Legends of Logging

In Park Rapids, Mn.




Yes, those were carved with chainsaws.

Pic spam!

We went to Paul Bunyan's Animal Land over the weekend. They had a lot of baby animals, and a huge deer enclosure where you can feed and pet deer. They also have this exhibit- a spaniel who lives in the same cage as a spotted leopard! They apparently have been friends since birth and sleep together.


This fawn was very friendly- it ended up licking my camera!


Our tomatoes. They are starting to turn yellow. I need to get a cage to prop them, that little wooden stake isn't enough.


My pumpkins are beginning to bud! I hope that they have enough time before frost sets in again to grow and mature. We'll see. These are Jack-be-Little pumpkins.


I love the color my irises are- it's this vivid orangey red. So pretty!

Observations about long distance driving with young children after this trip:
-I'm glad that we DON'T have a DVD player
-I actually ran out of verses of Old MacDonald's farm- there's only so many animals with sounds that I can think of
-Minnesota is a LONG state
-Living rurally has altered the way I see city drivers
-"I Spy" gets old fast
-Having the oldest read to the youngest in the car- sweetest sounds ever. Too cute.


We drove from about 11:30 AM until 10:30 PM with two short bathroom and gas breaks and a supper stop. It was long and tiring, but the kids did really well. It was neat to listen to Sweet Pea telling Little Bird stories. Sweet Pea has made up her own world called Strawberry Land with a fairy kitten family. The family all share the same name- Meow Meow and all seem to be pink with wings. And sometimes they change colors. There's a funny song to go with all this, as well. She's quirky and cute and all ours. <3

Field trip!

Right after church tomorrow we are leaving for a field trip. We're headed all the way down to Chicago, IL. On the way we'll drive southeast to Duluth, through Eau Claire, then Madison, and finally to Illinios. There's no easy direct path from our part of northern MN to Illinois!
Hopefully Sweet Pea and Little Bird will have a good time and not get too wild in the car. And hopefully we get some good pictures and see some good sights.
Be back Thursday!

Field trip down to the Twin Cities

I saw this mural on a building and had to take a picture.

Driving into St. Paul. My kids were awestruck at the big city. The largest town they are used to is 12,000 and has no sky scrapers.

The reason for our visit- Little Bird needed a checkup at the hospital here.

Our hotel was right by the state capital. Sweet Pea was very impressed that people get to work in a castle like this. :)

Some of the marble inside- it was really neat to show the kids.

These flags are actually from the Dakota and Civil Wars. What an awesome piece of history!

Inside the Governor's office.

View from the steps over the downtown.

This is the Catholic Cathedral downtown- it was amazing and beautiful.

The view on the way home. When they say north woods, it's accurate.

Leech Lake is one of the biggest lakes and is one our way up north.

This is Paul Bunyan and Babe. This is a big deal up here- these were built early in the last century and then repaired.

We had a really good trip, despite why we had to go- and the kids got to see a lot of neat things that are different then what they see day to day.