Travel Tuesday: Northern Minnesota Trip, Part One

Hi friends! I'm back with another Travel Tuesday post to share about our recent trip to northern Minnesota with my side of the family. We haven't all been together as a family since my sister's wedding back in October, and we haven't traveled as a whole family since 2010! Fun fact, our last trip together was a couple weeks after my husband and I started dating :)

I am definitely the travel planning nerd in our group, so I was the one that took charge with organizing and booking the trip. We booked this beautiful cabin on VRBO almost a year ago and it definitely did not disappoint! It was recently remodeled and had 5 bedrooms, so each person or family could have their own space. We also rented their pontoon while we were there too. We had a lot of fun going on boat rides and the boys had fun fishing :)

The front door- the cabin seemed way bigger inside than how the outside looked!

My daughter exploring the backyard :) There was a hammock, a playground, and a firepit! Although with the drought we didn't get to enjoy that.

The look down to the dock- they had kayaks, a swimming raft, and the pontoon we rented for the week.

We left on Saturday, July 24th. Thankfully, the cabin was only a few hour drive from our home, so we didn't have to leave quite as early as we usually do for other road trips. We were able to stop a little over half way to visit my husband's uncle and cousins and have lunch with them.

The wind was blowing just right for this picture ;)

We arrived at the cabin mid-afternoon. We unpacked, explored the cabin, had dinner, then ended the day with a boat ride around the lake. The kids loved riding in the pontoon!  

The beautiful view of the lake from the dock!

Someone was very excited for vacation to begin ;)

She loved going on boat rides! But her life jacket made her look all squished up and mad 😂

The next day was Sunday. Some of us went to church in a nearby small town. Afterwards, we went to lunch at a nearby resort, Trapper's Landing Lodge. It was a cute little resort on a beautiful lake. The kids (and grandpa!) enjoyed playing some of the outdoor patio games afterwards.

One of the things I was excited about the cabin we rented was that it had satellite tv, so we were able to watch more of the Olympics other than what they show during primetime. The kids also enjoyed watching Bluey and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse when they got up too early... We enjoyed watching the triathlon that afternoon and just relaxed. We ended the evening with a pontoon ride (pretty much every evening we ended with a boat ride, then some of the boys would go out fishing).

Morning viewings of Bluey are a must on vacation!

Sadly we didn't catch many fish, and most of what we did were pretty small. We think that because of the heat they weren't as active as they usually are.

Monday was more relaxing. We did venture out into town to get some groceries (man, small town grocery prices were surprising!), but other than that we just hung around the cabin- naps, boating, fishing, etc. It can be boring to read about, but honestly that's one of the best parts of vacation is taking a break from normal life and take things slower. It is good for the soul :)

Hanging out with my girl :) One of the only pictures we took this day.

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into part one of our family vacation! Make sure you come back next Tuesday, where I will share about our visit to Paul Bunyan Land!