UP north

Normally when we say "Up North", we mean Northern Minnesota or Northern Wisconsin, but this summer the kids and I went on a roadtrip Up North to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan!  Bryan went to college in the UP so it didn't seem like a destination to him, but last winter I stumbled across a travelers' blog that bragged about the extensive options of camper cabins in Michigan State Parks.  The availability was pretty limited by the time I was ready to commit to a reservation, but we ended up staying in one of my favorites of all time! 

The rustic cabin was off in a secluded area where we had our own vault toilet and parking, and noone passing through our site.  It was right on the lake and the cabin had two very tiny "bedrooms" off the main room, which offered a table, futon, and dorm-sized frig/microwave.  

We stayed four nights and used it as a home base to take day trip to explore the UP.  We enjoyed a day in Marquette and climbed Sugarloaf Mountain for fantastic views of Lake Superior, even in the rain!

We traveled to Tahquamenon Falls State Park.  The falls were pretty, but the most memorable part was the four of us pretending like we knew how to row a boat. Then we headed south to cross the Mackinac Bridge and dip our toes in both Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.

We grabbed some food at Moofinfries - a local gem for burgers, fish, and fries😉 - and enjoyed an impromptu stop on the scenic drive along Lake Michigan's northern shoreline. 

We traveled off the beaten path to Palms Book State Park, known for it's large spring "Kitch-iti-Kipi", where visitors can ride an open bottom raft across for a stunning view of the deep spring and it's fish.

We ended our trip at Papa and MeeMaw's where we met up with Bryan.  Bryan's dad took us on a tour of the local Pattison State Park and shared some wild stories of back-in-the-day when he was a life guard there!

June

In June, we said good-bye to middle school for good.  We greeted the summer with excitement, jobs, and lots of ambition.  Brett got a summer internship at Urban Boatbuilders, Lydia got a job as a sports coach for our city's parks and rec, and Reggie got all his training done to umpire youth baseball.  

This year, all three kids were able to go to the youth group summer retreat.  Bryan and I used that opportunity to take a train ride to Red Wing for the day! 

At the end of the month, my bestie from high school was in town.  What a special day it was it get to show her around Minneapolis and spend some time together!

Memorial Day weekend state park roadtrip

Over Memorial Day weekend, we knocked out two more state parks and a recreational area: Lake Carlos, Maplewood, and La Salle Lake. We also paid a visit to one of our favorites - Itasca.  At Maplewood and Lake Carlos we stayed in camper cabins and at La Salle it was a cabin with a kitchen and bathroom.  

We drove up to Lake Carlos after school and traffic was really bad, plus we realized we forgot our camp chairs.  So we stopped at a Walmart and purchased food for dinner and a couple of chairs.  We didn't get to the park until after dark.  We explored a little in the morning, but wanted to get back on the road for our next destination.  

La Salle was a little recreational area about twenty minutes from Itasca State Park.  Itasca is big and very developed.  We had to go there to check in to La Salle, so we did some hiking and had icecream at the gift shop.  La Salle was very isolated and undeveloped - we didn't even have phone signal to contact the park office.  But it was a nice little cabin.  We enjoyed grilling chicken on the gas grill (we usually do our cooking over a fire) and we had bought a cherry pie at a roadside Amish stand.  After dark, the sky was beautiful with stars and we enjoyed listening to the loons.

The next day we went to Maplewood State Park.  The camper cabin was situated right in the campground and it had really nice bathrooms and a fish cleaning station.  The kids caught some pan fish and cleaned and cooked them themselves.  This was quite an adventure because I don't know how to clean fish, and they had only ever watched Bryan.  We usually catch and release, so we don't even have the right tools.  But they managed to get the job done and we had some fish nuggets with our dinner!

We ended up having a fun road trip, but I didn't plan ahead far enough for it to be organized well.  I waited too long and we were stuck staying where there were still cabins available.  I already have a rough plan in place for Memorial Day weekend next year so I just have to remember to make my reservations exactly 120 days in advance!

Brett's adapted softball highlights

Last spring, Brett played softball with the district's high school adapted sports team.  Like adapted soccer, it is played indoors.  It's played with a whiffle ball.  Brett played left field, third base, and first base.

The team qualified for state and placed 6th!  Even though there are athletes from three high schools plus some middle schoolers represented on the team, there are a lot of great team bonds.  A lot of the players play on the same team together for multiple sports and years.

Brett was awarded a varsity letter and All Conference. It was so fun to watch him shine!