Family – Page 37 – M. Sullivan Photography

July 30, 2012July 31, 2012 M. Sullivan Photography Family, Photos

Summer Bucket List

I haven’t made a formal summer bucket list, but have made a few mental notes of things that I would like our family to do before the kids go back to school. We were able to wipe out three of them this weekend – eat at Gordy’s Hi-Hat in Cloquet, visit the recently renovated Enger Tower and swim at Park Point Beach. We also had a night out with friends (no kids) at Mexico Lindo on Friday and enjoyed drinks and appetizers on the outdoor deck overlooking Lake Superior. Earlier this summer, we attended a Huskies game, threw rocks in the lake at Brighton Beach and went for a walk on the Lakewalk. Some of the things in Duluth I would still like our family to do include riding the Alpine Coaster and Zip Line at Spirit Mountain, going to the Farmer’s Market and having ice cream at the Portland Malt Shop. I would also like for us to make a day trip to Gooseberry Falls, go to a Minnesota Twins game and spend a day at the Minnesota State Fair. We will likely do only half of these things, but since there are still five weeks left before the kids head to school, we will try our best to accomplish them.

Here’s a look at what we completed from the list this past Saturday.

Featured on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, Gordy’s Hi-Hat restaurant in Cloquet. Definitely not the healthiest meal we have eaten this summer, but certainly one that everyone enjoyed.

Sophia and Sebastian each ordered chicken strips. They split an order of fries. Mike and I may have had a few too.

Mike ordered a chocolate malt. We shared it. Sophia had some too. It was wonderful.

Mike also ordered onion rings. I had a few of those too.

Here’s my cheeseburger. Mike had to help me finish it. Probably because I ate some of his onion rings and malt.

I can’t believe we ate it all, but we did. All of us agreed that we need to go here for dinner at least once each summer…or maybe twice.

We snapped a few photos before we left.

I had to beg and plead with Sebastian to be part of this family photo. I’m sure he will enjoy looking back at this when I have it up during his grad party in seven years.

On our way back home, I made our family stop by Enger Park. The Tower has an amazing view of Duluth, the Aerial Lift Bridge and Lake Superior. I knew the sun was just right for some perfect harbor photos.

We were lucky and watched a ship come in under the bridge.

The kids were tired from a sleepover that they both attended the night before. They weren’t too excited about checking out the beautiful gardens at the park so all I could do is take a few pictures on our way back to the car.

We took Skyline Drive home and enjoyed more views of the city and lake. We made sure to let the kids get a good night’s sleep before heading to Park Point the next day. More about that summer bucket list item later this week…

July 15, 2012 M. Sullivan Photography Photos, Vacation

Fun In The Sun – Part II

The second half of our vacation gave us more sun and warm weather.

Day Four

On our fourth day of vacation, Sebastian made plans to get out on the lake before any of the other boaters. He wanted to experience the calm waters with no waves. He also knew that Mike would drive faster without any other boats on the lake.

After boating, we all swam and relaxed. We stopped for a minute so Mike could take a picture of me with the kids. Sophia had a hard time not being silly.

Back in the water.

We enjoyed a fireworks show from our cabin on July 3 held by the Famous Dave’s restaurant on the opposite side of Round Lake. We were a bit far away, but the night was calm and the fireworks were a nice way to end the day.

Day Five

Before heading out to swim in the lake , the boys played a little chess. Sebastian has become quite a chess player and pulled off a win against Mike.

By request, I made one of Sebastian’s favorite muffins – lemon poppy seed.

The heat from the oven was too much, so we headed out to cool off.

Sebastian found the best way to relax.

Until we tipped him over.

After the getting soaked, Sebastian worked on his balance.

Time for dinner.

We had our own little fireworks display in the driveway for the 4th of July.

We also enjoyed fireworks shot off by the neighboring cabins.

Day Six

Another day, more beautiful weather.

We found an old pair of kids’ water skis in the garage. Sebastian tried them out for size and decided to give it a shot. He got up on his first try and stayed up for a minute and a half. I still have to upload the video Sophia took with my iPhone, but will insert it here when it’s done.

Day Seven

Rain in the morning, dry afternoon. Time to make a trip into town for mini golf.

We didn’t keep score, but everyone had a hole-in-one along the way of the eighteen holes (except me).

We did a little shopping for souvenirs, had lunch at Subway and also picked up a treat for the trip back to the cabin.

We all purchased “Hayward” t-shirts when we were in town. I made everyone put them on for a group photo.

Day Seven

More sun, more fun, more swimming and boating.

Sophia and I fed bread to a family of ducks.

Daphne acted as our life guard while we were in the water.

Day Eight

Check out day. One last look around.

We had originally planned to check out some of the tourist attractions in the area during our vacation – wild life park, go-kart racing, etc., but ended up spending most of our time at the cabin in or on the water. We couldn’t have asked for better weather and since it was the 4th of July week, Hayward was packed with tourists. Streets were filled with pedestrians, stores were teaming with tourists and restaurants were busy with hungry vacationers. We did go out for pizza one evening and stopped by the candy store for dessert. We also found an empty baseball field for Sebastian to stay up on his batting and pitching skills the day we mini golfed. Other than that, it was a very low-key vacation. I guess you could say it was exactly what we needed.

July 14, 2012July 14, 2012 M. Sullivan Photography Family, Photos, Vacation

Fun In The Sun – Part I

We returned home from our vacation in Hayward, Wisconsin a week ago. We spent the last several days getting caught up with yard work, house work, office work and photo editing work. We took a lot of pictures while we were gone and many more when we returned. We attended a Huskies baseball game the day we got back and Mike took an extra two days off from work this week with the kids because our daycare was closed through Wednesday. They spent one of the days at Park Point Beach and the other at home playing games and cooling off in our small pool.

Here’s a Part I of how we spent our vacation.

Day One

We checked in late in the afternoon to our rental cabin and spent most of our time unpacking and getting situated. The past two years we’ve been on Lac Courte Oreilles, but this year we rented a larger cabin on Round Lake. It had plenty of space, lots of windows, a great deck and a fabulous view.

We made a quick pasta dinner, got the boat in the lake at a nearby boat landing and then made a fire in the fire pit. We brought supplies for s’mores and enjoyed the only cool evening all week.

Day Two

Since the day was sunny and warm we enjoyed the lake by swimming, boating and playing in the water. We headed into town late in the day to pick up a week’s worth of groceries, but then headed back for more time at the cabin.

Throughout the week, toads and frogs would make their way onto the deck where the kids’ water shoes were drying. They would hop inside the shoes for protection and enjoyed the wet shoes so much they would stay until morning when the kids would empty them out again.

With no dishwasher at the cabin, the kids became the dishwasher during our stay.

Day Three

Another day of sun and 80 degree temperatures kept us near the water most of the day. We picked up a water basketball game on our trip into town the day before. Mike and Sebastian got a chance to try it out.