Finally, Duluth

We LOVE going up to Duluth every year. To visit Grandpa Z. To find cool rocks. To walk along the Lake Superior shores. To play at the parks. To hang out on the beach, sometimes playing in the water, often times, not---it's a COLD lake! To feed the seagulls. To view the gorgeous sunsets. To eat Sammy's Pizza. To get away from it all. To be together---all of us.

This summer, someone has had something every single weekend, causing quite a delay in our attempts to reach the fine city. We typically go up twice in a summer's time, but this year, we barely made it up once. *sigh* How busy our lives have become. I suppose that is what I should expect with 8 busy kiddos and such a hard working, excellent, in-demand doc of a husband. Thankfully, our summer didn't feel that overwhelmingly busy....it was a great summer, and things seemed relatively well timed and well spaced apart. It was just a series of bad timings for getting up to Duluth this year, I guess.

So after having been away for a whole year's time, we were all completely ecstatic to make the trek up I-35. Bob and most of the kids were able to leave early on a Thursday to get a head start on their vacation time. Melissa, Bethany, and I stayed behind with Alex as he attended his college classes Thursday and Friday, causing us to leave during rush hour during one of the biggest holiday travel weekends of the year. Funny thing was, I think most people had left so much earlier in the day, that our traffic was LESS than usual during the entire drive up! We only had to stop to feed the baby once, so stopping at Toby's for some caramel rolls seemed like the most rational choice.

Bob and the kids spent the first day searching for agates along the public beach line, running into the water, playing poker with Grandpa, having Wii golf and tennis tournaments, and playing "Monster" at the park on the end of the point. We got to join in the second day of similar activities: but this time, the boys walked nearly all the way down the beach point toward the Wisconsin tip.....probably a 2-1/2 mile beach walk from the small craft airport road. That is some challenging walking, through the sand, over boulders, and in the hot sun constantly. And though so very tiring, the kids LOVE it. They spend hours and hours just walking and looking for any kind of agate they can find. If it were not for the sheer physical exhaustion that it causes, they would probably choose this activity daily! The annual Agate Judging Contest is held at the end of our week, and is greatly anticipated by all involved.

I took the girls and the littlest babes to the beach. It was the first time we had actually hung out at the public beach, as normally we would have spent the day behind Grandpa's house. But hey, we are a family, and we all started with a quick lunch at the park, so to head over to the beach seemed most logical. What was not quite as logical was dragging The Beast (the affectionate name for my double stroller which I love and wish I had had for all the kids, but it IS really, really large) through several hundred feet of beach sand. Oh. My. Goodness. I thought that would kill me for sure. But it didn't. And I was glad. Cuz my kids would have been alone. On a beach full of partying college students. Who probably wouldn't have noticed a few little short people hanging around by themselves. Even if those short people were crying. Crying a lot. Because partying college students have other things to think about. Like girls. Or guys. Or keeping all their beer cold. But not little kids. Or keeping their beach wandering dogs away from said little kids.

My kids had a great time at the beach. It was a bit chilly, but that didn't stop them from making sand soup and doll buildings for hours in the late summer sun. Using Gladware containers and plastic serving spoons I had swiped from Grandpa's kitchen drawers, the kids played endlessly in the soft sand on the Great Lake shore. Melissa was quite brave, and made it up to her armpits in the icy waters, while Tubby would try, and quickly run away from the shocking chill of the small, rolling waves. Tubby enjoyed watching the helicopters & seaplanes overhead, and the boats passing in front of us. Laura busied herself with the making of many sand soup varieties to share. She also worked hard on overcoming her intense fear of animals, as the friendly dogs seemed to really like our little spot on the beach....maybe it was all the PB&J we toted with us.

We took one day to visit Enger Tower. One lovely stranger offered to take our picture for us. It is the only picture we have of ALL of us together besides that Anniversary shot back when Bethany was in the Special Care Nursery, and we had to "kidnap" her for 90 seconds. You may just be seeing this one again later in the mail, sometime around Christmas! We spent some time searching for a few geocaches around the tower, and left our travel bugs and geocoins there. The other kids enjoyed running around in the clearing on the hill, and I enjoyed the beautiful views while I fed my baby, sitting in the grass, listening to my children giggle and play. Beautiful.

Our trip to Duluth was much too short, but was so very nice to be together as a family. We know there will not be many more times as these, as time will not slow, and our kids are getting closer and closer to flying the coop for good. Yes, we have so many more little ones that will be with us for quite a long time yet to come, but really, it does not ease the sadness of letting the other ones go. They are all my babies, from the littlest ones to the biggest one in college. And they always will be. No matter how big they try to get.