This year for our Pink Family Vacation, we rented a house in the Brainerd area. We were on North Long Lake between Baxter and Nisswa. We all had a good week, relaxing, fishing, reading, playing cards and hanging out together. The cabin had a TV, but no channels came in on it, so the kids ended up watching the few DVD's that we brought with...the rest of us are a little sick of Tom and Jerry and Strawberry Shortcake after watching them multiple times this week. Since we were unable to watch the news or weather, we weren't sure what to expect with the weather, but thankfully it was pleasant weather all week! It wasn't too hot, and it wasn't too cold, it was around 75 to 80 degrees everyday and it never really rained. Although it was windy and cloudy a couple of days, we got some fishing done everyday. We went swimming a little in the beginning of the week, but unfortunately after being in the water less than fifteen minutes on Tuesday, Ron and all three kids ended up getting swimmers itch. They now all have red bumps on their legs and are still scratching a bit. The benadryl and hydrocortizone/calamine lotions have helped, but we are all ready for the bumps to go away. On Wednesday, we attended the weekly turtle races in Nisswa. After eating at Rafferty's Pizza Place "cuz they have beer"...The kids all registered to get a turtle. Tyler was excited and Marisa and Nicholas weren't sure they wanted to touch the turtles. With a little help from Dad and Grandpa, all three were in the same race and it was close. Tyler's turtle turned at the end and wound up second and Nicholas looked like he was close behind. Although Tyler was sad he didn't win, the rest of us were okay as there were over 550 registrants and we were numbers 106, 111, 113 so we would have had to wait around another hour and a half for the semi finals! Instead of watching the rest of the races, we went to the Chocolate Ox and had ice cream instead - Yum! On Friday, we went to the Pirate's Cove to go mini-golfing. At the end of our rounds, we spun the wheel and won two tokens for landing on the same number as a hole in one on our score card so the boys were able to also ride the Go Karts. The rest of the week we hung around the cabin doing a lot of fishing, a little tubing, and a bunch of scratching. All in all, it was a good week, and although we will be looking for someplace new next year, we look forward to another good vacation. Although the pictures are not in the right order, you will be able to see the highlights of our vacation!
Family picture taken from the balcony off the master bedroom:
Fun patterns in the sand after a windy day - and a view of how clear the water was in the lake:
Tyler catches a keeper:
Ron and Nicholas on the go-karts:
Tyler's turn at the go-karts:
Mini-golfing at Pirate's Cove:
The kids liked mini-golfing - it was fun to see Marisa pick up the ball and set it down right next to the hole and "hit it in":
Brian and the big catch of the week:
One of my favorite pictures from the week - the kids on the dock at sunset:
The best part of fishing - eating them!
Daddy, Marisa, Tyler and Brian head out to fish:
Tyler and Nicholas show the catch of the day:
Nicholas fishing:
Marisa enjoying her "superman" ice cream from the Chocolate Ox in Nisswa:
Turtle Races in Nisswa - Grandpa helped Marisa, and Daddy helped Nicholas:
The kids in Nisswa:
Marisa and her big catch with her little fishing rod:
The cutest little fishergirl:
Marisa blowing bubbles on the deck with Tara - another favorite activity:
The boys heading out on the lake:
Tyler and Tara worked on a puzzle during the week also:
We saw pretty sunsets almost every night:
Marisa "fishing" in her pajamas - testing out her new rod before we actually put a hook on it:
The cabin we rented for the week:
Swimming on the first day, the lake is really shallow for quite a distance, the boys were able to walk quite a way out into the water with daddy, and nobody got swimmers itch on this day:
The kids in the car on the way home, we ended up stopping to eat in Clearwater and ran into one of Tyler's fifth grade teachers, so Tyler thought that was pretty cool. Then it was back in the car, where we ran into a road closure on I-94 due to a semi truck that overturned which backed traffic up for hours...we ended up going through Buffalo to get home - who would've thought!!!! We left Brainerd at 10:00, stopped to eat for maybe 45 minutes and didn't get home until about 3:30 - yuck!!!
As you can see, except for a few bumps along the way, it was a good week and we look forward to another trip next year!
Tyler's team had a good hockey season, they won two tournaments and had a winning record overall. He did suffer one concussion early on in the season, but was able to come back and play after about a week of rest. One highlight was being able to play a scrimmage in Mariucci Arena on the MN Gopher's ice.
Marisa has had fun hanging out with Mom and Baby Lauren - the baby that Mom started babysitting three days a week. She loves to help but her down for a nap and getting her toys, diapers etc. She also loves to dance to music , play in the sandbox and jump on the trampoline. She is growing so fast and it is hard for Mom to believe she will be starting Pre-K in the fall. 
Tyler received a GPS for a present this winter and is loving his new hobby - geo-caching. He loves trying to find the hidden treasures and has hidden is own cache near Grandma's house in Wabasso. Whenever we are going somewhere he and Dad look to see if there are any caches hidden near where we will be and he has fun trying to find them. 
Now that summer is here, we are hoping to spend more time at the camper. With the soccer and lacrosse schedules, we haven't been able to get there for more than one night at a time. In a couple of weeks we should be able to start spending more time at the campground where the kids love to swim, go for walks, ride bikes and get ice cream from the office.
