North Shore

We continued with our annual Bishop tradition and headed up to the North Shore for a long weekend!  We started this tradition when Carla was pregnant with Bishop and this year we had 3 kiddos......all under 2.5 years old.  Next year there will be 4 under 3.5!

It was a fun weekend - never a dull moment!  Everyone told me that vacations would take on a new meaning after you had kids and it's so true.  It's awesome but exhausting at the same time.

We drove up on Thursday and hiked around until the Froehle's got there.  Madelyn and Bishop were equally as excited to see each other when the Froehle's got there!

Our family

Walking with Nana & Papa

Madelyn can't stop laughing when she's with Bishop!

Nana time!

Bishop sharing his bread!

Love this smile

On Friday we went to Oberg Mountain.  This is a hike we have done before and it usually takes around 45 minutes.  Since Madelyn wasn't so fond of being in the backpack the whole time, about 1/2 way through she wanted to walk.......therefore the hike took closer to 2 hours.  She is becoming more independent and it's fun to watch her grow up but everything takes a little bit longer :)

The Whole Crew

Daddy & Madelyn

Nana, Daddy & Madelyn

Daddy & Madelyn with a funny face

The Froehle's

Nana & Papa

This is the first picture Carla & I have taken together for a long, long, long time!
We used to have tons of the 2 of us but now we are usually chasing our kiddos around!

Madelyn hiked on her own for part of the time

Bishop explaining all about the hike

Love!

Bishop found two walking sticks and shared one with Madelyn!
Bless his heart!  She was in heaven :)

Beautiful sunset

Friday night we celebrated Luke's birthday!  My mom made him his favorite dessert which means we all got to enjoy it too!  Luke is such a great sport to share his birthday celebration with our family!  This is typically the weekend that we head up north and it usually falls on/around his birthday.

Luke's birthday celebration

Saturday morning started off early for our family.  Madelyn was up at 5:25 and showed no signs of going back to sleep in the pack and play.  Ryan, Madelyn and I drove around until around 7:00.  Madelyn slept until 6:30-6:45.  Then we decided to get donuts as that was our reward for being up so early :)

Enjoying our donuts

On Saturday we decided to hike up & around Lutsen.  Poor Madelyn didn't do so well.  We got about 45 minutes into our hike and she just melted down.  She only wanted "mommy".  She was sobbing and screaming.  I ended up carrying her down, which is quite the challenge on a rocky terrain and being 25 weeks pregnant, but we made it and then she just relaxed when we got back to the room.  The Froehle's continued hiking and got to explore much more than we did.

My mom & me!

Madelyn after she was carried down the mountain.
Fast asleep in mommy's arms.

We always love swimming!  It's become a tradition that the babies go under water on this trip for the first time.  Bishop was 2 years ago, Madelyn was last year and it was Nora's turn this year.  Poor Nora ended up having a double ear infection so I'm sure she wasn't fond of going under but she did great!

2 sisters pictures in 2 days!

All the swimmers

A little nervous about the slide

but she did great!!

Auntie Carla and  Cousin Nora

We left on Sunday morning.......much earlier than we had planned.  Madelyn was up around 5:30 again so we had decided on Saturday night if she was up before 6 we would just take off.  So we were on the road by 6!

Maple Grove Maze

Yesterday we checked out the Maple Grove Maze.  We bought a membership to the Maple Grove Community Center and this is one of the other options, besides swimming.  I know Madelyn will have a blast here as she gets a little older as she enjoyed the kiddie area quite a bit!  Ryan did too :)

Apple Jack's Apple Orchard

Yesterday we went to Apple Jack's apple orchard which is west on hwy 55.  What a fun place!  There are so many different things to do there and it was a beautiful day.

Madelyn loves eating apples so it was perfect that you could sample many different kinds of apples.

There was a slide & petting zoo which Madelyn really enjoyed as well.

Madelyn was interested in the pony.  She wanted to go up and pet the pony.  We decided to see how she would do on a pony ride.  At first she screamed and screamed but then she liked it and at the end she didn't want to get off!  I wasn't sure how she would do since she usually loves to look at animals from afar but as soon as she gets close to them/they get close to her she freaks out.  We were so proud of her!

petting the pony

riding the pony

still riding

all done!

Then we measured Madelyn to see how tall she is.  She never stands still so these were the best we could get!

Then we were off to play in the corn pit!  Madelyn wasn't so sure at first so I sat in the pit next to her but by the end she was playing all by herself and loving it!

tired of riding in the wagon so Madelyn decided to walk

 We had a great time!  We will definitely go back next year.  As Madelyn gets older there will be more & more things for her to do.  She was wiped out as she napped all the way home and then slept for 2 hours once we got home (total 2.5 hours)!  I think that's a record.