Leech Lake Vacation

Once again, the Brigham Family and Clarks made our annual trip to gorgeous Leech Lake, MN, mid-August. This time we stayed in the Old Glory cabin which was a little bigger from last year's cabin, Lake Vu. We needed the extra room because we invited Papa and Grandma Clark to stay for a few nights upfront and the Pichler family to join us for the last 3 nights. The weather was perfect - sunny and mid to high 70's - low 80's. In fact the resort owner told us it was the best week weatherwise so far this summer. We lucked out once again :)

The resort does a fantastic job of providing lots of activities for the kiddos including turtle races, fishing contest from the dock (Dylan won!), sand castle building contest, kayak races, horseback riding, trolley rides, treasure hunt, family Olympic games (a complete riot), and making tie-dye shirts in the lodge. The kids thoroughly enjoyed all the activities AND fishing with Papa and Grandma Clark and Jim Pichler (they brought their fishing boats and took the kiddos out which was a big hit). We also rented a pontoon for an entire day which was a blast and we did lots of tubing and floating around in the crystal clear waters of Leech Lake. We all enjoyed evening bonfires, potluck night in the Grand Lodge featuring crayfish freshly caught in the lake with open bar at 8pm to close  (Dave and Derek's favorite), fishing, swimming, shuffle board, water biking, paddle boats, kayaking, jumping on their gigantic water Bongos, grilling out, playing cards, playing in the sand, savoring homemade doughnuts and coffee in the Grand Lodge, and ....relaxing. The kids especially loved the triplet ducklings who they fed non-stop all week long. Tootsie even met a few wonderful new furry friends and swam/ran around constantly with her favorite friends, Bear (an australian shepherd dog) and Sage (golden retriever). 

GREAT times as always! We took over 600 photos but narrowed it down to 250 finals on Shutterfly. Here are just a few photos from our week but feel free to check out more on our Shutterfly link on this blog page. 

Dave's High School Reunion

It's hard to believe summer is almost over and school is about to begin. August was and still is a VERY busy month including Dave's recent 30 yr high school reunion in Bismarck. He almost didn't make the trip and I kept telling him if he didn't, someday he would regret it. Let's just say he was SO glad he went! His good buddy, Derek, tagged along for the ride and together they ripped it up just like the good ol' days. It was 2 full days of "celebrating" with some crazy, fun friends with some late nights and loads of stories, dancing and laughter! Paul Everson and Crystal were kind enough to open up their beautiful home on the river to a bunch of loud, wild, burley men for the weekend party/sleepover. Such gracious hosts! It was a quick trip (Fri PM - Sun AM) but well worth the drive time to be able to share time with genuine friends. 

The kiddos came along too and we were able to share time with Grandma Good and the Schwartzenberger family who were all in town for the Napoleon High School reunions. In fact, Grandma Good, me and the kids made a trip to Napoleon for the day on Saturday to visit relatives and they had a blast walking and shopping the quaint downtown Napoleon, swimming at the community pool with their cousins, playing in Aunt Christine's backyard/garden and making a stop at the infamous White Maid for an ice cream cone on our way out of town. It brought back many fond childhood memories of summers in Napoleon (where both my mom and dad grew up). Miss you Grandpa and Grandma Kemmet and Grandpa and Grandma Schwartzenberger!