Vacation

We had a wonderful vacation. Though it's been a few weeks, I think we're still riding our vacation high. Emma still frequently brings up the things we did and laughed about.  We loved being together for a whole week - no work, no definite plans, and a week spent with great family. 

We stayed in a beautiful barn about 6.5 hours north in Maple, Wisconsin. The barn was built out of torn down old barns, and it was fabulous. 

The girls did great on the car ride. I usually enjoy the car ride, but I was worried about Eva - who ended up doing exceptionally well. She watched Barney tapes and ate messy oreos which did a great job of keeping her happy (and her dad anxious). Cousin Logan rode with us on the way home, plopped right between the two girls. He was a huge, huge life saver.

If you ask Emma what her favorite part of vacation was, she'll tell you the beach. She wanted to be at the beach 24/7. She's obsessed with water, and jumped in even on the days it was freezing and I could barely put my feet in. 

We collected a lot of sea glass and neat rocks along the beach. There were also areas where the ground was pure clay, so we had a lot of fun creating sculptures and keepsakes.

Eva ate a ton of sand. A ton. She puts everything in her mouth, and doesn't seem to mind if it tastes gross. She loves sand, dirt, rocks. She was a bit of a challenge at the beach, but loved it nonetheless.  

There was an outdoor shower at the barn. Emma and Joey took most of their actual showers there, and it was perfect for hosing off after the beach. The barn was on over 300 acres, so it felt like we were in the middle of nowhere. The gentleman who helped get us settled said there were 3 or so bears that lived on the property. Our burn barrel got dumped by one, and we saw a big pile of poop in the driveway - then driving down our lane one of the car loads spotted a big one darting across the drive. I was hoping to see one, but thankful they didn't seem too interested in us.

Emma was giddy about being with her cousins every day. I think she liked that even more than the beach. Some of my fondest memories as a kid are from vacations, and I love that Emma is 4 and making lots of memories.

One day a large group went canoeing, including Joey and Emma. I thought Emma would love it, but I guess Joey and his dad had to paddle as quick as possible to get a screaming Emma done and back home. She says she'll never canoe again. It was funny because when they got home I asked Emma how it went and she excitedly told me, "Great mom! I was in a boat!" then happily skipped off. Hunter was standing behind her shaking his head and quickly filled me in.

On a few of the days we went into Deluth, MN to go to a zoo and an aquarium amongst other things, but spent the majority of our time hanging out at the barn which was perfect.

The weather was great for our week there. It was pretty hot the first few days, then cooled off towards the end.

This picture makes me laugh because I picture Eva saying, Oh try it Mason it's delicious! And Mason's like Eva, there is no way..

It was such a treat having family around 24/7 to keep the girls entertained. I kept telling Joey the girls were going to be so bored when we got back home. They both got used to having all kinds of activity going on.

my favorite blurry picture from the trip

One afternoon the tide was high down at the lake, and we found a fresh water crab and a fish trying to get back to sea. Emma wanted to keep them both. I think she kept the poor fish out of water for a bit too long, and had a fit when we threw it back.

We had fun at sunset. Lots of fun.

I never knew sink baths were so awesome. We had this beautiful farmhouse sink at the barn, and now I want one at home. Eva fit in it perfectly, and I only wish I had figured it out before the middle of the trip. 

The great grand kids.

G G, and all of her grand kids and great grand kids.

Sometimes vacations end and i'm ready to go home, but this vacation I could have easily stayed for a few more weeks. The last few nights we were there Emma was telling us through teary eyes that she missed her home and Diesel. She is such a home body that girl.

We go on vacation with the Hundertmark family every 2 years, and we're already counting down the months until our next one. 

Happy summer. Happy vacation.