The Northshore

Having fun at Cabella's 

Two Harbors

Two Harbors

Two Harbors

First Family pic of the vacation - Two Harbors 

Hiking at Gooseberry Falls 

Gooseberry Falls

Luke had a great time hiking!

Avery having fun hiking even when she was sick! 

Gooseberry Falls State Park

Split Rock Lighthouse 

Grand Portage Falls 

Spectacular!

Hiking Grand Portage State Park 

Avery and Gabe playing "baby" in the hotel room 

Duluth 

Over spring break the family traveled north to Minnesota.  Corbin has been talking about visiting the Northshore ever since we were dating and we finally made the trip.  We had a fantastic time!  Luke did awesome during the 8 hour car ride.  Originally we planned to stay for two days and ended up staying 5 days!  On our second day we discovered that our van wouldn't start.  It had to be towed to a local auto repair shop and took three days to fix!  I believe it was God's way of giving us much needed family time together.   

We visited Two Harbors, Spirit Mountain, Gooseberry Falls, Grand Marais, Grand Portage, and Split Rock Lighthouse (one of my favorites).  With 4 kids we did a lot of packing lunches and eating out of a cooler.  The kids absolutely loved staying in a hotel and swimming everyday.  The weather was gorgeous during our trip and the scenery was just incredible.  We only scratched the surface of all the things to do and see on the Northshore.

The kids loved Spirit Mountain!  They got to ride a HUGE alpine roller coaster - even Gabriel, zip line, and go sledding.  Split Rock lighthouse was breathtaking, but my favorite day was at Grand Portage State Park.  The hiking and falls were amazing - it was like something out of a fairytale.  Since the weather had been so warm the falls had recently melted and were simply spectacular!     

What would be a family vacation without a few bumps in the road?  Along with the van breaking down Avery, Luke, and I got hit with a 12 hour stomach flu!  Luke did not seem too phased by the illness.  Avery was a super trooper and hiked Gooseberry Falls in between getting sick (sorry fellow tourist).  Fortunately and unfortunately I got sick during our drive home.  It was nice that I did not miss any of our trip, it was not so great, however, to be sick during an 8 hour car ride.

Taking our first real family vacation together was amazing.  I am so thankful for the time we spent together.  I have so many memories taking family vacations growing up, and I can't wait to continue with tradition with my own kids.