Quick Trip (not Kwik Trip)

If I ever became a small business owner my very first rule would be that the title of the business must be correctly spelled. No "Kwik"s, no "Froot"s, no "Fil-A"s. But now that we've got that out of the way, I wanted to write a quick (not kwik) update on the trip Forrest and I took for our 22nd anniversary.

It was a spur of the moment getaway, but we figured we didn't have much time left to be able to use Ethan as the man of the house, so we took off on a Sunday after church and headed for Duluth. First stop was Gooseberry Falls State Park.

I felt that Forrest must pose next to his old timey doppelganger:

We took a few selfies:

And then a few photos without our giant heads in the way to better commemorate the natural beauty:

That night we stayed in a cute little motel--clean, but small. Quaint, if you will. The bed was supposedly a queen but we had our suspicions that it was actually a double trying to put on airs. We woke up in the morning and biked down to the famous Duluth Split Rock lighthouse, but my phone was dead so no photos were taken. In case you're curious, this is the Split Rock lighthouse:

(Yes, I stole the above photo from the Internet.)

We spent the day exploring the Iron Range by car and by bike. It was fun to see some of Forrest's old mission stomping grounds like Hibbing and Grand Rapids, but the real highlight was biking the Mesabi (not wasabi) Trail. It's a paved biking trail that extends over 100 miles in Northern Minnesota and takes you through some really beautiful landscape. I admit to being a bit nervous about whether I could keep up with Forrest--the longest bike ride I'd done up until that point was about 14 miles. But I managed to do bike over 50 miles over the course of two days and I didn't die. My quads were sore (I love saying that: my quads are sore! Makes me sound so athletic) but it was a lot of fun. The weather was sunny but relatively cool and the company was top notch. So glad we did it.

Forrest in the little town of Virginia, Minnesota, where we stopped for lunch at a little Mexican restaurant. Two tender mercies: I was able to eat Mexican food and still keep biking, and we didn't bring any bike locks and just leaned our bikes outside the restaurant but no Virginians swiped our rides.

Pretty sights:

More pretty sights. Pretty sights at the top of a hill are particularly pretty when you're biking because you know you get to go down the hill.

Helmeted couple, married 22 years:

And while it still seems crazy to me that we've been married that long, what's even crazier is that in a couple of days we're taking this kid to college:

It kind of breaks my heart a little, posting that picture. That little boy isn't going to be living at my house anymore. Unbelievable.

We had a goodbye dinner with the Harrises because they were heading out on vacation and not getting back before we left and both Ethan and Josh are going to college (BYU and BYU-I). Forrest ordered the cake:

Ethan's father is so sentimental.

A couple other pics, for posterity:

Elise and Somer have the exact same hair color and length. They looked almost like twins both wearing their grey shirts.

The whole gang, including the Harrises' crazy dog that is a great reminder to us that we really shouldn't get a dog. He's cute and everything but still.

I'm always so grateful for the good friends in our ward here in MN that have become in many ways like family. It's so much easier to live away from actual family when you have a Mormon family to be there for you.

And now we've got dozens of little details to button up before our final road trip of the summer . . . and we'll come home one kid lighter! I know I keep saying it's unbelievable, but seriously. It is.

Family Vaycay 2014 Part 2

We finally made it to the Outer Banks and a great time was had by all. We stayed in a small town called Frisco on the southern end of the Outer Banks and I really liked the less commercial atmosphere. It was even better that we got to share a beach house with Darrin and Katie and their five kids, as well as Creed and Lana and their son Kade. And even EVEN better that Grandma and Grandpa Sweat and Andrew and and Andrea were just 30 minutes away in Salvo--we got to hang out with them too. Friends AND family!

The house:

We all fit great (and somehow Forrest and I got the only room with a king sized bed). The lower level pool table was a big hit--the Hallstrom family got lucky in the sweet sixteen pool tournament--and the little kids got a lot of use out of the hot tub. Here they are relaxing after a long day boogie boarding:

The view was gorgeous too. A few scenic shots:

The walkway to the beach

Our one and only neighbor to the south

The beach by the broken pier. I guess it's been broken for a while now -- I found it kind of charming.

The best part was the ocean right outside our door. Everybody having fun in the water:

We like to call the skim board below the "skim board of death." Poor Creed BROKE HIS ANKLE within 1 hour of arriving at the beach taking that thing for a spin. Unbelievable. But he hobbled around on his crutches in very good spirits throughout the vacation--an inspiration! Needless to say, I didn't try it.

We didn't spend all day in our swimming suits, though. We got out and did a little sightseeing and enjoyed some good food. For example, lighthouses, which are a big deal in the OBX. Lighthouse number one, I climbed to the top, which is quite an accomplishment given my acute fear of heights, amplified whenever children are present.

Elise and Jane, two of the present children.

Up, up, up the spiral staircase

Yiiiiiiiikes! 

Lighthouse number two. Very cool to look at. Everyone but Jonas and me hiked to the top of that one. Me because I was scared and Jonas because he was one part supportive of his mother and another part hot and tired.

Jonas and me, chillin like villains. 

We met my family for some tasty seafood. Enjoying a little crab:

Or, if you're not the seafood loving type, chicken fingers. Good old chicken fingers:

This is the bathroom of the seafood restaurant. I absolutely had to take a photo:

 We also ate at a lovely restaurant, grownups only, with Darrin & Katie and Creed & Lana. Delicioso, and a beautiful view of the Sound:

Our last full day there we rented kayaks and paddle boards and tooled around the Sound side of the island:

Paddle boarding wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Pretty peaceful actually:

I love this pic:

One of our best little field trips was to the sand dunes at Jockey's Ridge state park. All the rolling sand hills are pretty breathtaking. And the kids (young and old) had a blast running and jumping. No special equipment needed, no entrance fees, no electronic hookups: just run and jump and have a grand old time. I got some great use out of the Nikon's super-fast shutter speed and captured some awesome leaps. And admirable attempts at leaping:

Contemplative Grandma

Ready . . . Set . . . Go!

The big boys, airborne

That's my man, riding an invisible horse

The girls getting at least a little bit of air

Brandon is impressive. Highly impressive. 

Wyatt, skipping a bit before the leaping

Ethan is also an invisible horse rider

Grandpa gets air! Grandma got wicked good air too . . . I just didn't snap the photo in time. ;-)

All the ladies. The rear view was the least objectionable. :-)

It shows how secure I am as an adult woman that I actually posted this on my blog. Wouldn't this be a memorable Christmas card photo?

A few miscellaneous photos:

My rugged cowboy

Tie dying--an North Carolina vacation tradition

Elise and I, learning about shipwrecks. Also, that you can't take photos of old Civil War uniforms for some reason. 

Little knuckleheads. They had such a great time together. 

A little photo shoot one evening on the beach:

It was a wonderful vacation--worth every mile traveled. So glad we got to spend it with fantastic friends and family.

See if you can find Ethan

Now back to real life!