Day 17- 4 Continents, 6 Countries, We're Home.

6/28/2018 -
Thank you for reading our blog. I hope you've enjoyed it! We found out that people have been reading our blog in the USA, Canada, Peru, Phillipines, Italy, and Norway! Three more continents to go!

So today we packed up and then after we were done packing we went to the office to check out and look at some pretty rocks and agates at the Geological Agate Center. I set off the the alarm twice, so fun, but anyways... so after we were done at the office we went back to our trailer and we got all of what we needed from inside of the trailer and put it in the truck. We hooked up the trailer to the truck and then we drove out and we came home.

Two black tanks and two grey tanks, emptied and cleaned in 30 minutes.We're getting better at it.

Once we got home we went, well, we unpacked first, and then we went to church for dinner and talked while Mom and Dad talked with their friends. Kate and I helped out in a room while Taylor was in the service with Mom and Dad, and then after service we talked with one of our good friends for a while before driving home. Mom and I started to get all the weeds out of the garden. My cucumbers are growing! Dad helped Taylor move his truck back to the driveway, and mowed the lawn.

After we were done getting all the weeds out of the garden, Mommy took a shower and cut Daddy's hair and and then we all got ready for bed. Lights out, good night. Thank you for joining us!

-Lily

Day 16- Solo, and swimming.

6/27/2018

Today started off with a delicious breakfast made by Dad. Eggs, (with peppers, black beans, corn, and onions) English Muffins, bacon, and peaches. Then we went on a 2 mile hike to Wolf Creek Falls in Banning State Park.

 Those butterflies should be mosquitoes.

After that we came back to the trailer and dropped off Joe. Then we drove to Duluth and wached "Solo" (it's really good). After the movie we decided to drive over the giant lift bridge, where we found a beach on Lake Superior, and Lily (being the only one in a swimsuit) swam for a while while Taylor and I waded in the water and drew in the sand. About 15 minutes later my pants were soaked.... so I went under and got the rest of me soaked too.

Dad found this weird piece of driftwood on the shore of Lake Superior. It looks like a tooth. Any ideas why it would be shaped like this?

We swam for another hour or two then headed back to the truck. But we were stopped by a friend from Camp Shamineau. We talked for a little while, then Lily and I wrapped up in my blanket and we drove back to the trailer. We got back pretty late and everyone showered. Taylor and I watched an episode of "The Cosby Show" and headed off to bed.

-Kate
P.S. comment either what you think this is or a caption for it

Day 15- Fire, Pigeons, and Rain

6/26/2018
Sometimes a cool, rainy day, is just what you need.

We've packed a lot into these past couple of weeks, so when the temp dropped, the kids asked for extra blankets, the rain started falling overnight, at some point Eric turned the furnace on, and we had no immediate plans for this morning.... we took advantage of some downtime.

We did venture out to the Fire of 1918 Museum, run by the Moose Lake Historical Society. October 12, 1918 was the evening a fire burned 250,000 acres, killed 453 people, destroyed 35 communities, and displaced tens of thousands who'd lost their homes. One of the stories told was of a man who had taken the doors out of his home, thinking they'd be of some use for people heading to the lake for safety... what he didn't count on was bears, moose,and horses vying for a spot on these makeshift rafts.

Stories and artifacts.

What Lily THINKS she'd do if a bear tried to steal her raft. 

I found a few good tidbits in this article: http://m.startribune.com/1918-one-of-the-darkest-years-of-minnesota-history/471445784/ And all this while a war was going on!

I thought this breakdown in war bond stamps was interesting... definitely hadn't seen this before. You should read them! Did you know that a pup tent can sleep two soldiers, but divides into two pieces so that each can carry half when they travel? How about this one... did you know that a carrier pigeon ate about a pound of grain per week, and it's message capsule cost the Army about 12 1/2 cents?

After picking up a few groceries, we made Taco Salad for an early dinner, and just kinda bummed around our campsite.

I've been journaling our menu, a calendar at-a-glance with daily overview and temperatures, and what we've been up to. This way I'll know what we tend to eat (a lot of turkey, ham, cheese, veggies, hummus, crackers, fajitas) when the last time I did laundry was (last Saturday), and how much each campground costs (for this trip we'll average $23 per night, over the 15 nights we paid for lodging). 

And then we blog. Like Eric and Lily working on yesterday's blog, tonight. This is new to us, so I hope we offer some information and/or insight! :) 

The beauty of  a lazy day is that you can throw the kids outside to handwash the dishes, for which they bring the iPad out to listen to Spotify, and it gives them a chance to find some decent trees for Kate's hammock. :)

Thanks for following along with us as we explore Minnesota!

~Nelina

Day ... Awe nuts, I don't remember.

6/25/18 - Lily

We've been gone from home a very long time now.

Today we woke up and we packed to get ready to go. Somewhere along the lines dad noticed a big piece of construction equipment was being loaded onto a trailer by our camp site. We watch them load it and talked with the driver for a few minutes.

After that we finished packing. When we were done packing we went to Bailey's Cafe for brunch.

After Bailey's we went to the park and played with our cousins while Mom and Dad finished packing and hooking up the trailer.

We played on the park for about an hour with the cousins. Then we took a picture and then we left.

After a brief stop to empty our gray and black water tanks, we were ready to go to Moose Lake State Park.

When we arrive at a new campsite there's plenty of work to be done. Mom and Dad work on disconnecting the trailer while each one of us girls work on setting up the stabilizers for the trailer.

This one was a tight fit.

Three was no water when we came in so Daddy had to haul water from up the road... Six gallons at a time.

After we were done setting up the trailer we can start on dinner. Pancakes and leftovers from the cafe.

After dinner we watched a few episodes of Hogan's Heroes and then showered and went to bed.

Lights out good night! - Lily

Day 13 - Lights Out

6/24/2018
Church. We finally got to go to Church! We went to our Aunt and Uncle’s church in Hibbing, MN. Just as the pastor began his sermon, he started by saying “Its been a tough week.” As he finishes saying, “It’s been a tough week”, the whole city loses power, and without skipping a beat says, “Anything that can go wrong, did go wrong”. The rest of the service was in the dark, except for the candles up front. After the service there were donuts and juice. Alex, following the service, went straight to the gym (there are no lights or windows) to the little bikes. The dark didn’t bother him! We went over to Lowe’s for some trailer stuff, luckily they had backup generators so we could shop. Because of all the late nights mama and daddy decided we should take naps, I’m very happy we did. Lily had told mama last night, “PLEASE demand that we take naps tomorrow.” After napping we went to Uncle Caleb and Aunt Katie’s house to play Settlers of Catan, and Oregon Trail. We also played Candyland with Haley and Alex. Haley and Alex were put to bed and than the adults went out for a second date night. Lily and I watched “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” while Kate watched a cartoon classic compilation. Our movie ended just as the adults walked in the door (talk about perfect timing). Another fun thing is that Aunt Katie and I have the same shoe size (12), so she gave me one of her pairs of summer Army issued steel toed mechanics boots, made so you could drop an airplane part on it and not smash your foot.


What’s your favorite board game/table game to play as a family?
-Taylor

Day 12 - Swimming, Biking, Racing.

06/23/2018 - Lily

Today when I woke up, Taylor was awake and Kate was still sleeping. Mom and Dad were at the trailer because we had a sleepover at our aunt and uncle's house.

 I went upstairs to get breakfast and then everybody came upstairs to eat breakfast. After that we went to Walmart and then we went to a donut shop. Then we came back to our aunt and uncle's house. Mom and Dad came with our swimsuits, goggles, flip-flops and towels so that we could go swimming at McCarthy Beach again.

We went swimming for about a few hours, I think.  After swimming, we went back to our aunt and uncle's house.

Mom and Dad went back to the trailer to pick up a few things and drop all the wet stuff off, and then they came back. We had dinner and talked for a while. Then while the adults were talking, Haley, Alex, Kate and I went on a bike ride.

Haley met a new friend on our bike ride, and then after Kate and Alex went back to the house, Haley and I and her friend went to the park. After the park we came back and had s'mores. We had to let the fire cool down for a little bit so we saw the race cars at the dirt track oval just a few minutes away from their house.

After the race cars we had one more s'more, and then talked for a little bit while Haley and Alex went to bed, and then we played an Oregon Trail card game.

Sunday night is our last night in Hibbing. Monday we have to go somewhere new. We're staying in the state of Minnesota. Where do you think we should go? Post your favorite place to camp in Minnesota in the comments below.
-Lily

Day 11- Birthday Boy!

6/22/2018
The fun thing about a June birthday, is that Eric is typically on vacation... from motorcycling in Wisconsin, to Yellowstone National Park, and the Absaroka Mountains of Wyoming.

This year we got to celebrate Eric while spending the day with my brother, Caleb, and his family! In Chisholm, Minnesota, there's a pretty cool museum called "Minnesota Discovery Center". We started off with some lunch and a trolley ride to the historic Pillsbury mining area... beautiful view of the open pit on the way, and some pretty impressive machinery in the old town location. Mining machinery is NOT dinky!

                           
             Mining machinery isn't small...

Case in point.... Radiator. 

Obviously this is a mine that doesn't use Moyer Mobile Repair... not a drop of oil on that dipstick. ;) By the way, if you need a good diesel mechanic, let Eric know... he has a guy.

Inside the Minnesota Discovery Center, we found a comprehensive geology area, and the kids had fun exploring/looming/climbing/building, while Eric and I spent a little time in the Research Center chasing down his family tree with a very helpful historian. Pretty cool! Definitely going to check out Ancestry.com further, as we could've just kept going back in time.

                 

Next we went across the street to the giant Ironman monument... at over 4 tons and 85 feet tall, it's the 4th highest freestanding statue in the USA, built to memorialize the miners on the Iron Range.

We got the kids situated for the evening (triple babysitters built in!), and headed out for a double date dinner and hang out in the trailer... unfortunately we all died on the Oregon Trail, but had a fun time along the way! :)

- Nelina