Family time!

As a newlywed and new grad nurse, I've been pretty busy over the past 9 months with work and adjusting to all the changes in my life.  But alas, summer is here and the hubby and I agreed we were determined to enjoy our summer this year.  Part of our summer enjoyment includes some family time. So last weekend we went camping with J's brother and his family, which includes the wife and four kids. It was so much fun! We tent camped at a cart-in site, which required us to walk about 10 mins into the woods to our site, on the North Shore at Tettagouchee State Park. We did lots of hiking to several waterfalls, as well as combed the beach on the North Shore of Lake Superior for agates (the kids are really into agates right now).  We encountered some fun surprises, like crawdads (mostly little guys) and actually found a few agates.

I brought my camera and enjoyed taking a few candid shots, as well as some scenic pictures of our beautiful views. There's really nothing like the North Shore, even if the trip is just a few days.  On Saturday, we went up to road to Wolf Ridge ELC (environmental learning center) for their open house. It was really cool! We did the ropes course, which ends by you taking a zip line back down to the ground, and (excuse my dorky pun) rocked the rock climbing wall. Wolf Ridge has several raptors and a porcupine (very cute!) to check out. We also did lots and lots of hiking (in the pouring rain at times) and some canoeing.  I was surprised at how fearless the younger kids were (1st/2nd graders doing the crazy ropes course and zip line).  It was awesome to see. We brought the dog along and he enjoyed our hiking adventures to the point of being in a stupor by the end of the day from exhaustion!  :) 

Needless to say, it was a great trip.  In a few weeks our family time resumes with my side of the family, as we venture to ND to do some fishing with my dad & brother and play with the nephews!