Duluth 2018

We love Duluth. My brother moved there for graduate school in 2013. We decided to go there over MEA and have went every year since except for 2015. This was our 5th year going to Duluth over MEA. We have seen so much but we always try to hit up some of our favorite spots plus spend time with family (even more important now that I have niece who lives there).

This is a long post but I shared the things we did plus some of our past experiences! Grab a cup of coffee, it's a long one today!

2013 Trip

2014

2016

2017 Winter

2017 Fall

Now, on to this year. 

We woke up Thursday morning and headed out the door. The goal was 8, and we left at 9. I call that a win!

Our first stop was in Walker. We decided to have lunch at the Village Square Cafe and stretch our legs. The kids were happy to get out of the car. 

Sidenote: my kids are used to fairly long road trips. Our parents live 3 hours away. However, they do get restless. We have a DVD player in our car, they bring books to read, and pack their own activities. However, we found out on this trip that Jaxon gets a little car sick. He was reading for about an hour and got sick. We stopped at a store and let him stretch his legs and get some fresh air. At this point, we were worried it may be the flu or something but luckily, it went away!

Ready for lunch and to be out of the car!

Just the two of us, trying to parent our kids who want to run wild.

Next up, was DULUTH. Ok, in between there were naps, fights, and lots of snacks but we finally made it to canal park which is where the boys really wanted to spend time. 

We lucked out with really nice weather on Thursday and Friday!

He brought a notebook with so he could draw pictures of Duluth....

At this point, the boys wanted to drive over the lift bridge and we were getting ready to meet my brother and sister in law for dinner. We drove over the lift bridge and into Park Point. We found a fun park at the very end. We also were amazed by how close some of the homes are to the water. My sister-in-law said they don't usually flood. That's incredible!

 After the park, we had plans to go to Fitgers but it an hour wait so we settled on Bull Dog Pizza where we got right in. At this point, I forgot to take pictures. But we didn't see the boys during our whole wait as there was a window where you could watch them make pizza. The boys stood there and watched the whole time! They were throwing dough at the window and making it fun for the boys.
After supper, we went to my brothers house where we played with Sutton! Ella was so excited. Sutton was...at first...

 Two little girls playing in their pajamas.

On Friday, we woke up and hung out at my brothers house for awhile. Kiona had to go to work but Donnie hung out until he had to go to work. We then hopped in the car and headed up the North Shore. We have done this so many times but each time, there are new things we find to explore. We also just love this drive. It's beautiful.

The first stop was in Two Harbors. We explored the Lighthouse and Beach.

We always stop at Betty's Pies. This place is ALWAYS busy. This time, we stopped there at about 11:00 and only had to wait 20 minutes. That is the first time we got in that fast in 6 years.

 They have a bunch of pies everyday. I forgot to take a picture of the sign, but you can see it behind the boys' head. They actually didn't have that great of a selection this time around. That board is typically full! We settled on a blueberry, blackberry peach, and strawberry rhubarb.

Next stop was Gooseberry Falls. We always love this place. The boys had a blast. I have SO many pictures it is hard to decide which ones to share. Sorry for picture overload! Ella had fun, too, athough it made me very nervous. She has no fear and with lots of rocks and waterfalls I could see bad things happening! She explored with us for awhile, but then Dan took her back to the car to change her diaper and hung out there while the boys and I hiked a bit further.

Please note, when we got there, the boys went into the building to use the restroom, and they all came out with walking sticks. I laughed so hard. Apparently, Dan needed one too!

 Ella is bringing up the rear...always.

Whew! After Gooseberry, we made the trek back to Duluth. The boys dropped Ella and I off to hang out Kiona and Sutton and they headed to Spirit Mountain. Dan was in charge of pictures there and he lost his phone so didn't take any!

Donnie was out of town for work and so after supper we watched a movie and headed to bed! The next morning we relaxed with some coffee and then headed out for a souvenir before making the drive back home.

Goodbye hugs

And that's a wrap on our little fall getaway. I love this tradition with my family every year.