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Happy Fourth!

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Happy Birthday, America!  We celebrated by heading up north to spend the weekend with Scott's best friend, Dan; Dan's wife, Sara; and their son, Hunter (he is exactly 10 weeks older than Ava, and a super easy-going kid...Ava was a handful in comparison!)  They had a camper set up for us, so we even had our own space to use - always a good thing when dealing with a toddler (who may or may not have napped enough!)

We drove up on Saturday midday, and when we got there, we found everyone in the backyard, playing in the pool, the sandbox, and on the play equipment.  It was HOT and muggy, so we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible.

I love the trees that you see on the side of the road in northern Minnesota...so different than what we have in the cities.



Notice that there aren't any children playing in the sand box...


Oh, there's one!


Ava's first deer stand experience - Scott is bound and determined that she will be a hunter!


Hangin' with Hunter in the pool...


After dinner, we decided to spend some time indoors.  The kids had fun playing with Play-Doh...and I tried not to freak out too much when all of the colors got mixed together.



After the kids were in bed, we had some fun times with the bonfire.  And the bugs.  Even with the strongest bug spray possible, we still got attacked.  After an hour or two, I gave up and headed inside.


The next day we got up and hung out for a bit...Ava loved playing with all of Hunter's toys.  She was particularly fond of his play guitar.  I think this kid looks like a pro!




Dan inherited some land just outside of Cromwell, and Scott's been helping him clear the land everytime he's been up there.  This time, they needed to chop down some trees and also do some shooting practice while we were there. 

I'm taking a gun safety class starting this week, and Scott thought it would be wise if I had at least shot a gun once before I got there.  I shot a 22 that has been in our family for 60+ years...pretty cool!  And, I even almost hit the target a few times.  It was fun!

Scott's working on the tree here...




Safety first!  Ava loved Hunter's ear protection!


And then she got bored...so we hung out in the truck while the guys finished up.



Saturday night we went over to the lake to visit with more of Dan's family.  Unfortunately, Ava didn't take a nap, and was well on her way to a meltdown by 7pm, so we didn't stay too long.  That girl is NOT shy...she was making friends with everyone...makes it hard to keep up with her!

My first view of our land up north!  We bought into 80 acres with a few other couples last year...I was happy to finally see it for the first time!





It was a great weekend, but it was really nice to come home today.  Hope you celebrated with your own type of fun!

Comments

Typical Suburban Family said…
How fun!! So what is the plan with the 80+ acres? Is it going to just be used for hunting or will you eventually build a cabin up there? Is there a lake too? Happy 4th!
July 5, 2010 at 8:46 PM
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