Massners in Minnesota

Well... August pretty much just blew up in front of our faces. 

I don't know where to begin, so I am just going to share pictures of our family vacation for now.

We spent the last week of July in Minnesota with my family in a house on Wynne Lake, which is about an hour and a half north of Duluth. 

But first! The four of us stopped for the night in Minneapolis and got to spend the afternoon and evening catching up with Alice. It was so nice to spend some time with her and very encouraging to hear about her new walk of life as a Christian. 

The boys took a liking to Alice! 

We met up at our hotel, walked to the sculpture garden, and then enjoyed some Vietnamese cuisine for dinner on our way back. 

The Big Rooster

Cherry on a Spoon

LOVE

While we're on the subject of love...we accidentally ordered the "Romance Package" at Holiday Inn Express...thus, the rose petals, candles, and box of chocolates awaiting our arrival. And a crib. Seriously, how much more romantic could it get?

After church, we headed up to the house where we met up with the rest of the crew. Everyone was able to make it - even Billy & Vienna chose us over a trip to Cancun with her family! ;) Ok, so they had to forfeit a trip to Cancun because they didn't have space for Billy once they got married. But I like to think they would have chosen Wynne Lake with the Massners any day over a luxurious resort in the tropics! :) 

Micah was happy for a quick break from his car seat halfway there! He is always full of smiles! 

My parents rented a pontoon for the week, so after retrieving it on Monday, all of us went to Lake Vermilion and spent the afternoon boating, tubing, fishing, and swimming.

Levi may have been a little premature for the tubing experience...

...but driving the boat was probably his favorite part of the day! 

We cooked breakfast and supper at our house every day except Wednesday. Lunches were mostly packed ahead and eaten on the go.

On Tuesday, a few of us went to the pool to swim. Levi loved the water, especially the hot tub!

Micah enjoyed the pool, too! 

Wednesday was our big day, and the day of the matching family vacation shirts. We drove about an hour to get to Gooseberry Falls and spent the afternoon hiking and enjoying the beautiful falls and view of Lake Superior!

Apparently my brothers were lamenting that they weren't allowed to even get close to a waterfall until they were at least 12 years old...hmm...apparently I should be questioning the way I am parenting my 18-month old. 

Our shirts said, "Got Nothin' to Wynne About"

We drove another hour to Duluth, where we boarded a train that took us on a 2 1/2 hour ride along the North Shore of Lake Superior. They served us pizza for dinner. It was very beautiful and relaxing!

Playing with the trains at the station museum before the ride. 

Thursday we went boating on Lake Wynne, where we were staying. It is a pretty small lake, but great for tubing because we about had the whole lake to ourselves!

Enjoying the evening around the fire.

Friday several of us spent the morning/afternoon on the beach. Then...packing and laundry! Matt and I got to go on a bike ride in the evening while the boys stayed back with the crew.

Most of the week, my brothers went out fishing in the mornings and evenings. Their efforts weren't super fruitful, but we did have a few fish to fry up by the end of the week!

Biggest catch of the day! 

Johnny caught a minnow! It was probably one of the smaller fish he caught. Pretty impressive that he caught a fish that was smaller than his hook...

Levi spent the week sleeping in the bunk room with his uncles! Here he had fallen asleep reading his Bible storybook...  

Saturday morning we got all packed up and had just locked the doors of the house when the cleaning lady pulled in at 10:00 sharp! Whew, that was a close one. But hey, at least someone was there to get a full family photo!

We arrived home around bedtime. Back to reality! It was such a blessing to spend a whole week confined to a house with the family. :) And to enjoy some downtime, relaxing, and more of God's beautiful creation! Northern Minnesota is such a beautiful area. 

And I might add that the boys loved the endless attention.

Two days later, August arrived in full force. I will leave you on that cliff hanger for now.

Ok, don't feel like I am leaving you hanging too much. I don't even know what happened in August except that it was a whirlwind.

For now, God's blessings to you in September...fall is such a beautiful time of year!