Day 1,578 of our trip

In some ways it seems like we have been on vacation for a really long time. We left last Thursday on our drive to the Midwest and here it is a week later and we still won't be home for a couple more days. The trip has been very successful so far. The kids have been fantastic and for the most part the weather has been nice. Some days have been cloudy or chilly but at least we haven't really had much rain except when we were driving.

Yesterday morning we packed up the car again and headed out of Decorah to go up to the lake. My Aunt Lin and Uncle Jim have a house on Lake Mille Lacs and we're up here for a few days to visit. When I was a little girl Jim let Grandma and Grandpa live up here so to me this always used to be Grandma and Grandpa's house. There was a small house that they lived in and a trailer that Jim used when he came up to fish. The long term plan for this property was always for their retirement. Over the last year and a half or so they've built their dream house up here and let me tell you....the place is GORGEOUS! There is a library with twelve foot ceilings with bookshelves all the way up. They have one of those sliding ladders that go around the room so that you can reach the books on the higher shelves. There is also a beautiful fireplace, two soft chairs to sit in, and a view of the lake. The kitchen is state of the art, of course, (my uncle is a fantastic cook) and there is even a setting on his custom made stove that allows you to put a chocolate chip cookie on a paper plate on top of the burner and it will not burn the plate but will melt the chocolate chips in the cookie. I'm going to have to try that out later after we go to the store. The rest of the house is equally gorgeous and there are views of the lake from most of the rooms. There is a bathtub in the master suite that I'm not quite sure Jake could touch the bottom in....it's that big.

Being up here, despite the old house and trailer being gone, brings back a lot of memories. I loved visiting Grandma and Grandpa here. They have a horseshoe driveway that I spent hours and hours and hours riding Grandma's bike on when I was a little girl. Yesterday I watched my kids riding their bikes on the same driveway. I also spent hours down on the dock fishing and playing and we did the same thing with the kids yesterday. When I was a little girl Grandpa would send me down to the end of the dock with a long stick, some string, and a fish hook at the end. Needless to say I never caught anything. Jake and Hannah got to fish off the end of the dock yesterday but they definitely had an upgraded pole. Lincoln bought them a simple rod and reel down in Garrison yesterday and the kids loved it. Of course he should have probably bought two since now they fight over who gets to go fishing. Jake was determined he was going to catch us a fish for breakfast but thank God he didn't. I hate fish and I actually think it stems back to my childhood visits here watching Grandpa and Uncle Jim cleaning fish out on a table in the backyard.

The drive up yesterday was fairly uneventful. The kids did good although you can tell they're starting to get restless every time we buckle in for another long haul. It makes me a little worried for our return trip to Massachusetts with Jake.

Even though it seems like we've been on vacation for a long time it also seems like the time has gone by too fast. Today is my last full day with Hannah before we hand her off to Grandma Dena and Grandpa Dan for three weeks. I'm doing my best not to make a scene in front of her because I want her to continue to look at this as an adventure and not a sad situation.

Luckily the sun is coming out and it looks like we're going to have a nice day today. I'm sure the kids will want to spend some time on the lake fishing but we're also going to head into Garrison today to do some souvenir shopping and maybe head over to Brainerd, MN to visit Paul Bunyan Land. We'll also have to take some pictures with the infamous big fish in Garrison. I'll make sure to post those later. Tomorrow we head back down to Decorah for one day of Nordic Fest and dinner at my Uncle Bob's and Aunt Lorraine's house before handing off Hannah and heading back to Madison for the night.

As for right now it's time to get the kids dressed. Hannah is headed out back with Aunt Lin to pick blueberries from the garden and Jake wants to go fishing again with Daddy. What a life.