Interesting Vacay

Hey Everyone!

I'm back from camping with the family. Good news-we got to leave on Sunday night instead of Monday morning! We had an interesting drive through Duluth, as there was a LOT of construction work going on. And while we were resting at a Rest Stop (haha!) I got a horribly painful charlie horse in my right calf. Ouch. Even though we had a difficult journey, we all arrived at Lake Cadotte at 6 AM!
Cadotte is a long and wide, crystal clear lake...with a surprising number of dead crawdads at the bottom. We counted at least 20 by the boat launch. Luckily, there weren't any at the swimming area. We spent one whole day at the beach-Emily and Elias had a blast.


Cadotte Lake Review:

Likes:
1. Large, open, clear lake
2. Sandy beach
3. Lakeside camping site-gorgeous morning view of the lake
4. Close to Lake Superior-allows for a fun day of riding along the north shore and sight seeing.
5. Empty sites-This Cadotte campsite seems very unknown. The campground had over 23 sites, and only about 10 had people in them. Not only that, but less than half the sites are reservable, which worked out great for us!
6. The old school water pump! Emily, Elias, and I all had a blast using the old pump to fill our water jugs and to take a drink.



Dislikes:
1. Open campsites-you can see directly into the campsites around you. And hear every one's obnoxious generators.
2. The dead crawdads in the lake-yuck!
3. Rain-but that's to be expected up north. The weather will change in an instant.
4. My brother Mikey's consistent wining. He decided to be a crab while we were at Cadotte because a) we weren't at Ely, b) more specifically, we weren't at Fenske Lake, and c)he didn't have much luck fishing.



One day while we were at Cadotte it started raining. So we all got into the Excursion and took off to explore the North Shore! We spent most of the day stopping at trails or waterfalls. We even spent some time on Superior looking for agates, sweet rocks that are mostly only found in the Midwest. Agates are somewhat transparent, with lines running through them. I tend to think they look like layers of caramel stacked on top of each other.
Superior Photo, L to R: Emily (in front L corner), Me, Mikey


And on our rainy day we even got to visit Cascade River! Cascade River is kinda special to our family, because two years ago we spent Christmas at Cascade Lodge, which as you may guess, is right next to the river. I think it might have even been Christmas day when we decided to take the hike to the river. So we got to go there again! This time, we went without snowsuits.
Cascade Bridge Photo L to R: Me and Mikey...Greg, Emily, and Katrina (far back)...and Elias (front in brick red shirt).

But then the alternator went out in the Excursion and we lost all battery power. Thank goodness we were parked at the auto shop of Two Harbors!! Turns out they wouldn't be able to get a new alternator and fix the problem until the next day, but they were kind enough to give all 8 of us a ride back to the camp site.

The next day we got the Excursion back, packed up our things, and headed for Ely (aka Lake Fenske a ways away from Ely). The first night there wasn't any sites available in the camp ground, so we slept in the pavilion. And it rained. Then the next night we were lucky enough to have a campsite. And it rained. Then the next day (Friday), Dad said heck with this, we're leaving. And we came home.

Sorry for the short ending...this is a lot of writing and I get bored easily. :)


But since we came back on Friday instead of Saturday (we planned on extending our vacation to Saturday...didn't happen), I got to go to Wisconsin yesterday to visit my wonderful boyfriend, Matt. :D We had a fun time. Matt's brother Andrew was javascript:void(0)visiting, too, and we all went disk golfing. Sad news-I'm horrible at disk golf. Even sadder news-Matt and Andrew are STELLAR at disk golf. I think they got a kick out of my lack-of-skills.
Picture: Matt playing with my webcam in my freshman dorm

So that's the story of this weekend.



Yahweh bless!
Alycia

Camping Packing List

Ok! It is the day before we leave to go camping. And sadly, I haven't made a packing list as of yet. (Uh-oh!) So I thought I would post my packing list here! On me blog!

Firstly, I should tell you a little about our trip. Usually, we take a 6 hour drive north to Fenske Lake, which is right next to the town, Ely. Ely is your typical tourist trap town-but they do have some great restaurants. I think they also have a shoe store where you can buy Birkenstock's, my favorite sandals!
While my family is at Fenske we have a wonderful time tent-camping.
Mikey usually goes fishing; he'll leave at 8 or 9 in the morning, come back for lunch, and then leave to go fishing again until supper. It's about all he does. But if he's happy, I'm ok with that. :)

Picture: Mikey, Katrina, and Uncle Earl leaving the shore to go fishing. 2009 Fenske Camping Trip.

I think my dad gets a kick out of being a "lumberjack." You know, out in the wilderness, chopping wood, and cooking steak in the fire pit. That's right. I said steaks. When we go camping we always have one night that we have steaks. Yum!

My mom just really enjoys being outdoors. She's been camping at Fenske since she was a little kid. But this year we're going to try something new! We're going camping at Cadotte Lake! It's also north of where we live, but it's only a 4 hour drive instead of the 6 hour drive to Fenske.

We've never been there before, but I think it will be pretty fun. Mom said that if we don't like it, we can just leave the campground and head off to Fenske. So no matter what, we'll have a good time. :)

I should really get back to my original job. The packing list. Things to note when I'm writing the list: we're leaving tomorrow (Monday) and we're going to be camping til Saturday (I think, either that or we're leaving Friday). That makes 6 days and 5 nights. Here goes:

Clothing:
2 shorts
3 pairs of jeans
1 Capri
1 sundress

2 or 3 tank tops
4 shirts
1 long sleeved shirt
1 sweatshirt
1 track jacket

Bandanna (If you don't have a shower-and most likely you don't have a blow drier-you're going to need something to cover up your wild hair)
Baseball cap

PJ's: sweatpants and shirt

7 pairs of socks
7 pairs of undies
4 "boulder holders"
1 belt
Tennis shoes-Asics and Nike
Birkenstock sandals
Flip Flops

Swimsuit

Bathroom:

Multivitamin
Calcium Chews
Face Wash
Toner (and cotton balls)
Moisturizer
Deodorant (even though you're going to smell like bug spray most of the time, you probably don't want to sweat horribly)
Toothbrush
Toothpaste
Pony Tail Holders
"Feminine Products"
Body lotion
Hair brush
Nail Clipper (you'll never know when you'll get a hang nail or a sliver!)
Razors (bring 2 disposables: they can rust if kept in a humid climate after being used, and you might loose one)
Hand sanitizer (even if you have first class bathrooms where you're camping, you probably don't have first class bathroom users-stay clean!)
Lip Balm
Some basic makeup products-Cover up, eye shadow, blush

Electronics:
Cell phone
Phone charger
Ipod
Ipod charger
Headphones
DVD Player (for my younger siblings on the road)
DVD Player plug in
Kid DVDs-Disney and Curious George

Miscellaneous:
Notebook
Song Lyrics (for Arts In show)
Show Script
Pencils and Pens
Book to read (lots of free time in the woods)
Purse
Flashlight
Pillow
Sleeping Bag
David (my teddy bear :D)

*Don't use this list for all of your camping needs, as I am not the only one going on the trip- my mom is packing all of the other necessities*

So that's everything! I hope to write about my trip next week! Over and out!

Dear Family

Sorry bloggers-I know I haven't "blogged" for about a month, but it's been pretty crazy. Lots of work, little free time. But, on with my story.

Dear Family,

I love how you were so thoughtful in allowing me and my pregnant mother to bond. And even better-bond while watching six children! You knew that we would have better conversations if the rest of you weren't there, so it's perfectly understandable that you decided to give all of us some "alone time" by leaving for a Twins game at the new Target Field. All of you are so thoughtful!

Mom and I really appreciate the serentity of watching my two siblings and four cousins for the entire evening. You knew that we wouldn't want to do anything else. It brings tears to my eye when I think of how well you know us.

Thank you,
A

P.S. Next time, think about shooting your feet off before you even DARE consider doing this again.


Narration:

Sorry folks. If you haven't guessed it yet, my little "letter" is dripping with sarcasm. Here's the story behind it:

My dad's side of the family: his parents, his sister (my Aunt A), Aunt A's husband Uncle T, and their children; Andrew, H, B, A, and M, all came to our house.

Origionally, all of the male things, including two of my brothers and my dad, were supposed to have a guys night at the Twins game tonight.WELL, that plan changed rapidly. Without my mumzy or me knowing it. In the end, my grandma, Aunt A, and K (my sista), all joined the crew.

Everybody thought it would be a GREAT idea to make my mom and I stay at home with my sister E (7), brother E (5), and cousins H (3rd grade), B (2nd grade), A (4), and M (2).

The girls; E, H, B, and my brother E, play very well together and don't get into trouble. I hardly have to watch them unless they are in the pool. On the other hand, the two younger boys, A and M, are little terds. They are whiny, attention-grabbing, complaining, loud, obnoxious, and without boundries. Oh, not to mention A decided that he is afraid of our free-range chickens and refused to go outside for half the night.

Then, when we were all swimming, A and M decided that they were afraid of water and didn't want to go near the pool. (While I was watching the 6 kids swimming, my mom was going to have some quiet time to herself. That obviously didn't happen since I can't watch two stinkers while they are inside and I am outside with four kids.)

So in other words, they made my mom and I feel like we were in a living hell. It was just horrendous. I can't believe my dad would just tell all of our relatives that it is perfectly fine to dump 6 kids in our laps and leave. It's the next morning and I'm still pissed off. (Parden my language.)

So now it's Saturday. Origionally, my immediate family was supposed to leave for vacation today. We're going up north to camp out. But no. My dad thought it would be ok to NOT TELL MY MOM and let us have my grandpa's 60th birthday party at our house. And hey, why not invite his sister (my Aunt A) and her family along with my grandparents, to stay for the weekend? Mom won't mind! Smooth move exlax.

If it isn't quite obvious, my mom and I are sorely dissapointed at my dad for a) inviting everyone to stay at our house for 2 nights, b) dump us with 6 kids, and c) cut our vacation time by having a birthday party.

Not to mention that yesterday morning and early afternoon, while Mom was at a lab and midwife appointment and I was at work being a nanny, Dad thought that mowing the lawn was more important than cleaning the house. Mom had told him to clean the house. Can you tell that he takes good direction? Because, you know, we sleep and eat on the grass.

I know it seems like I'm harping on Dad a lot. But he should realize that a) you need to inform people of what is going on AT LEAST 2 weeks ahead of time, or better yet b) always consult your pregnant wife and 6 children before you do something completely stupid. Ok, so maybe what he did wasn't really stupid, but he should really check with the fam.

Oh, and to make matters worse, Dad and my grandpa are out GOLFING while the rest of us were cleaning the house this morning. THANKS POPS!

P.S. Bloggers, I hope to have a happier post next time. Sorry for all of the negativity. :-P

PEACE OUT SUCKERS!