Balsam Lake - The Boat

We had a great time vacationing at Balsam Lake!

Our friends Eric and Gini have relatives with a lake house in Wisconsin, and they invited us to stay there with them for a week!  How fantastic is that?!  We are going to do our best to stay on their good sides so we can go back again!

Grace ADORED riding in the boat.  She loved standing in the back and watching the wake, as well as dropping and lifting the anchor.  She likes to go FAST!

She was often pensive while we drove the boat, but she would occasionally let out a giggle of glee when we hit some choppy patches.  She also liked to exclaim, "I like the boat!" repeatedly.

Clara wasn't a huge fan, but she put up with it mildly sometimes, especially if there were crackers involved.  I don't think she liked wearing the life vest or the cold wind when we were really moving.  We tried to take Grace out a lot during her morning nap.

Gini and Eric have a son named Ethan who is about to turn 2.  They both enjoyed watching the action as we zoomed along!

I think I will divide my pictures into a few postings about this vacation, so stay tuned for more pictures later!

Vacation Day 1

This is my 300th posting!

We are on vacation in Minneapolis and having a great time!

The girls have been really great being good sports with the traveling.  Grace really enjoyed Tom and Jerry and Looney Tunes videos that we borrowed from Avery.

Clara was a rock star in this folding stroller pretty much all day.

We went to the Sculpture Gardens and it was perfect for strolling around with the girls.  Grace really liked most of the sculptures, but this one was too scary.  It was of clothes with invisible bodies inside of them, so I don't blame her!

Grace helped out by pushing Clara around.

Spoon bridge to nowhere!  You can't tell in the pictures, but there is water flowing over the cherry.

The requisite family shot!

All of this activity conked out Clara, but not Grace!

More to come, stay tuned!

One Year Old!

Clara turned one year old a week ago!

We had a great crowd here to celebrate:  Grammy and Grandudes, Aunt Sam and Uncle Brian, and GiGi as well!

We all had a wonderful time celebrating together.

Clara had a cupcake just as Grace did on her first birthday.

And she loved it of course!  She was very neat about it and didn't get it in her hair.

We spent the long weekend relaxing mostly,

but we also enjoyed swimming in the hotel pool

and playing at the park!  (do you see Grace and Brian running around in the background?!)

Both girls soaked up the love and attention

and loved every minute!

Aunt Sam and Uncle Brian had to spend an extra couple days because of the bad weather here, but we didn't mind at all!  Uncle Brian babysat for several hours while we worked and he survived with a smile on his face!  He is as avuncular as they come.