Paradise at the Lake

Our family spent the Fourth of July holiday week in Minnesota at Brian's Uncle Lee and Aunt Shari's cabin on Lake Belle Taine along with his cousin Licia, her husband Tom and their 2-year-old son T.J. The lake is a very special place for Brian -- it's where his family spent many vacations during the summer, boating and tubing. Over the years it has also become a special place for me (we spent our honeymoon up there), and it's even better now that we get to share the fun with Ellie. Brian's aunt and uncle are recently retired and spending the entire summer in their newly-renovated cabin. So when they invited us up for the week, we eagerly jumped at the chance to spend quality time with family in one of our favorite places.

Absolute paradise.

It was an extremely relaxing week yet we managed to get out and have a lot of fun too! Licia and I have formed a close bond over the last few years. Motherhood definitely strengthened that bond as we had children within months of each other and I really enjoyed the time we were able to spend together at the lake.

We spent most days lounging around the cabin...

... or down at the beach.

Pontoon rides were also on the agenda. Ellie's first sunset pontoon ride (one of many):

Uncle Lee even let Ellie drive the boat.

She (understandably) declined Uncle Lee's invitation to ride his jet ski the next day. I, on the other hand, did not and had the pleasure of experiencing the lake at 65 miles-per-hour :)

Another sunset outing.

 

This picture cracks me up -- T.J.'s not impressed.

I'd be remiss at this point if I didn't mention Brian's mom, who so loved Belle Taine; it was her favorite place in the entire world. She passed away about nine months after Brian and I got married so sadly she never got to meet Ellie, let alone share the whole lake experience with her granddaughter. There were a few bittersweet moments during our week on Belle Taine when I wished she could have been there to see Ellie, who by the way was completely in her element on the water. It would have brought her so much joy to to see Ellie's excitement and enthusiasm for the lake -- she would have just soaked it up. 

Is it me or is that smile contagious?
 

That's not to say we didn't have a few not-so-great moments.

But we always seem to recover quickly.

The morning of the Fourth we ran the Firecracker Footrace 5k. Notice the festive running colors (and tie!).

I'm not sure why it looks like we're pushing Ellie out of the frame in those pictures, I guess we were already in race mode! We did really well time-wise -- I finally broke the 10 minute mile barrier and we ran 9:26 miles coming in at 29:16! I chalk that up to me strictly trying to keep up with Brian the whole time along with Ellie yelling, "All done!" from the BOB at what seemed like each mile marker. All motivational methods aside, it really was a great way to start the day. That night, people all around the lake were shooting off fireworks (including the next-door neighbors), which I swore were going to wake up Ellie. Surprisingly, she slept through them all.

We also made a trip with the Pettits (Licia, Tom and T.J.) to Itasca State Park, home to the headwaters of the Mississippi River. This brought to mind the first time Brian and I visited -- but did not enter -- the park during our honeymoon because Brian refused to pay the park entrance fee of only FIVE DOLLARS. He felt such an important historical landmark should be free (he just won't admit he's cheap... I mean frugal). Nevermind the fact that Brian's giving more of a thumbs-sideways instead of a true thumbs-down in this picture, which has become a little joke between us over the years.

Brian's dissatisfaction, circa 2008

This time we did enter because, as I told my dear husband, I'll be darned if we didn't put our feet into the headwaters of the Mississippi during this trip!

And we did -- at least Ellie and I.

Ironically, Brian did not go into the water because he forgot to bring flip-flops and was only wearing tennis shoes, but he did get close enough with Ellie.

Aside from the HUGE mosquitoes (I think it really has been years since I've had a bite, but this trip more than made up for that), the weather was beautiful and made for a perfect day to be at the park.

The Pettits.

Our little family. Lake Itasca, which feeds the headwaters, is in the background.

Crossing the Mississppi River.

Another (mid-day) pontoon ride.

I loved watching Ellie and T.J. interact with each other as only 2-year-olds can.

Someone's getting tired.

Ellie was a dancing machine.

This pontoon ride proved too much for T.J.

Ellie, true to fashion, just kept on going. 

The above picture is my second-most favorite from the lake, but this picture is by far my favorite. Pure joy.

It eventually caught up with her, too.

Inevitably, there's always one cloudy, rainy day during the week when we can't be out on the lake so we and the Pettits headed into Nevis. You can't miss the World's Largest Tiger Muskie!

Lunch at Companeros!

We also cooked a couple of meals for the family. Three cheers for not having to cook in a cramped TLF kitchen! Brian's a natural at the grill -- who wouldn't want to cook with that view!

We totally broke all parenting rules on this trip. Ellie went to bed between 9:30 and 10 just about every night and with the sun not setting until almost 10 o'clock, it was hard to put her to bed any earlier! Napping also got kicked to the curb most days. Despite those facts Ellie really behaved well, but I would say she seemed way more hyped up than usual -- completely opposite of T.J.'s far more mellow attitude.

A rare moment of solitude with two toddlers in the house.

We were treated to this gorgeous sunset on one of our last nights at the lake.

As you can tell by the ridiculous amount of pictures I took and am subsequently posting, this particular stop on our summer-long journey was one we really looked forward to, partially for the relaxation but mostly because we were able to spend time with Brian's family. To see Ellie embrace the lake, a place so dear to Brian and me, made the trip that much more delightful.