A couple of weeks ago we were able to get away for a week of vacation to northern Minnesota. After much debate about where to go on vacation, including ideas like Florida, California, Colorado, and driving a rented RV out to Glacier National Park, we finally settled on something a little closer to home. A few days of searching through vacation rentals later, we found a cute little one bedroom cabin on Turtle Lake, about half an hour north of Grand Rapids. We spent a week just relaxing and enjoying each others company after so many years of busyness and non-relaxing. We read, swam, spent time in the hammock, went on walks/runs (Matt), grilled, made s'mores every night, and played! It was perfect!
This is a rather lengthy post full of pictures and videos, be prepared!
Our little cabin, called the "Timberdoodle."
This was taken standing on the dock, looking up at our cabin.
And this was taken looking down at the dock from our deck.
The bedroom. Charlotte loved climbing on the end of the bed and then flipping up onto the mattress.
Here's Charlotte's "nest" by the windows in the bedroom.
The kitchen and dining room, with the table overlooking the deck and the lake on the left and the living room to the right. The whole interior was newly remodeled and we think we might have been one of the first people to stay in it since it was redone. Charlotte told me "Mom, I think one other family has stayed here before. There's just a few crumbs under the couch cushions!" :)
The dining room with the living room behind it. Since we don't have a TV at home, it was fun to have a flat screen TV and dish network while on vacation. We watched a couple of movies and several episodes of "Chopped" on the FoodNetwork (our favorite show to watch on Hulu on our computer at home).
Eating supper our first night at the cabin!
And then s'mores at the bonfire! Behind Charlotte's chair you can see a brown furry thing--a St. Bernard named Daisy who belonged to the lodge on the other side of us. She was really gentle and Charlotte LOVED playing with her and throwing sticks for her to fetch.
First morning at the lake. We usually went out to either just sit on the dock or eat our breakfast or for Matt and Charlotte to fish off the end of the dock. This is my favorite time of day at the lake! I said to Matt on the first morning, "I know we didn't know what kind of vacation we wanted at first, but now I know, this is it. This is exactly the kind of vacation we needed and wanted!"
Looking up at the cabin from the end of the dock.
It usually didn't take her long to put her swimming suit on each morning! You can see a green coffee cup sitting on the dock, which means it's still pretty early!
Hanging out in the hammock. Of course, safety is our number one priority, as you can see by Charlotte's water wings! You never know when you might need them in a hammock!
Charlotte and Mama rocking on the swing.
Daddy gives the best spins in the innertube!
Hoping to catch the big one! They did this most mornings.
After a few casts, we decided Charlotte wasn't really ready to have a hook on her fishing pole, so Matt took the hooks off but left the lure on. This lure became a close companion for Charlotte which she named Bethany. Bethany and Charlotte spent many happy hours together the rest of the week. Charlotte loved to cast and then reel in to make Bethany go swimming.
Most of the time when Matt caught a fish he would let Charlotte help reel it in. She was so excited! And she wanted to touch or hold every fish; not a moment of hesitation or worry about the slime. Atta girl Charlotte!
Charlotte took this of her own feet one day. She loves to take pictures.
Mid-afternoon ice cream snack on the deck.
Of course, no vacation at the cabin is complete without bringing your Cinderella costume and doing a little ballet...
There was a fabulous playhouse which we shared with the next door neighbors (one family owns both cabins and rents them out to vacationers like us). The family renting the other cabin had a 3 1/2 year old boy, Wesley, and they loved playing together!
Inside the playhouse. It had a great little kitchen set and table, a loft with a sleeping bag, and a little pretend school with a desk and paper/markers. She could have spent the entire week in there!
Suppertime!
This was the biggest fish they caught. I think Matt estimated it around 20+ inches?
Of course Charlotte wanted to be the one to throw it back in!
We rented a canoe one day and paddled around the lake. We were told of a geocache on one of the little islands. Luckily it was a small enough island that we could find it without using a GPS. Charlotte picked out a silver star necklace in the treasure chest and we left some rubber worms in exchange.
She sat in the middle of the canoe and had a great time! Baby doll Emma also came along for the ride.
Family self portrait with Mama holding the camera out in front of us.
Reeling in a fish!
There it is!
She was so proud of herself!
Click on this one to make it bigger and check out her facial expression!
Oh she had so much fun swimming! And the water was actually pretty warm.
Another good size fish.
This was a perfect vacation for us, exactly what we wanted!
