July 21st, 2011

Trent and Kirk took the boat out bright and early for father/son bonding, cigar smoking, and northern catching.

All to do’s checked off the morning list.

After they got back, Trent and I went for a run, and then got ready for our last trip to town.  We did a little shopping and then met Kiki, Mickey, and Hannah for lunch.

Sydney was a fan of the watermelon.

Then more fun and relaxing at the beach area.

For dinner we decided to break out some of the fish that was caught over the week that Kirk had cleaned and had ready to grill. Mickey volunteered to grill. Group effort, love it.

Extra lemons for Sally!

Kirk’s evening spot on the deck.  I absolutely love this picture of him.

Kiki guarding the cabin against alligators.  She takes her post seriously.

After dinner I took advantage of hot coals and leftover ingredients for smores.

Gotta strike while the fire is hot.

July 20th, 2011

The weather was still warm in Minnesota, in the 90’s.  So we decided to spend the afternoon at the beach.  I wanted to take Lauren out on her first kayak adventure.

It was a fun little outting and Lauren really enjoyed being out on the lake Kayak style.  Sydney “helped” us get the boat to the shore.  Then Hannah took Lauren and Sydney out on a one person kayak close to the beach. 

Apparently Sydney has no problem letting Hannah do all the work. 

It was our turn to make dinner that night.  We decided on cheese stuffed meatballs, sautéed veggies, garlic bread, fries, and salad.

The plan after dinner was to do a fire, make smores……and burn a flag.  Not in a protest type of way, in a it’s what you do when you need to retire a torn flag type of way.  So we did our own version of the unserviceable flag ceremony.

Complete with Caleb vamping, pledge of allegiance, and singing patriotic songs on a hill.  That’s how we do.

Caleb’s entertained crowd.

Now for some smore action.

Delicious ending to our Minnesota day.

July 19th, 2011

The plan for the morning was for Kirk and Trent to take Lauren out for a boat ride and get in some fishing.  Lauren was determined to catch a fish this year.  She also wanted to “drive” the boat.

Done and done!  She was ecstatic!

She also helped Kirk clean the fish.  There’s nothing clean about cleaning a fish, it’s a pretty dirty job.

Proud girl!

We then headed to Kawishiwi Falls, an annual tradition.

We had a great time.  Oh, and Trent found a buried treasure!

Someone’s old prescription glasses.  Oh good, now we can all retire and live in the lap of luxury.

Kiki and Mickey were in charge of dinner (which means Mickey and Hannah made dinner) and had a late start due to a conference call (Who takes conference calls on vacation?  That would be our Kiki.)  So we gave the kids bathed and hung out…with cocktails.

The kitchen crew.

Grilled chicken and zucchini, grilled asparagus, salad, and a goat cheese pasta salad. 

It was worth the wait.