It took a year, but we finally took a family trip. With the change in seasons, we thought Duluth would be the perfect place for a quick weekend getaway. Sophia really wanted to see the lighthouse so we made our first stop Splitrock Lighthouse (after stopping for lunch at one of our favorites-The Scenic Cafe). The kids had fun playing with some magnetic fish in the visitor center and Sophia then discovered a free visitors guide to the area. Her interest in the lighthouse was quickly replaced by this guide-she thought it was great. Did I mention it was free? Why is it that the smallest things always seem to generate the most interest? We did go up to the top and then walked down to the shore, where Sophia though it would be a great idea to pick the largest rock possible as her souvenir. Andrew also had fun walking around and playing with the rocks. Erik and I were quite tired after our hike back to the car.
We then went to Gooseberry Falls. Sophia wasn't as impressed as I thought she might be. She decided that after we had hiked down to the falls and taken her shoes off to wade in the water, that she needed to use the bathroom. Andrew also decided that since we didn't have diapers or wipes along, that he too needed to go to the bathroom. Luckily, we ran into some friends there who had the proper supplies.
We stayed at the Holiday Inn that night. Sophia had been looking forward to swimming. In fact, I think that was her favorite thing we did. Unfortunately, the bottom part of her swimsuit and Andrew's suit somehow got left behind. Thankfully, we had two swim diapers and Sophia is tiny enough that she fit into one of them. Otherwise, we would have had a real crisis on our hands. Sophia did a first-bravely jumping into the water into Erik's arms! She swam again this morning but spent most of the time jumping in again and again-until she saw a younger child being thrown into the air and caught. She decided that this looked like fun (never mind that this other child weighed quite a bit less) so Erik got a real workout in the water.
Today we went to Canal Park and walked around that area. The bridge was raised so a ship could pass through-Sophia thought that was pretty cool. Andrew thought the ship's horn was very scary. Sophia has become quite the little rock collector - picking up lots of rocks on our trip (and pretty much any other time she finds rocks). So, today in Canal Park she got a rock book with pictures of different types of rocks ($1!). She is having lots of fun looking up different rocks, including her new Lake Superior agate, in her new book.
Despite Andrew getting a fever and our camera breaking, it was a fun trip!
Check out pictures at http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AcuWrhszZsWTnw
