Up North - Family Time!

A few weeks ago, Scott, Ava, and I drove north to spend the weekend in Duluth, and visit with his best friend and family.  Ava was pretty excited that she got to spend TWO weekends in a row at different hotels (the previous weekend, we were in Fargo.)  (Side note: I was pretty excited the following weekend to be at HOME instead of in a hotel!)

We've had such a busy summer and we've each been running in a million directions, so it was wonderful to have some down time for the three of us, and not feel like we had to be on-the-go/working during one of the last weekends of summer.  Plus, Ava had never been to Lake Superior or Duluth, so there was the added bonus of showing her some place new.

We drove up on Friday night, and took it easy once we checked into the hotel.  Good thing we caught some extra zzzz's, as we had a really, really long day on Saturday!  What did we do? Let me tell you!

• Slept in (that was a treat because that NEVER happens!)
• Played in a local park
• Walked through the Bayfront Art Fair (I haven't been to an art fair in forever, so it was nice to take our time to look at the different displays, and even make some purchases!)
• Enjoyed the Great Lakes Aquarium
• Meandered over to Canal Park
• Dined at Little Angie's Cantina - and enjoyed the lovely weather on the patio
• Showed Ava the lighthouse at the end of the walkway, admired the boats coming in and out of the canal...and watched the lift bridge go up and down (lots of questions from Ava on that part)
• Decided we wanted to head further north, and drove up to Two Harbors for the afternoon
• Took part in Two Harbors city days - live music, included!  We even made a few new friends at the American Legion (people sure are friendly in small towns...like, REALLY friendly.)
• Ate dinner overlooking the Lake
• Headed back to the Duluth area to visit with Scott's best friend and his family for the evening.  They have two boys (Hunter is a few months older than Ava, and Walker is exactly three years younger than Ava.) The kids had SO much fun playing...there were fireworks, outside games, etc.  I have never seen Ava as dirty as she was at the end of that night!
• Finally got back to the hotel around 11:30pm...exhausted, but happy!

Happy at the hotel! 

 

 

Enjoying the park

 

Playgrounds today are much different than when I was a kid...I didn't even know where to start with this piece of equipment!

 

Neither did Ava - she stuck to the climbing wall!

 

And the boat!

 

Exploring the rocks on Lake Superior

 

Steering a big ship into port at the aquarium

 

Learning about the fish in the lakes

 

I love how Scott is so hands-on with the toys...I think he had a lot of fun with the Great Lakes water display!

 

 

Up!

 

Walking through Canal Park

 

I look really huge here, so it's not my favorite pic, but it's rare that we get pics of the three of us, so...

 

On the flip side, I don't even look pregnant in the one below, do I?!  It's all about the angle... :)

 

Side note: Ava was mad that Scott took a pic of just me, to mark the 28-week mark with Baby Boy (see previous post for pic), so she insisted in being in a picture with me, immediately!

 

 

Walking under the lift bridge, with cars roaring above us...I love this shot!

 

On to Two Harbors!

 

Not excited to see the tortoise, but she did touch the snake, so I'll give her credit for that.

 

Having fun with Hunter - she was so impressed that Hunter has his own four-wheeler!

 

Heading home on Sunday, and dancing in the backseat!

The Goers Family Vacation Weekend 2013 was a success!  It's important that we make time to be together as a family - before we know it, Ava will be grown up and out of the house, so we need to enjoy these moments while we have her with us.

In other news...I had my three-hour glucose test for gestational diabetes this week, and I passed with flying colors.  But, man, my arms look horrible from where they drew the blood.  One of the holes bled for 2 hours!  Just glad that part is done, but, it has made me a bit more aware of what I'm eating during this pregnancy.  Only 10 weeks left of the pregnancy - the end is in sight!! He's really, really active - and different than how Ava was.  She did a lot of punches and kicks, while he is more of a full-body mover.  I still think it's one of the weirdest sensations to think about a little person being inside there, stretching, moving, hiccupping...crazy!

Ava's first day of Kindergarten is this Thursday (the Kindergartens start two days later than all of the other students at Kaposia) so we have that schedule change to look forward to this week, as well.  Personally, I'm excited to have the option to have her eat lunch at school a few days a week so I can take a little break from packing lunches.  We'll see how that goes - and if she actually makes good choices with all of the food options!  I'd love to stop by for lunch once the school year gets underway - just to see how things work.  The menus are pretty nice compared to the hot lunch options that I had as a kid!

Scott had stopped by the new house on Thursday to meet up with the job supervisor, and we made a few minor changes.  We turned the closet from the garage into the kitchen/living room into a little mud room, and will install a bench, cubbies, hooks, etc...I'm pretty excited with that change, as we had lost the mud room option when we switched floorplans.  Also, a lot of the low voltage items (satellite rough-in, security system, multi-media jacks, etc.) have been roughed in...so we're thinking sheet rock should be starting soon!  Which means that we can lock in an interest rate, and get the financial portion of this all set (quick before rates go up anymore!)  Scott is meeting with the job sup again on Tuesday morning for a walkthrough, so I'm hoping we'll get an estimated completion date, as well.  Whew...

Sometimes when I stop and think about everything that's going on in our lives, I get overwhelmed.  So, then I just stop thinking about it, and take one day at a time!  There's a lot we can't control, and we just need to take it as it comes. 

In the meantime, we'll continue to prepare for the (hopefully) final move...and I've started buying a few more things for the new house - just picked out the shower curtain for the kids bathroom...so cute and colorful!  I'm having fun thinking of décor items, but am trying to be restrained in my purchases right now, so we can determine what best fits the space, once we move in. 

One last thing - Scott took Ava up north again this past weekend, so I had some quiet time at home.  It was really nice to be able to go at my own pace, watch a movie, play with the dogs, hang out with a friend, and get stuff done.  Very relaxing...but I was ready for them to come back this morning!

I'm looking forward to all of the changes we have coming - I'm feeling very blessed right now!