This past weekend, we took a mini-vacation and went up to Duluth with some friends who also have two boys. K loves Duluth. It's full of rock-climbing, water-splashing adventure ... and you get to sleep in a hotel ... go out to eat every meal ... and frankly just live the life.
I enjoy Duluth, but as anyone who has been up there during the summer can attest to, it is a slightly overpriced tourism mecca. Alas, I cannot complain when I see the smiles on my boys faces (and frankly O is just about freedom, so any chance he had for a little freedom made him happy.)
We got lots of sun, and spent the first day touring an art fest. The best part was the scavenger hunt through the Depot ... it took hours (because we made sure to stop and appreciate everything) and entertained K like there was no tomorrow. O was particularly found of the location in the Children's Museum because he was able to climb over everything, bang blocks and scream ... and he fit right in with the rest of the crowd.
The next day, we went to Gooseberry Falls. It's a great hiking adventure ... of course, the last time we were there I was pregnant with O, so hiking and being pregnant was oh, so fun. This time, we had two strollers, so we weren't able to take some of the more "challenging" hiking trails, so where we had hiked to last time, we drove to this time. After playing in the falls, K had exclaimed that at the lake he wanted to swim naked. At first, I didn't think he was serious ... but I was wrong. He was truly serious. We got to the lake, and there goes my little man, taking all his clothes off. Now, granted in the U.S. we aren't typically ones for extreme nudity ... but more importantly ... the water was unbelievably COLD. How he handled it, I don't know. But he jumped around, swam, played on the little islands, like a carefree boy of yonder before clothes were invented. He had not a care in the world (and I, of course, have pictures to prove it when he's sixteen and can be easily embarrassed.)
The innocence of childhood, those are the moments I want to savor forever. And, O was just a water baby like no one else. He was amazingly good at staying just on the edge and not going in where he'd get wet unless it was his choice. His toothy grin was definitely an added ray of sunshine to the events.
It was a great trip, and I'm happy to add those memories to our portfolio of memories for life.
And ... can you believe it's AUGUST?!!! I cannot ... while this summer has been great (garden, trips, farmers market and just fun lazy days) August means that my favorite time of year is just around the corner...
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