Family Vacation Post #2 - The Thomberg's

More vacation photos, of our Thomberg Foursome! Temperance River (above)

On the bridge at J Cook State Park in route to Duluth.

Sunny weather!

The Twinners posing nicely for Daddy's lens!

Family Vacation Post #1

Here are some bullet points of our vacation. Just to give you advance notice, you will probably see more posts and MORE photos in the days ahead...

We Came - Dad and Nana, The Thomberg's, and Brett and Rachel. (The Thomberg's headed to Duluth for an overnight Monday before heading on to Lutsen.)

We Stayed - Up North at Caribou Highland Lodge. (And at a Kidz Suite at the Holiday Inn Duluth which I got for a steal on a silent auction benefiting Gillette)

We Played -
- Hiking at Gooseberry Falls, Temperance and Cascade River State Parks.

- Riding the Gondola and Alpine Slide.

- Hanging out on the beach at Lutsen Resort and Grand Marais.

- Throwing rocks every day.

- Swimming in the pool most afternoons.

- Smiling often.

We Ate and Drank -

-Rib Eyes from Costco, lunch at My Sister's Place and the Angry Trout in Grand Marais, and dinner at Lutsen Resort. We also enjoyed the New Scenic Cafe outside of Duluth.

-Gin and Tonic, Vodka and Tonic, Mojitos, Wine, Summer Shandy Beer and Champagne.

-S'mores at the resort camp fire.

We Discovered -

-There is no AT&T cell phone service in Lutsen, which was fine by me.

-You can dial the front desk from your town home and get a ride/shuttle to Papa Charlies (the bar.)

-Our townhome had a washer and dryer. Major vaca score for this laundry obsessed mommy.

We Loved -

-Waking up and cuddling with our kids each morning.

-Going back to the town home for a nap every afternoon.

-Reading a good book.

-Picking raspberries around the resort for ice cream.

-Spending time with Brett and Rachel.

-Spending time with Dad and Chris.

-The great weather.

We're Back!

The Thomberg's are back home from a fantastic, fun filled, relaxing summer Melberg family vacation to the North Shore!

We had a great time. The car is unloaded, one suitcase is empty, the kids are in the tub, and there is only ONE load of laundry to do because the townhome had a washer and dryer. I am still basking in the vacation lull, and pressing on through my second vacation book. I don't want to let the ease of the days of the last week slip away just yet...

Happy Anniversary Dad & Chris

This past Monday was Dad and Chris's 7th wedding anniversary. When they married, they took friends and family on an Al and Alma's boat tour on Lake Minnetonka for the rehearsal dinner. Monday, they gathered friends and family for another dinner cruise to celebrate.

Dad with Barb and Jan.

Mark and Me with my favorite bug eye sunglasses.

Or Mark and Me squinting.... (seriously - where does my lipstick go to???)

It was a perfect evening on Lake Minnetonka.

Returning home as the sun set.

Happy Anniversary Dad and Chris!

Corn Chaff Days

Saturday morning the Twinners and I loaded up and headed home to Hector for Corn Chaff Days. We have fore-gone the DVD player in our vehicle, and on our way out I teach the kids to identify corn, beans, sugar beets (a tough one) and now the different kinds of cows. For those of you who don't know, Holsteins are the black and white ones & are milk producers.

By noon, we were camped out on the lawn at my cousin Michelle's in a prime spot for parade watching. The weather was perfect under the big maple tree. I cannot recall the last time I was able to come out for Corn Chaff Days. It was so good to be back, and the kids are old enough now. Mark stayed in the cities. He had to work, but let's face it folks, this is my stomping ground.

Dean, Marly, and cousin Wilson.

Cousin Sawyer hanging with Oscar.

This one is for you Toots, Dee, Kris and the girls. My Uncle Jon use to drive this fire truck in the parade every year when he was fire chief. Back then, we would hang out on Toot's lawn to watch the parade, and Dee and Kris would travel back. I am tearing up now. We miss you Jon (and Marlys too of course)... A LOT on days like this.

Behind the fire truck is the police department/city office and the community theater where we performed school plays. When I was REALLY little, it was a movie theater. It is connected to the local/family owned funeral home (...just a little info on our fine community).

Cousin Sutton with the Boy Scouts ready to throw candy to the 'cuz (and his brother).

Shoot... I didn't get a pic of cousin Mikayla (drums) and Mariah (flute) with the BL-H Marching Band.

Too much candy...

Uncle (not really/but sort of) Charlie on the tractor he recently restored, riding with his grandson Ethan. Melberg's don't typically drive red tractors, but this one is special.

Wilson showing his support for every politician in the parade.

Okay, now that this thing is nearly over, let's head to the park for fry bread, pie from the women of First Lutheran, and pork sandwiches.

(This is where my camera batteries go DEAD.)

After that, let's head to Auntie Jan and Sheldon's at Lake Allie for supper, and a visit from the Iowa cousin's passing through on their way home from their annual family week at the lake.

After that, let's have Mariah and Mikayla babysit so mommy can hang out at the dance in town.

At the dance, let's socialize with everyone from town, and those who travelled back. Make sure to catch up with the kids you babysat for, and the woman who babysat for you. Oh yeah... and if your spouse isn't from Hector, let them stay at home. It just works out better, so they don't have to get bored as we drink our beer and talk and talk about they have no idea what...

After an overnight at Jan's... it is time to head back to the city. If you are a Twinner of the age of three, you might get cranky after all that FUN.

I hope this post expresses the old memories that come back to us, while making new.

Thank you Jan (and Michelle and everyone) for your wonderful hospitality to the Thomberg's. Can we come back next year?

Wet Beds!

I thought this week I would be blogging about how Dean graduated from his Bedtime pull-ups several weeks back, and Marly this week...

But last night changed all that. I'll give it to you in numbers.

3 - Number of beds stripped and number of times the washer was loaded with sheets/waterproof mattress pads before 6:15 am.

2- The number of wet comforters on my floor at 6:30 am.

1 - Number of beds 1/2 re-made when I left for work at 8 am.

2 - Number of mommy-blunders overnight. The first one was putting Marly back to bed at 11:45 in dry underwear instead of a pull-up when she wet the bed the FIRST time. The second was remaking her bed with OUT the waterproof matress pad, because it was WET, and then putting her in it with OUT a pull-up.

1 - Number of matresses that required use of the Bissel Little Green Spot Machine.

2 - The number of times Marly wet the bed last night.

1 - The number of times Dean wet the bed last night.

2 - The number of children in my bed at 5:15 am after Mark left for work.

2- Number of Pull Up packages purchased this morning at Walmart to replenish my stash, because there is no such thing as uni-sex pull ups.

??? - Number of hours of sleep lost by mommy!

Happy 4th of July

Friday we kicked off the long weekend with a late afternoon trip to Como Zoo. Dean LOVES Polar Bears. They are his favorite animal. Dora, Diego, Handy Manny, Elmo.... Not so much. Polar Bears DEFINITELY. The twins bears are back in their new exhibit and we finally had time to check it out. After we met up with Nana for dinner.

Saturday we headed to Bunker Beach Water Park.

It was a complete hit with Marly and Dean on this very hot summer day.

On the way out around 1:30 they had the "I need a nap!" meltdown. (NOT pictured)

Sunday Morning - The 4th of July

Dean with the Sunday paper comics.

Dean to Daddy, "Don't bother me Daddy. I'm reading!"

Meanwhile, Marly decided she already needed a nap. Good idea! We have parties to go to later!

Happy 2nd Birthday to the little firecracker, Miss Vivian Lyon's (our godchild). The kids and I attended her birthday party while Mark worked.

Later that night, we attended our neighbor's AMAZING fireworks display. I forgot the camera. The H-we's came along. Unfortunately, each child slowly puttered out and needed to be walked home for bed. (NOT pictured).

Monday morning biking with our guests.

Wrapping it up with sprinkler time in the backyard.

We also had the Hentge's to dinner some where in there, and supper at Brett & Rachel's on Monday.

What a delight to have Tuesday off to hang and home and RELAX.

Happy 4th to all of our friends and family!