelves! You should have seen the dust on the shelves.....YUCK! Now things are clean, the rooms look bigger, and I actually have room to move. I love Christmas...but I swear I accumulate more decorations and never get rid of any. Oh well....our house someday will be well decorated.

Christmas this year was a blast.....despite the snow storm (yes, I wanted the snow....just not that much to throw off Christmas plans). We got together with my family on Christmas Eve day. We had so much food and we definitely didn't leave hungry. We had every snack imaginable. I think one of the best gifts that was given was to my dad. We discovered the Duck Hunter. It was so much fun to play with!I recommend this to anyone. It is a bird that charges up and then flies around while you shoot at it. It is hilarious to watch and play. We took it outside and played with it in the snow. I almost got it stuck on the roof.

I'm going to start off by saying that David is the BESTEST husband in the world!! We got me exactly what I wanted for Christmas.

This is my new camera. It is so nice. I can take nice pictures finally!! Plus I can take HD videos with it as well. It is so much fun. My parents got me a tripod and digital scrapbooking software as well and they didn't know that he had gotten this for me. So I am all set now! I can start a new hobby.

Since David is the best husband, I would like to think that I am the best wife....or one that doesn't want to get lost snowmobiling again. I got him a trail GPS.

It is similar to this one. We downloaded snowmobile maps to it so no more getting lost. Plus we can use it to go geocaching this summer.....something that I am really looking forward to doing! So if anyone wants to join in on the treasure hunt....just let us know!

Hope everyone else had a GREAT Christmas!! Happy New Year!

Christmas Baking

When you think of Christmas, everyone always thinks of all of the goodies that comes at this time of year. We have done so much baking in the past few weeks. Some of it was for gifts, other was just out of boredom and because we can. Here are some of our creations.

A lot of sugar right?! I'm sure glad this time of year only comes a year...Good thing New Year's resolutions are coming to make up for all the sugar comsumption!

We wish every one a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a SAFE and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!