We decided to go up to Duluth again for our 16th anniversary. Since our last visit, the Edgewater Resort was built. The kids thought it sounded like a ton of fun, so off we went!
The resort didn't disappoint. We spent the first day at the water park. It has a lazy river for tubing, a kids water playground, a swimming pool with basketball hoops and a side whirlpool, and two large slides. The boys and Nora roamed the place, rushing down the water-slides and cruising the lazy river. Rosa and Anna each tried the slides out once (too dark for their tastes), and then stuck to the playground and tubing along in the river with Mom or Dad.
Here's someone traveling along the river now. Looks like he's getting a bit wet at one of the many waterfalls...
Oh, it's Corbin!
Here's Caleb trying to cross the pool via ropes and giant sea creatures:
After the successful crossing he played some b-ball with Corbin.
The girls were in and out of the water a lot. Here's Nora and Rosa hamming it up poolside.
Anna couldn't get enough of the lazy river!
Someone seems to be following them! Who could it be?
Ah! It's Alex.
Even though the playground was meant for the smaller crowd, Alex and Caleb enjoyed getting drenched when the giant bucket tipped over every five minutes or so.
Nora got quite the thrill from going down the big slides. Here she is exiting one:
The boys even had to try out the hot tub for a bit.
Caleb loved the Tiki Tiki tropical theme of the park. Here he is between the two slide exits:
Here's Alex bursting out of a side:
The small whirlpool was amazingly strong. Corbin has a spin in it:
Nora was amazed by it.
Nora was so excited when she was finally able to cross the whole pool via the ropes all by herself.
We finally managed to drag the kids out of the water for some supper. We had a great day at the water park, but tomorrow it was off to see Duluth!
We took a little walk over the highway pedestrian bridge hoping to get to the water. Sadly, we weren't able to reach Lake Superior because of all the new condominiums and mansions along the water's edge.
Caleb was excited to see some pigeons along the way, though.
The wind was getting the better of the kids at the top of the bridge, but they managed to let me get a shot of them with the lake behind.
Back at the resort the kids tried out the playground. Anna loved the slide.
Swings are always enjoyable, too.
We finally decided to drive down to the lakeside. The kids raided our picnic lunch for extra bread and ran out to feed the gulls.
It made for a nice picture of the lift bridge.
We drove across the bridge and wandered up and down the cold shoreline. We spotted a boat loading off in the distance.
The kids found some neat rocks and shells, too. I got some shots of the remaining ice on the lake.
Across the road was a swimming beach, the gang was getting pretty cold due to the unrelenting wind, but some of them braved it to check out the beach.
Beautiful branches of driftwood were scattered throughout the beach. We grabbed a couple for souvenirs and headed off to the zoo.
Along the way we stopped to get some drinks for our picnic when we spotted the Doritos truck. Alex has this thing for Doritos trucks (you'll have to ask him about it sometime), so I made him stand next to it so I could get a picture!
We arrived at the Lake Superior Zoo right as it was opening for the day. We meandered to the zoo lab area, where Caleb was thrilled to see all kinds of birds. A zoo volunteer let him touch the Bobwhite. Here it is taking a dust bath.
From there we ventured outside to see the rest of the animals. At the petting zoo area, a friendly lama greeted Nora with a kiss.
Amused, Nora quickly got the lama to kiss her big brother Alex.
Corbin just had to try to see if it would kiss him, too.
We were interrupted by a zoo worker warning us that the lama was mean and tended to bite! I guess it was in a good mood that day.
Nora was excited to see one of her favorite animals: a crane.
After seeing all the animals, we journeyed to the older area of the zoo that has walkways crossing a pretty waterfall.
I had to get a shot of the cold and hungry kids overlooking the falls:
They did think it was cool how there was ice clinging to the rocks throughout the waterfall, though.
Being that it was a bit cold to eat our lunch outside, we opted for an indoor picnic. The zoo had some tables and chairs set up in their lobby, so we set up camp there.
The girls got a kick out of the large mural painted on the wall.
With full tummies we went to the Depot, which has an art, train, historical, and children's museums all inside one building.
We started out with the Children's Museum. Corbin found a "rat" in the underground area.
Rosa and Anna found a neat chair fit for a queen.
After running through the play areas, we went on to the Train Museum. The boys found an old Model T. Corbin was excited because he had just learned about Ford and the first cars in his History class.
Of course, what we came to see were the trains. The kids enjoyed hamming it up for this photo.
They enjoyed the trains they were allowed to go inside of the best.
Our next destination was the Great Lakes Aquarium Anna didn't know what to think of all the fish.
We found a tree house with a slide that the kids all had a blast going down. Nearby, Caleb and Nora "fished."
Another favorite area was the waterworks, where they got to have their boats transverse the great lakes.
We ended our stay in Duluth with one last stop at the lake. The kids posed on the rocks.
We walked out to the lighthouse and back.
We marveled at the seemingly endlessness of the lake.
And of course the kids had to get in some final rock throwing.
Once home, we finished up the school year in earnest. Alex grew some plants for his science class.
Nora made a model of her body while she learned about the different body systems.
Caleb was thrilled to give his first number three talk!
Caleb also gave his services to a needy bird who haplessly flew into one of our windows. the bird seemed thankful for the assistance Caleb rendered, and spent several minutes recovering on his shoulder.
As May came to an end we went up to Grandma Kaye's new home-on-the-lake. The kids were impressed with the tranquil setting and quickly headed down to the lake for some fishing.
Rosa and Anna made sure Lizzy didn't become fish food.
The rest of the gang was quick to catch a great deal of little sunfish and perch right off the dock.
Grandma also had a paddle boat, so the older boys soon made good use of that.
Fisherman Corbin didn't mind; he'd rather catch some fish!
Nora was always so surprised when she got a fish on her line that she'd forgot to reel! Thankfully, Lee was nearby to help.
Here's Grandma Kaye with Lizzy:
And the whole gang on the dock:
Soon all the worms were used up, so we tried corn. The poor fish must have been starving, because the corn worked fine! Alex even reeled in a nice size crappie.
The paddle boat got quite the work out. Here's Corbin, Nora, and Caleb heading out.
And here they are coming back again.
Grandma's yard was fun, too. The kids played beanbag toss.
They also tried out a water polo game without the water.
A small stream ran around the property. Nora quickly nabbed a frog.
I managed to convince her to let it go after a bit, however.
A loon could often be swimming just past the dock, much to Caleb's delight.
I was more enthralled with the tiny hummingbirds.
We went for a short walk and saw a family of Canada Geese.
We will leave you with some sunset shots of late spring. I wonder what summer has in store?
